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Monday, May 02, 2011

Gretzky Rookie Card Purchased at Record High

I once tried to collect hockey trading cards, along with other sports, and kept them as a hobby through most of my formative years. I tried building a whole set of1993-94 Leaf once by purchasing the common cards at 5 or 10 cards at a time. So, I know a little thing or two about the trading card industry.

Imagine the smirk on my face that must have happened when I spotted the headline hyperlink reading about a recent auction for a Wayne Gretzky rookie card. Someone with either a lot of cash or a lot less brains had spent $94,163 on a mint grade rookie card made in 1979 by O-Pee-Chee. It was done at an auction in California.

What I learned about the competitive nature of the trading card industry is that the value of cards go up and down just like Wall St. stocks and ultimately a slave to the value the market assigns it. Buy low and sell high. Unless this person wants to keep the card for life, I don't see them getting any value back from another buyer willing to spend more on the card than they have already.

Initial news articles don't tell exactly what the owner plans to do about it, but what else can happen? Is it on display or in some vault?

[Via:Rogers Sportsnet]

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