A Wayne Gretzky 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee rookie card sold for a record price of $1.29M at auction Thursday night.
The final price make this the first hockey card to break the $1M price tag. In August 2016 the same card sold for a then-record of $465,000.
Heritage Auctions says this is just one of two Gretzky cards from that O-Pee-Chee set to get a perfect Gem Mint 10 from the Professional Sports Authenticator grading service.
More on the card’s uniqueness from Sports Collector’s Daily:
This wasn’t the only Wayne Gretzky Gem Mint 10 rookie card to set a record Thursday night. The 1979-80 Topps edition sold for $720,000. Like the O-Pee-Chee, the same card was previously sold in August 2016, but for a little over $200,000.
The photo features Gretzky during a Nov. 1978 World Hockey Association game between the Edmonton Oilers and Gordie Howe’s Hartford Whalers. The shot came from the camera of Steve Babineau, who was paid $17 to work to the game.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.