A case of unopened hockey cards that could feature dozens of Wayne Gretzky rookies brought in a whopping $3.7 million at auction Saturday.
The case of sealed 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey cards was collecting dust in a Canadian family’s home until they discovered the extremely rare and valuable cards while sorting through a storage room.
Heritage Auctions, which listed the case, called the discovery “the greatest unopened find of the 21st century.”
The auction house estimated that the case of 48 packs — or 10,752 cards — contains about 27 rare and pristine Gretzky rookie cards from his first season with the Edmonton Oilers.
But the new owner — who has not been publicly named — will likely never know for sure how many cards feature the “Great One.”
A spokesperson for Heritage Auctions told the Associated Press that the winning bidder is not likely to open the sealed boxes and packs because they’re even rarer than the rookie cards.
![The auction house estimated that the case of cards contains about 27 rare and pristine Gretzky rookie card from his first season with the Edmonton Oilers.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/02/wayne-gretzky-rookie.jpg?w=768)
The Regina family who found the cards will earn $3.1 million from the sale.
The father was an old-school collector who had initially planned to open the case which he bought years ago and build sets of cards to sell but — in what turned out to be incredibly lucky — he never got around to it, the BBC reported.
“Remarkably, our consignor wasn’t aware he owned this outrageous Holy Grail case until very recent accounting of a long-forgotten pile of boxes in his home in Saskatchewan, where deadstock cards from the late 1970’s and early 1980’s had been gathering dust since he had bought them directly from a wholesaler,” Heritage Auctions said.
The family, who has asked to remain anonymous, held a small viewing party to watch the bids come in, the company told the BBC, adding that they are “ecstatic” at the final bid.