A Once in a Lifetime Find! How many Gretzky Rookies in 1979-80 SEALED CASE Found in Basement!

[@Swoop187OG187]

There will almost certainly be more than 27 Gretzky's.. My guess is around 35.. I'm just basing that on my own experience - obviously not with 79-80 OPC - but with other OPC's from the 80's in general.... I mean every box should have at least 2 Gretzky's, and some will have 3.. Crazy stuff tho.. This is quite the find, and if I had the money and I could comfortably bid on this case I would absolutely do it... The real question is what DO you do with it? sell it off box by box?? keep it, break it and hope for some PSA 10's?... I mean on a purchase like this, you have to really crunch the numbers to make an informed bid - but at the same time this really is a "one of a kind" item, so that alone gives it some value to the right collector... On a side note - I recently bought a small collection of around 2500 cards in a "shoe box" of Topps hockey for $130 which spanned from 74-75 to 80-81 with the majority being 79-80 and 80-81 and it was LOADED with Gretzky's. I pulled 2 rookies and a half dozen 80-81 #250, and numerous others from the 80-81 set... So yea, that was quite the find for me.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@Swoop187OG187 First off, AMAZING purchase for the $130 shoe box! WOW!😀🔥🐐🐐💪Congrats! Especially on the 2 Gretzky RCs!☘🤑🏆 And yes, I am also quite curious about what the Buyer will end up doing with the sealed case! Will we ever hear about it again? I wonder! 😱🤔❓

[@Swoop187OG187]

@@hockeycardsincanada I'm actually from Chicago..... And I'm absolutely shocked I didn't get first dibs on this one.... I buy vintage, but this... lol... I wish someone contacted me about this find because it's a local one.... I think millions is a bit excessive, but at the same time this is like finding a case of 86 Fleer Basketball... I mean I'm no expert on wax at all (this type) but IMO, a million is way too much...... It's just fun to know because I created a topic on a sports cards forum, on what a case of 79-80 OPC would go for, and how many Gretzky's you can get and how many would be in high grade... Not recently but a year ago... At the same time, supply and demand.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@Swoop187OG187 Judging by the one the recent sealed 1979-80 boxes that sold on Goldin for $198K USD, you'd have to figure that the sealed case would be sold for at least 16x that.... which is at min $3M+ and probably more since it's an entire case. I can see certain ultra-rare items like this continue to hold value as it falls into the same category as the 86 Fleer stuff. Plus the hype of it all adds to the frenzy, mystery and popularity!

[@thehighlanders607]

Well, the more you know......

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@thehighlanders607 😆😜👍

[@gqtrebor]

i cant believe they opened it. that breaks my heart

[@cdub4693]

It hasn’t been broken. Sold for $5 million Canadian. The buyer hasn’t even paid for it yet.

[@RonLoranger-cz9tb]

What a find. I ripped a lot of the Topps Version when I was 13. Used to ride my bike a half mile down the street to a local variety store. I hope the cards are going to be OK. I’ve seen vintage OPC vintage packs get completely ruined with the gum bleeding through the entire pack. OPC used a cheaper gum than Topps.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@RonLoranger-cz9tb What great memories!!! 😀👏🏆😱 🐐My first year as a kid was collecting 1980-81 OPC. I have very fond memories for that season and beyond... but, sadly missed out on ripping 1979-80 😢 Thanks for sharing your story! 💪🙏😀

[@jaysonlopez6669travieso1]

I dont think so .but you never know . The ALL TIME question will ALWAYS be....how many Wayne gretzky rookie cards would be in this set... ( I think betreen 25 and 35 .. and that they would should be PSA 8 OR higher.....

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@jaysonlopez6669travieso1 I'd love to know what the plan is for the case... AND of course, truly how many Gretzky RCs inside and if any would be possibly candidates for PSA 10? 😀🤑😱☘🏆

[@Atomykpimp]

That’s almost like finding the Ark of the Covenant!

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@Atomykpimp Lol! Yes what an amazing! I'm very curious to see the final sale price! 🤑

[@jft7775]

I have both rookie cards !😎🥅🏒

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@jft7775 Amazing! I'd like to own a Topps version one day too!!! 😀👏🏆

[@SM2005_]

03:00 totally agree.

