The “Holy Grail” Wayne Gretzky rookie card case is going back on the market.
In February, Heritage Auctions made headlines by selling a case of 1979 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards, stored away for decades in Regina, Saskatchewan, for $3.72 million. It’s a case that included 16 sealed boxes with 48 packs per box and more than 10,000 total cards, and the potential to pull a stack of Gretzky rookie cards. It was a story of discovery, nostalgia and treasure hunting, until the original auction winner didn’t pay the tab.
Now, thanks to that unpaid bill, collectors will have another shot at it.
The Director of Sports Auctions for Heritage, Chris Ivy, said the auction house discussed options on how to proceed with the consignors of the case and ultimately decided to put it back up for sale in its upcoming Winter Sports Catalog Auction in a twist to an increasingly bizarre story.
After downing Red Bulls to stay up late and win the initial auction, Jack Arshawsky told the CBC in April that his passion for the hobby went away when he saw the reaction of others who lost out on the case. He said he paid $3 million of the total price upfront while Heritage held the case in its vault, pending payment of the outstanding balance.
However, according to Heritage Auctions, no payment was made by Arshawsky.
“I can say that no payment or deposit of any kind was ever made to Heritage by the winning bidder,” Ivy said, via email.
Arshawsky claimed to have offered the case to prominent business owners and celebrities, attempting to find a suitable buyer for it, but was unsuccessful.
“I just hope that whoever gets it is someone who really appreciates this kind of an item,” Arshawsky told The Athletic, noting how serious collectors are about such rare finds. “They live and breathe it. … It’s like a religion to them.”
Arshawsky said he had no regrets about getting involved in the bidding.
“It was a lot of fun, actually,” he said.
Before bidding opens on a Heritage auction, every participant is vetted by the company to ensure that they are credit-worthy, Ivy said. After winning an auction, a buyer receives an invoice via email within 12 hours of the close outlining all of the costs associated with the purchase. Typically a buyer has a two-week window to pay for the item, Ivy said.
It is extremely rare for someone to fail to complete a sale. It has happened in less than 1 percent of Heritage auctions, Ivy said.
“We’ve never had a situation quite like this where a buyer who went to the press and essentially announced that he was looking to sell the item prior to making any sort of payment for it,” Ivy said. “It’s very, very odd circumstances.”
“It’s just unfortunate that this gentleman participated and appears to have either no intention or didn’t have the ability to pay for it,” Ivy continued.
After all avenues were exhausted to complete the sale with Arshawsky, the Saskatchewan family that consigned the cards decided against pursuing legal action and agreed to put it back up for auction, Ivy said.
The botched sale isn’t expected to negatively impact the value of the case, Ivy added. Despite the amount of media attention given to the item, no one has come forward with any other unopened cases, which Ivy said underscores the belief that it is the only one.
“When you’re dealing with a one-of-one piece like this, the true value and the rarity in it. It’ll be interesting to see how it performs,” Ivy said. “I think it’s going to be in the same ballpark — and maybe 20 percent, one way or the other. There is a chance it could sell for more.”
The collection will go back up for auction this weekend.
In May of 2021, a Gretzky rookie card graded in Gem Mint PSA 10 condition, of which there are only two in the world, sold for a record $3.75 million. Heritage estimates there are about 27 Gretzky cards in the case, though their condition is unknown.
A family in Saskatchewan discovered the unopened case while cleaning out a packed spare bedroom in their father’s house. There were 15 bidders for the box during the initial auction last February, Heritage told media at the time. When the final $3.72 million bid was set, the family — which chose to remain anonymous — was said to be ecstatic and “over the moon” by the offer. It was one of the highest-priced items ever sold by the auction company, Jason Simonds, the company’s sport card specialist, told CBC News at the time. Heritage went on to sell Babe Ruth’s game-worn 1932 “called shot” jersey in August for $24 million, a record for a piece of sports memorabilia.
The 1979 O-Pee-Chee case was described as the “Holy Grail” of any sport from after 1970 by Steve Hart, the owner of Baseball Card exchange, who authenticated the case.
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(Photo: Courtesy of Heritage Auctions)
