Wayne Gretzky is widely considered the greatest hockey player of all-time and his playmaking abilities earned him the nickname, “The Great One”. He finished his career as the most prolific scorer in the NHL with 2,857 points, nearly 1,000 points higher than the player in 2nd place. In 1999, Wayne Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Below is a look at his career accomplishments and highlights.
- 18x All-Star
- 10x Ross Award Winner
- 9x Hart Award Winner
- 5x Byng Award Winner
- 5x Pearson Award Winner
- 4x Stanley Cup Winner
- 2x Smythe Award Winner
Wayne Gretzky’s rookie is featured in the 1979 Topps set (USA) and 1979 O-Pee-Chee (Canada). The card design is beautiful and it is one of the most recognized sports cards ever. It’s significance in the hobby, earned it a place on PSA’s Mount Rushmore of Hockey Cards. I mangaged to get this card autographed TTM. It is by far the biggest gamble that I have taken during my years of collecting TTM.
I ordered a PSA slabbed card on eBay with the intent of cracking it open, something that I had never done before (here is a helpful video). I am not know for being handy around the house so you can imagine the look of confusion on my wife’s face when I told her that I needed to go to the hardware store to buy a pair of wire cutters. It was a little nerve rattling to open the case but it did feel amazing to hold a piece sports card history. That feeling was short-lived as I immediately mailed it out in hopes of getting it autographed. The wait was gut wrenching but after about a month, the card came back signed flawlessly. There has been a lot of debate whether these TTM autographs are real and according to PSA they are legit.
Currently there are only 52 autographed Wayne Gretzky 1979 Topps cards in the PSA database. In recent months, unsigned copies of Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card have seen a significant increase in value. Long-term, I believe that this card will only continue to grow in value.
Total Investmest: $215
Estimated Value: $10,000
Return on Investment: 4,551%
Bonus Card: Autographed Wayne Gretzky 1979 O-Pee-Chee Rookie Card
Total Investment: $274
Estimated Value: $10,000
Return on Investment: 3,536%