Two 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky Rookies Purchased by Just Collect

Cards Won During a Game of Knock-Downs and Leaners!
  • July 21, 2025

TWO 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie cards have proudly been purchased by Just Collect. These valuable rookie cards of The Great One were won in a game of Knock-Downs and Leaners!

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When Derek was around 10 years-old, he and his brother began playing games of Knock-Downs and Leaners. Remember playing this game as a kid with your cards? Each player places their cards on the floor, against the wall. The bottoms of each card is out about an inch so the card is leaning against the wall. Players then take a stack of cards and throw at the cards against the wall from a few feet away, aiming for other player's cards. The winner is the owner of the last card leaning on the wall! To the victor goes the spoils: you win all the cards. 

1979 O-PEE-CHEE WAYNE GRETZKY ROOKIE X2

 

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Have these same cards? Click here to sell!

When Derek was around 20, a high school student asked if he wanted all of his cards stored and placed into a binder. All of the cards Derek won as a kid weren't really stored safely. Before taking the student up on his offer, Derek decided to go through that pile of old cards. In that pile were TWO 1979 O-Pee-Chee rookie cards of Wayne Gretzky!

Wayne Gretzky won four Stanley Cup championships (1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988) with the Edmonton Oilers. "The Great One" was named NHL MVP and winner of the Hart Memorial Trophy NINE times (1980-87, 89). When Gretzky retired, he was the all-time leader in goals (894) and assists (1,963); just two of FORTY records Gretzky set.

Gretzky's rookie card is found in both the 1979 Topps set and the 1979 O-Pee-Chee (OPC) set. You're probably more familiar with Topps cards. When you were a kid, you would buy wax pack of Topps cards, rip it open, chew that stick of gum, and look for your favorite players. More known for the sports cards, Topps is actually a candy manufacturer! Topps Chewing Gum, Inc. began in 1938, long before the 1952 Topps baseball card set was released. Topps also created the gum you know today as Bazooka! O-Pee-Chee began as a confectionary company back in 1911 in London, Ontario in Canada. Like Topps, OPC used sports cards to help market their gum. In 1958, both Topps and OPC had a marketing agreement which allowed Topps to produce their cards in Canada but under the O-Pee-Chee brand. This is why Topps and OPC cards look quite similar! Topps cards were available in the United States and OPC in Canada.
 
About five years ago, Derek decided to have his two Gretzky rookie cards graded by PSA. As you see in the photo above, one card was graded a 7 out of 10 and the second graded a 4 out of 10. Currently, 14,127 Gretzky OPC rookies have been graded by PSA and and only 1,249 of those were graded higher than a 7! Just two PSA 10 Gretzky rookie cards are known to exist. The most recent sale of a PSA 10 = $1,290,000.00
 
The 1979 O-Pee-Chee set totals 396 cards and each measures 2.5" x 3.5". The blue border and team logos pop! Other stars in the set include Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull. Does Derrek own these stars, too? We asked him about other cards he won in Knock Downs and Leaners. He's going to through the rest of his cards and may have those graded by PSA, too.

APPRAISAL AND PURCHASE

Derek reached out to us for a free appraisal on our site. The retail stores are focused on selling modern products and simply don't have the time or the knowledge to carefully evaluate vintage collections. This is where we are happy to help you! We have purchased thousands upon thousands of collections and bought and sold over 50 MILLION dollars in cards. After reviewing the photos Derek provided, we then made him a fair offer that he accepted. We then paid Derek how he wanted to be paid! When you sell your collection to Just Collect, we can pay you in cash, check, or wire transfer.

The cards arrived safely to our Just Collect store here in New Jersey. Derek opted to SHIP his cards to us with our fully-insured, two-day FedEx Express account. We offer many options to appraise and purchase your collections! You're always invited to our store for an in-person visit, we can meet you and a show or convention such as the National Sports Cards Collection, and we do travel for large, high-end collections like we did for the Silver Cloud Collection from Washington. 

Just Collect has purchased many Wayne Gretzky rookie cards. Recently, we travelled to Cooperstown, NY. near the Baseball Hall of Fame to purchase a collection that also included two Gretzky OPC rookies! We also sell Gretzky rookie cards, too! We helped a young collector named Henry add a Gretzky rookie to his growing collection. Believe it or not, Henry was only 12! You can see Henry and our owner, Leighton, in a special moment HERE.

Are you interested in selling your collection? We are always buying, and we're PAYING RECORD PRICES! Here is how you can contact us today to sell your cards:

WE ARE ALWAYS BUYING

Just Collect is always buying vintage sports and non-sports cards from 1879 to 1989 as well as select modern cards. If you have a collection that you are considering selling, contact us today to discuss or get our industry-leading purchase offer. If you have a collection that you want appraised, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss your collection and help you understand the real cash value of your collection in the current marketplace. Check out the Just Collect Buy List.

We always offer a FREE APPRAISAL for your collection here at the Just Collect site. Just click here:

FREE APPRAISAL

We offer may ways to evaluate your cards other than or using our website, too.

  • Travel to Us

If you can make the trip here like the son from my hometown did for this collection- we can make a deal at the office. We once met a father-son duo that drove eight hours from Virginia to meet us to sell a Michael Jordan rookie card stored in Tupperware since 1986 - great read here

  • Come to convention

We keep a LIST of card shows we'll be attending.  Come stop by the Just Collect table and chat.

  • Meet in-person

If you have a valuable collection and want us to come to you, we'll hop on the next plane out.

  • Meet in New York City

If you're near New York City and would like to meet in a public place, our owner, Leighton, would be happy to meet you; read all the information here.

  • SHIP your collection 

If you choose to mail your cards for an appraisal, we will evaluate your cards for FREE still. If you choose not to sell the cards, we'll ship them back shipping fees paid by us!  We can offer our FedEx account with 2-day shipping, fully insured, all covered by us. Simply contact the office to set up this option.

OUR BUYING PHILOSOPHY

We've run into a wide range of people and collections over the last 25 years. Although Just Collect is known for buying vintage sports cards and especially vintage baseball cards, we are also extremely interested in buying non-sports cards, too!  

Every collection and every collector is different and we treat EVERY collection with the respect and attention that we show for our own collections. We understand that many have put their heart and souls into building their collections. So when you're ready to sell, we understand the feelings that you're going through and will work with you to help you reach a decision that is a WIN/WIN, because if you're not happy, we're not happy.

CONTACT US ANY TIME

Whether you have vintage cards or modern wax you want to sell, you can reach out to us any time! 

 

 

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