Looks like I tapped into the cosmic Gretzky vibe over the past week! Earlier this week I happened to post an article looking at the Bert Corbeau card, one of the rarest hockey cards out there. One of the things that became amusingly apparent as I wrote this piece was the Gretzky link that underlay the larger context of the story. Here are some of the fence posts along that narrative:
- The Bert Corbeau card is the highest valued non-graded hockey card in existence - It was made by the William Paterson candy company, based out of Brantford, Ontario (Gretzky’s hometown) - It has been called the Honus Wagner card of hockey - The Honus Wagner baseball card is very rare and one copy of it holds the distinction of being the highest valued graded sports card ever - The nickname for this highest valued Wagner card? The Gretzky T206 Honus Wagner, named for its most famous co-owner: Wayne Gretzky
Since the article was not intended to focus on Gretzky, more so on the parallel between Corbeau and Wagner, I held off on one additional piece of info; Gretzky held the distinction of having the highest valued graded hockey card in existence, with a version of his 1979 OPC rookie card selling for $94,163 in 2011. Well little did I know that by the end of this week my hand would be forced, as yesterday at auction the same Gretzky rookie card surpassed its previous sale value after be snapped up by an anonymous buyer for $465,000 U.S.. A $370,000 jump in five years, which will certainly see some trickle down impact on lower graded cards, at the very least in the 8 and 9 range, in upcoming sales one would think!
As for those of us in the 40-50 year old range who likely obliterated a copy or two of this card in bike, chucking them against walls, or storing them in shoeboxes only for our mothers to throw them away when cleaning the attic/basement; this qualifies as one of those times it's ok to cry… ;)
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Do you have a piece of treasured memorabilia that has a great story behind it? Let me know and you can be featured in an article. Doesn't matter how big or small the piece is, how valuable it may be, or whether it's a common item or more oddball. If you think it has a story, contact me via the information below and we'll chat. In the meantime, check out some previous "Display Case" articles via the links below to see what others have submitted in the past...
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Shawn Gates
shawn.gates@hockeybuzz.com
Facebook: Shawn Gates
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Ultimate Set Build Bert Corbeau
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