[@dripsystem5785]

I don't understand why they wouldnt just open the cardboard and see whats inside. Its the cards and sealed boxes inside that are worth money not the blank cardboard box it was shipped in.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@dripsystem5785 This is really a fantastic point. 👍💪I do wonder if one day the hobby makes a switch and the folks at BBCE do open more of the actual boxes and possibly a pack or 2, so there's more evidence of true authenticity. Very good point. Paying for an expert to authenticate just the cardboard box and not the stuff inside seems like it's missing the key point. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🙏😀

[@tman6663]

Ouch..as an Edmontonian who was 7 yrs old at the time..I had at least 6 Gretzky rookie cards, which are all gone and I can’t remember where they went..this hurts

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@tman6663 Oh man. The joy of the story of owning 6 or more Gretzky Rookies! Amazing!!! 😀🔥🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🤑 And the agony of not knowing where they went! Dang! Sorry to hear the last part... 😢❤😬

[@user-fq8zg6ow4e]

No one could have predicted that at the time which is why good grades or so extremely valuable, no one was top loading cards out of packs right awY... if it makes you feel any better I had 15 mike trout rookie autos and 35 rookies that I sold for 1 / 100th ehat they were 5 years later lol. I sold about 1.5 mill in cards for about $15k

[@tman6663]

@@user-fq8zg6ow4e No offense, but Mike Trout doesn’t compare even close..to what Wayne Gretzky did for a sport

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@user-fq8zg6ow4e Holy Smokes! That's a crazy story 😬I'm glad you can add the "lol" in when you share it. 😀🙏 I'm sure if you move cards like that you've got lots of winners too! 💪🐐🏆 But thanks for sharing this one!

[@jimmy_iKoN]

I hope this brings the price of Wayne Gretzky rookie cards up

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@jimmy_iKoN I wonder if we will notice any big spikes in prices over the next little while?🤔😱😀🤑

[@redrum2612]

Wow!!

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@redrum2612 Ya crazy find! Currently the auction is at $1.675M USD with more than a week to go! 🤑😱🏆

[@pleasuretokill]

The guy who found these made a HUGE mistake by reporting that he found this many. He just brought the value of his own cards down significantly. Should have kept his mouth shut and slowly leaked them into the market for top price.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@pleasuretokill I guess we will see what the final sale price for the case will be. 🤑🤔☘🏆🐐 I wonder if Heritage encouraged them to sell as a single case because this would definitely be the way to draw the most attention, which is probably better than advertising during the Super Bowl! Thanks for offering a new thought on this! I appreciate your insight! 😀💪👏

[@secard4202]

You think they look inside? We just watched them open the hockey case!

[@dean-marr]

Wow

[@jaysonlopez6669travieso1]

It sold for $3.720.000 US Dollars

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@jaysonlopez6669travieso1 pretty crazy stuff! 😱🤑😜I wonder if it hits the market again soonish? Like how the PSA 10s popped up again after only a year or so.

[@flipperdoo22]

So the winner of the bid has changed his mind now and wants to sell them or gift them to his childhood crush that he thinks is his soulmate 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@flipperdoo22]

@@hockeycardsincanada he still owes $700k to the auction before they will release the cards to him. I think he plans to pay them once he decides if he wants to put them up for auction again or give them to his “soulmate”

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@flipperdoo22 Thanks for the heads up on this latest update! I'll be putting out a video so be on the lookout for that. 😀🙏💪👍

[@flipperdoo22]

@@hockeycardsincanada I could be his soulmate if he wanted😂

[@clemlowes9417]

When approximately 30-35 new Gretzky rookie cards appear doesn't that bring the value down somewhat? Suddenly a little less rare.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@clemlowes9417 Good question, but in my opinion I don't think it'll lower the price... at least for the near future. There's already a pretty solid supply of Gretzky Rookies out there right now. So they're really not that rare... just expensive for most collectors and hard to obtain. PSA alone has graded more than 10,000 of his OPC rookie (plus there's gotta be thousands more graded by Beckett, SGC, KSA etc). This case will only have maybe 25-30 ish and probably very few would grade higher than a PSA 8... and very doubtful that any would get graded a 10 by PSA. The demand for Gretzky's RC (OPC or Topps) might actually spike because of this somewhat viral story that even media and news outlets are covering.

