This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/4/2020
With the exception of the 1986 Fleer basketball series, there hasn't been a more highly-coveted box of sports cards produced by Topps since it's release some 40 years ago. Of course, we're talking about the 1979-80 Topps hockey series and the debut card of the sport's greatest icon, Wayne Gretzky. At the time of production, baseball was the king of all sports in America while football, basketball, and hockey were relegated to "secondary sports." The disparity was even wider in the sports card market as baseball cards were highly prized but pasteboards in the other three sports were without much value. The only thing possible to change that was if a rookie came along with such overwhelming magnitude and record-shattering ability that he simply could not be ignored by collectors. It happened in 1986 when Michael Jordan made his first appearance in the Fleer basketball series, but several years earlier, "The Great One" would begin a storybook career that forced the National Hockey League to re-write the record books, planting Gretzky's name at the top of virtually every offensive category. This 1979-80 Topps unopened wax box is sealed and authenticated by Baseball Card Exchange and could contain or more elite-grade Wayne Gretzky rookie cards. With just two GEM MINT specimens on record at PSA, this could prove to be a major find!