bEYOND THE COLLECTION

BLOG SERIES

How much is my Wayne Gretzky rookie card worth?

For hockey card collectors, no card carries the cachet of a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.

Destiny Family Office works with ultra-high-net-worth collectors, offering services tailored to their investments, families, and passion assets. By understanding what’s most important to you, we can help you navigate complexity, simplify your life, and achieve peace of mind.

If you have a valuable collection you’d like to include in your financial, tax and estate planning, contact our Destiny Family Office team today. And don’t forget to self-assess your planning to date by completing our Collectibles Scorecard.

For hockey card collectors, no card carries the cachet of a Wayne Gretzky rookie card. The Great One stands alone at the top of many NHL record books, and accordingly, his cards are consistently among the category’s most expensive. His rookie cards straddle the border of vintage and modern; their production before the junk wax era ensured the cards’ availability was never excessive, and the passage of decades has only bolstered their scarcity.

For those collectors of the late 1970s and early ‘80s, it may be time to take stock of Gretzky rookie card holdings and consider their value. These grails of hockey collecting are expensive pieces of cardboard when found in strong condition.

What are Wayne Gretzky’s most valuable rookie cards?

Wayne Gretzky’s two rookie cards are essentially the same card. The most valuable, the 1979 O-Pee-Chee issue is a licensed version of the same card produced by Topps, just manufactured, branded, and distributed by the Canadian company O-Pee-Chee. However, the difference in manufacturer proved significant, as the O-Pee-Chee issues are known to be easily damaged and were often found in poor condition due to jagged cuts during manufacturing. The Topps version, on the other hand, was printed on a higher-quality cardstock.

The prevalence of poor-condition O-Pee-Chee cards, however, makes the OPC issues in strong condition that much more rare and that much more valuable. 18% of PSA-graded Gretzky Topps cards grade an 8 or higher. Compare that to just 9% of PSA-graded Gretzky O-Pee-Chee cards.

How much is the 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card worth?

The 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card holds the prestigious distinction of being the most expensive hockey card ever sold. In March 2021, one of two cards graded a PSA 10 was sold via private sale for $3,750,000. While your Gretzky card may not be worth a seven-figure sum if you’re not one of the two lucky owners of a PSA 10 O-Pee-Chee card, there’s significant value to be found further down the grading stack. Let’s examine the most recent sales at the time of writing (June 2025):

PSA 9: $138,470
PSA 8: $15,250
PSA 7: $4,494
PSA 6: $2,364
PSA 5: $1,476

There is currently a population of 95 cards graded a PSA 9, equating to a market cap north of $13 million for that grade alone. You can read more about grading criteria and standards here.

The possibility of finding Gretzky rookie cards in strong condition is so enticing that a case of unopened O-Pee-Chee cards sold for $2.52 million at the end of 2024.

How much is the 1979 Topps Wayne Gretzky rookie card worth?

Thanks to the larger population of high-condition cards and a greater reverence for the O-Pee-Chee edition, 1979 Topps Wayne Gretzky rookie cards don’t reach the same peaks as their O-Pee-Chee peers at the top of the market. Though there’s a population of just 2 Topps cards graded PSA 10, much like the OPC, the highest price attained by one of those cards is “just” $1,200,000. The neighboring, lower grades similarly realize significantly less value at auction than the Canadian version according to the most recent sales.

PSA 9: $24,001
PSA 8: $4,950
PSA 7: $2,154
PSA 6: $1,416
PSA 5: $1,150

While these prices remain quite handsome sums for cardboard, it’s clear the O-Pee-Chee version is the one more likely to have created remarkable outcomes for long-time collectors.

How have Wayne Gretzky rookie cards appreciated over the last five years?

As with most cards in recent years, a collector’s perspective on the appreciation of Wayne Gretzky rookie cards will depend on how long ago they bought the card and how frequently they’ve checked the value since. For collectors who have owned the card over the long term and haven’t refreshed their understanding of its value in recent years, a pleasant surprise awaits thanks to significant appreciation since 2019.

1979 Topps Wayne Gretzky (PSA 9)

Last sale of 2019: $9,978
Most recent sale: $24,001
Total appreciation:+141%

1979 Topps Wayne Gretzky (PSA 8)

Last sale of 2019: $1,875
Most recent sale: $4,950
Total appreciation: +164%

1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky (PSA 9)

Last sale of 2019: $26,689
Most recent sale:$138,470
Total appreciation: +419%

1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky (PSA 8)

Last sale of 2019: $3,625
Most recent sale:$15,250
Total appreciation: +321%

Many of these cards have multiplied in value over the last five years, creating welcome outcomes for collectors. However, the path to that significant appreciation has not been steady and uneventful.

Today’s values aren’t quite as impressive as in 2021 and 2022 when the card market soared out of the pandemic, aided by a zero-interest rate environment and increased speculative appetites. For instance, the 1979 O-Pee Chee card in PSA 9 condition reached a record price of $271,830 in early 2021. It spent much of the first half of 2021 at prices above $200,000 versus prices often hovering just above $100,000 today. Similarly, PSA 9 copies of the 1979 Topps issue established a record price of $93,480 in February 2021. In 2021 and 2022, the card eclipsed $50,000 on myriad occasions, settling instead today for prices more frequently in the $20,000 – $40,000 range.

Though prices aren’t quite as high as in 2021 or 2022, those consulting long unvisited collections containing Gretzky rookie cards may find that those cardboard stores are now worth significant sums of money. The Great One on the ice turned out to be just as great in the card-collecting hobby.