[@user-oo2dh8wd3x]

35 Gretzky High grade RC would barely make a dent in scarcity. 1/2 of those are gonna be lists than gems

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@user-oo2dh8wd3x I agree with you on lots of the Gretzkys being less than Gem Mint. But the media stories make it sound as if there'll be a bunch of $3M cards! 😆😜😬🚀

[@bmir89]

The card isn't as rare as the media makes it seem. Market trends and patterns determine value. This rookie card is all over ebay for a few grand. You can get an 8, or even a 8.5 for less then $10k. Even a 9.5 grade is going for only $17k. That one off example of the news touting that one sold for $3 million, was just that. A one-off superfan with more money than brains. That doesn't set the new standard. And adding that many new rookies will dilute the market.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@bmir89 Ya I agree with you and definitely, the random media stories covering it as if multiple PSA 10s could be found that would sell for $3M or more!😅😆 The one thing I might add is that the viral nature of the story might cause a small spike in popularity, so prices on lower-grade and more "affordable" stuff might go up. I appreciate your insight! 🏆👍😀🙏

[@canadiantraveller281]

Nah, Gretzky will always sell well. 27 cards won't dilute a market for this holy grail card.The majority of these cards being destroyed during people's childhoods.It's not like there are 15 million out there like McDavid rookies. However, you need at least one PSA 10 to make the box a worthwhile purchase if you rip them all. If owner leaves them in tact, they will never go down in value because it's pretty much one of a kind. The only time the market has gone down for Gretzky in last 20 years or corrected itself was after COVID and that was across the board. 🍻🥅🏒

[@bmir89]

@canadiantraveller281 For sure. But also, hockey cards ain't what they used to be. I remember back in the 90s as a kid - my dad would take to me shops, businesses - that existed just for the sole purpose of trading and dealing cards. These days the markets aren't what they used to be. And as I said, on Ebay - a good one can be had for a few grand, and those listings aren't exactly flying down either. They're stagnant. I understand the nostalgia of buying the case. But from a purely financial view, no. Makes zero sense.

[@bobbydice8934]

Well at least the cards were from GI. Joe, who was a real American hero! ha

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@bobbydice8934 Haha Yo Joe!😜😆👍

[@kellyschafer8873]

But wont this lower the price of a Gretzky rookie being as it wont be as rare anymore?

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@kellyschafer8873 I don't think it'll lower the price. There's already a pretty solid supply of Gretzky Rookies out there right now. So they're really not that rare... just expensive for most collectors and hard to obtain. PSA alone has graded more than 10,000 of his OPC rookie (plus there's gotta be thousands more graded by Beckett, SGC, KSA etc). This case will only have maybe 25-30 ish and probably very few would grade higher than a PSA 8... and very doubtful that any would get graded a 10 by PSA. The demand for Gretzky's RC (OPC or Topps) might actually spike because of this somewhat viral story that even media and news outlets are covering.

[@mjlives5428]

Agree regarding the handling.Should be guards.A steel box.More than one person carrying it if it is cardboard.Also when they were shrinkwrapping the boxes they should be wearing white gloves. As the condition of the boxes themselves may be sold individually and graded.Not only that but Heritage has alot of free advertising right now and should want to display confidence to anyone else using them in the future.The homeless guy carrying the box and no gloves certainly does not convey confidence! Be curious how they persuaded the owners to go with them as opposed to others.A huge downpayment woulda definitely helped but did the owners shop around?

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@mjlives5428 Oh very good points on wearing gloves. I should've added a comment about that in the video! 💪👍And yes, I'm curious about how the sellers decided on Heritage. Perhaps got some advice from a local shop owner/expert. Thanks for watching and sharing your insights! 😀👍🙏

[@mjlives5428]

@@hockeycardsincanada Thanks!

[@eltoroloco1936]

The driver looked like personal security if you watched the video when they pulled up to BBCE. We also don't know who was behind the camera man. Either way, Heritage would be foolish to let anyone know. White gloves are overrated. That's a breaker thing.

[@deathbob091]

why not just paint a target on the box ?

[@mjlives5428]

@@deathbob091 haha

[@Beep-Boop101]

Even if there were 50 mint condition Gretzky cards the collection is still not worth 1.4 mil $

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@Beep-Boop101 It's definitely hard to put a true value on this type of stuff... but after seeing what it sold for, and if you had a few extra million to throw away, would you spend $1.4M on this case? 😜🤑😎 It'll be interesting to see if this case ever gets sold a 2nd time in auction.

