Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2022
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/1/2022
Chances to acquire complete hockey card wax boxes from Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card year are hobby happenings and reserved for serious deep-pocketed hobbyists/investors but hey, everyone can admire this thought-provoking piece while pondering the likelihood of a GEM MINT Wayne Gretzky RC (or two!) being found amid the 36 wax packs, recently inspected and certified as being unopened by Baseball Card Exchange. Twenty cents was the selling price for the 10-card packs back in the day, with a team logo sticker and a standard piece of bubble gum accompanying the blue-bordered cards. That makes for 360 high grade chances, (with 262 cards comprising Topps’ ’79-80 set), with other numbers, (recent realized prices), also stirring. Complete ’79-80 Topps hockey wax boxes have sold at auction in the last year for as much as $87,000, while PSA MINT 9 Gretzky rookies have realized up to 90K, with the average reportedly being $68,000. The PSA Population Report informs, as of this writing, that close to 8200 Topps examples of card #18 have been examined and encapsulated by the company over the years, with just 127 in the MINT 9 column. Meanwhile, just two have been deemed worthy of the ultimate mark of GEM MT 10, with sales of those in another stratosphere; $720,000 in December of 2020 and just over one million dollars reportedly paid in a private sale in May, 2021. Is there a million dollar card in the offered box? Oh, how unopened material is tempting and tantalizing. The wax box, now encapsulated by BBCE shrink wrap, features longtime Maple Leaf Ron Ellis and Boston’s André Savard in action against the Washington Capitals, with creases observed to the left (2) and right of the die-cut section in the upper half of the box top, while evidence of removed tape or a sticker resulted in minor paper loss near the top of the lid. A bit of color loss and light pressure bends (side panels) and creasing in the front panel are also to note, with a couple of small creases in the box bottom which includes corner/edge wear. The bottom is where BBCE’s latest identifying label is affixed (to the outer wrap). Several options and opportunities is what you’ll have after taking possession of this formidable jackpot.
By clicking this button, you will IMMEDIATELY bid the amount selected.
By clicking this button, you will submit this amount as your MAXIMUM (absentee) bid. The auction software will place bids on your behalf up to this amount only as it is bid against competitively by other bidder(s).