Showing my 99: It’s Gretzky’s rookie card
Former hockey nerd still has two of them
There is no nice or cool way to put this: my friends and I were nerds in high school, who found hockey cards more obtainable than, say, girlfriends, so we collected hockey cards and rarely dated.
Late bloomers, you might call us. Or losers. Whatever. All is well that ends well. Most of us have done just fine in the relationship department, if not exceptionally well. In fact, the photo at right was taken by my lovely wife, Lily.
And out of my loser, high school, card-collecting days, I have two near-mint Wayne Gretzky hockey cards.
I thought of the cards when I read about the Journal’s Show Us Your 99 project. We’re asking fans to find their favourite Gretzky memorabilia and send us a photo of them and it.
I first located my two Gretzky rookie cards in the early 1990s, during the last major hockey card craze, when the city had more than 50 hockey card shops, when folks were going absolutely nuts trying to acquire mint condition Eric Lindros rookie cards.
In those days, I dug through my old collection and found, to my delight, two Gretzky rookie cards. Unfortunately, although I had not handled them much and the corners were still sharp, they both came with frayed tops, a manufacturer’s error that greatly decreases their value.
I see that in 2011, a gem mint Gretzky rookie card sold for $94,000. I find this story hard to believe and doubt other Gretzky cards are worth anything close to that, even if this sale was credible. I strongly suspect my own two cards are worth a few hundred each, which is what the cards appear to go for on eBay.
Probably me just holding this card to be photographed with my sweaty paws cut its value in half.
In any case, they’re not for sale. Though, I suppose, just like Peter Pocklington, if the price is right …
That’s part of the joy and craze of memorabilia, isn’t it, that thought that somehow these physical tidbits of memory, these icons of past obsession, might be worth something? I’ll hold on to that.
P.S.: Now that I think of it, I actually have another cool piece of Gretzky memorabilia. Somewhere in my desk, I have the official message that Pocklington read at the press conference where he sold Gretzky to Los Angeles. That’s a keeper, too. A historical document, that one is. How to submit: On Facebook: Post your photo and comment to our Edmonton Journal Sports Facebook page
On Twitter: Tweet your photo and comment, using the #ShowUsYour99 hashtag.
On Instagram, post your photo and comment, using the #ShowUsYour99 hashtag
Via email: Send us a message at showusyour99@ edmontonjournal.com
Regular mail: c/o Edmonton Journal Sports, 10006 101 Street, Edmonton, Alta., T5J 0S1.
Or you can drop it off at the Journal building downtown. Give us a call first at 780-4295372. Deadline for submissions: June 28.