[@hazysativa3045]

16:19 - Hahaha! The epitome of you win some and you lose some. Imagine thinking you were going in on 3MIL only to have GI Joe cards falls out. My god what a kick in the sack.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@hazysativa3045 Lol! Definitely a kick to the sack! 😅😆 Could it be any worse than GI Joe cards? 🤑Thanks for watching! 🙏💪😀

[@Millicurie551]

I know it won't happen but hopefully someone makes a video ripping it haha. I am an idiot and it wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@cphenix5994 Oh that would be amazing! 🔥Imagine a 16-part series of the entire case being opened one box at a time on KZbin!😱🏆🤑

[@polkcountyboxbreaks]

We all got duped.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@polkcountyboxbreaks Lol!😅😜🤑😬

[@henrys3629]

Now if we could somehow destroy all the fakes. That would change up the value. 5:36 Nooooooooooo

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@henrys3629 haha 5:36 the ripping sounds of the cardboard seal being torn open 😅😆😱😢 Thanks for watching! 🙏😀

[@jsho12]

Hiliarious

[@MichaelGKrahn]

Just driving this $3M box of cards around in my minivan.... do do do do do do!

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@MichaelGKrahn Hahaha love it! 😅😆😜👍

[@owsowmuskwanaistus9213]

you want to make sure you make profit always make sure to buy cases or boxes on release day because they only go up from there

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@owsowmuskwanaistus9213 I'm interested to see what happens to the prices of Upper Deck Series 2 boxes when they get released! 🤔Let's see what the Bedard hype brings! ☘🏆😱

[@user-fq8zg6ow4e]

Sports cards are now marked up about 300% MSRP right out if the gate so no this is no longer possible . It WAS 6-8 years ago

[@user-fq8zg6ow4e]

The whole market is garbage now. Look at nba prizm cards... in 2018 a hobby box of prizm was $85-100 usd... and the top guys (trae young, SGA, Luka etc ) were worth about $60-100 for a base prizm , Luka being hundreds... now a box is $1000 and the top rookies are worth about $10. There is almost a 0% chance of breaking a box and getting even half your money back. Before 2020 you almost always did due to high values of singles... which created the FOMO and drive up prices as the singles market crashed. ROY Scottie Barnes silver prizm is worth about $20. In 2018 the top rookies would be 10x that at 1/10th a box price

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@user-fq8zg6ow4e I don't follow the basketball and football cards as closely as hockey, but ya I've heard/read/seen how much those cards like Luca have tanked. Or with football QBs, (Herbert, Burrow, Lawrence etc) the only way for some of these cards to hold value is for them to win a couple Super Bowls... maybe 3 lol!😆😅 What are you currently collecting? Or are you waiting for a while till things settle?

[@cloudsey420sufccards]

Sweet video bud 👌

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@cloudsey420sufccards Thanks! 😀🙏💪

[@TraeRoberts]

Good thing they weren’t Pokémon cards

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@TraeRoberts Haha I might be more suspect of the case if it was! 😆

[@gqtrebor]

lol i'd be using a armour truck.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@gqtrebor Lol instead of driving it around in the back of a soccer mom minivan!!😅😆😬

[@Atomykpimp]

You aren’t kidding and with an unmarked police escort.

[@seansmith2289]

Just another commodity for the rich

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@seansmith2289 Yup! Only a select group of people could entertain possibly buying this!!!😱🤑😬❓🙏

[@user-tl7mj2bm4m]

Hart should have been sued 1.5 million for this mistake with the GI Joe cards....IF you're going to do something....DO IT RIGHT or DON'T do it ALL. He says, "We all got duped"......NO pal....YOU got duped....you were PAID to insure this case WAS REAL and NOT tampered with. YOU FAILED miserably and should pay for it.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@user-tl7mj2bm4m Ya I'm curious as to what type of contract BBCE uses to keep them safe from any liability for errors. But they must be nicely protected, so when they get Duped, everyone gets Duped! 😆😜👋

[@eltoroloco1936]

It was no doubt embarrassing but now you see what BBCE does, they open the cases

[@Millicurie551]

@@eltoroloco1936 Apparently (and I got interested in the story after seeing this a read up), loads of people online knew the case was fake before BCE inspected it. Then still stated it was fake after they authenticated it. The box label was suspicious as it should have been badly faded (same a heat printed receipt), the 2 barcodes didn't match and the sealing tape was not correct from factory. Then they didn't weigh it. So the pokemon community pretty much knew it before they cracked it. Now people think Paul possibly knew it too but thought it would get lots of press if it was fake haha. That part I don't know. But BCE looked like total dicks. That's why they crack em now.

