Wayne Gretzky’s hockey cards are unsurprisingly among the most desired and expensive in the hobby.
Hockey card collectors go crazy for cards featuring “The Great One”.
Few players ever dominate a sport the way that Gretzky did with Hockey, and the Hall of Famer is considered by many to be the best player that the NHL has ever seen.
Luckily for collectors, his outstanding career is immortalized through an array of great hockey cards, released during and after his playing days.
The 5 Must-Have Wayne Gretzky Cards
5. 1997-98 Upper Deck Game Jersey Autograph Wayne Gretzky #GJBS
A rare, blockbuster card, the ‘97-’98 UD Game Jersey Wayne Gretzky card is his first to feature a piece of game-used jersey, which is cut from his 1997 All-Star game jersey.
There’s a patch only version of the card, but it’s this hard-signed autograph version that stands out as one of his best cards ever; It’s hand-numbered to only 99 copies.
Upper Deck’s Game Jersey cards from the late-90s remain popular today, and this Gretzky gem is valuable, if you can find one.
4. 2009-10 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Flashback Autograph Wayne Gretzky #78P
The Upper Deck Exquisite Collection is a high-end brand, and this is definitely a high-end Gretzky card.
The ‘09-’10 UD Exquisite Collection included a Rookie Patch Flashback subset, with stars from multiple sports; The card throws back to the popular ‘03-’04 Exquisite RPA design, and pays homage to The Great One’s rookie season, with the Edmonton Oilers.
The rare card is numbered to only 25 copies, and features an on-card blue ink signature, with the game-used jersey piece; It’s a valuable card, and for me, it’s one of Gretzky’s greatest ever cards.
3. 2012-13 Fleer Retro ‘97-’98 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Wayne Gretzky #9
The design of this one will be familiar to many; The 2012-13 Fleer Retro set included a subset of Precious Metal Gems cards, with a throwback to the popular 1997-98 Metal Universe PMG basketball and football cards.
There’s actually 3 versions of this one: Red (/100), blue (/50) and green (/10).
The green version is the pick of them, with it being the rarest, and the most valuable, but all 3 feature the exciting colored foil design and look awesome.
2. 1980-81 O-Pee-Chee / 1980-81 Topps Wayne Gretzky #250
I know that these 2 are different cards, but because they’re virtually identical, I’m listing them together; The O-Pee-Chee cards are essentially the rarer Canadian counterpart to the Topps card.
This second-year card shows an action shot of The Great One for the Oilers, on the back of his historic, record-breaking rookie season.
The O-Pee-Chee version is rarer than the Topps card, and more valuable; It’s one of Wayne Gretzky’s most sought-after and treasured cards.
1. 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee / 1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky #18
It’ll come as a surprise to no one to see his ‘79-’80 rookie card at number 1 – It’s arguably the most iconic hockey card ever released, and none of Gretzky’s other cards get close in terms of popularity and value.
It features the young Hall of Famer at the start of his incredible NHL career, with the instantly recognizable, but damage prone, blue border.
Again, same as the second-year card above, these are 2 separate cards (Topps & O-Pee-Chee), but they’re almost identical, and I’m listing them together.
The O-Pee-Chee version is rarer and a lot more valuable than the Topps card, and it’s without doubt the must-have card for any Gretzky collector, if the budget allows. You can expect to pay top dollar for it.