[@joshspaete1827]

Hart was only asked to verify the case, not what was inside of it.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@joshspaete1827 Yup good point, but I think that's also kinda the big problem. BBCE opens up the case, but aren't able to fully verify that stuff is legit. I'm sure they're correct the majority of the time, and nothing has been tampered with, but there's still a percentage of the time that they get it wrong.

[@frankieb8591]

Who ever wins the auction will not open it

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@frankieb8591 I agree... I'm sure the case remains sealed. But I wonder if the plan might be to sell it again? Could we see the buyer try to flip it and perhaps we see it in auction a few years from now? 🤔🤑🐐🏆🔥

[@joshbutler3755]

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle. G.I. JOOOOOEEEEEE!!!!

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@joshbutler3755 Haha love it! 😜😅👏

[@BigJsCollectables]

That was proven to be a hoax, it was all Orchestrated does jake Paul invest millions three months prior into Pokémon stocks. So you have the worlds biggest TikTok and KZbin star/free commercial then everybody starts buying Pokemon again as every kid watches those videos and boom goes the dynamite, stocks raise sales go crazy, the New World of inside trading via Internet

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@jasonelder1567 Yup with so many millions of dollars being thrown around, you have to wonder who stands to gain the most from stuff. 🤔🤑 Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts! 😀👍💪🙏 Also "boom goes the dynamite" Love the reference!!! 😜❤

[@user-tl7mj2bm4m]

A Logan Paul (a fool) and his money are SOON parted....

[@rozzie101]

I don't like Logan Paul, but it's too bad he got ripped off...

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@rozzie101 Ya it just sucks for the all hobbies and collectors in general when this scammy type of stuff happens 😢 Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 💪

[@Akho21570]

BBCE authentication is a joke.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@Akho21570 Haha they're definitely not always perfect that's for sure! 😆😜

[@user-tl7mj2bm4m]

that....and A CON.......Heaven knows what he charged people so he could put his little shrink wrap on it. What a con and scam Hart is running.

[@user-tl7mj2bm4m]

That's the first thing that caught my attention - NO security guards, no protection whatsoever, in a laughable cardboard box, the dolt puts it in the rear of the car so when he gets rear-ended the cards get CRUSHED. Yeah....I wouldn't send a pile of my dung to these people for auction.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@user-tl7mj2bm4m Haha great points! I didn't even think about what might happen if there was a car accident! That cardboard won't protect a thing! 😆😜😱

[@eltoroloco1936]

3:10 The guy wasn't there to just open doors. Sometimes inconspicuous is the way to go as most criminals are opportunistic.

[@user-tl7mj2bm4m]

@@hockeycardsincanada I and a buddy of mine were in NY city doing some buying of art years ago. I asked why was he putting all the art we bought in the backseat. He then explained to me his logic. I now keep stuff up front or in the back seat now..never in the trunk.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@user-tl7mj2bm4m Very smart! You always think the trunk is the safest place to protect from smash-and-grab thieves... but what happens in a rear-ender?!!? Great info! Thanks for sharing! 😀🙏👍💪

[@karlepaul6632]

Why would you save up your own dung?🤔🤪

[@masterkingk]

G.I. JOE lolololololololol

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@masterkingk 😜😬😆

[@whitesoxtom2657]

Did they know that the gum bleeds threw the cards jabs family did a box of 1972 o pee Chee and the gum ruined the whole box of cards

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@whitesoxtom2657 Oh geez. I hadn't heard that story. I've seen examples of gum ruining specific cards though... definitely not a great thing to have stuck inside something you paid $2M+ for 😬 Thanks for sharing! 😀💪🙏👍

[@karlepaul6632]

Yeah, the gum OPC made compared to the formula Topps put in their cards was different for starters. Also, I think it also depended on the conditions of HOW it was stored (like if the conditions were really warm, etc) that contributed to the gum's deterioration as well.

[@hockeycardsincanada]

@karlepaul6632 Good point. I guess some of these wax boxes/cases would've been sitting in the storage rooms of convenience stores etc, so yes the conditions of where these were stored could make a huge difference on how the gum might affect the cards over 40+ years. I never knew (or even thought about) how the gum from OPC vs Topps would be different. Thanks for sharing your knowledge! 😀👏🏆💪

[@Atomykpimp]

That happened to a box of 71 or 72 Topps cards and one pack opened ruined a Thurman Munson. Made me physically sick!