Topps or O-Pee-Chee? The debate over which issue is better to own has now gone on for about 4 decades. The O-Pee-Chee is the Canadian issue and the Topps issues were generally in the U.S. When sports fans think of Canada, hockey has to be the first thing that comes to mind – and Wayne Gretzky has to be the first hockey player that comes to mind as hockey’s GOAT.
The 1979-80 set is Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card, but card #18 is available in the Topps and O-Pee-Chee issues. So, which one is more desirable for collectors who want to own the rookie Wayne Gretzky? Most collectors in the United States would default to Topps, but in this case there is a significant difference in graded populations and in prices realized.
The blue rookie card is one which demonstrates any flaws on the corners or edges because of the colored edges and how cards were cut in 1979 and 1980. Flaws may not be as obvious as they are on the 1971 Topps baseball or the 1962 Topps football sets, but any ding or rough edge stands out visibly. O-Pee-Chee Company, Ltd. started producing trading cards in the 1930s, for baseball, football and (of course) hockey. They had a deep relationship with Topps and then with Upper Deck for trading cards.
Gretzky’s rookie card features a teenage athlete at 5’11” weighing just 165 pounds and the back of the card also noted that he debuted in the WHA at the ripe age of 17. His team is the Edmonton Oilers. The back of the card also said that Gretzky is considered the best prospect to turn professional since Guy Lafleur. The O-Pee-Chee edition offers the Lafleur reference in English and in French, but Topps is only printed in English.
A Gretzky rookie costs a lot, but first things to consider are the graded populations for this card. The Topps variation has 7,124 base grades (without + and qualifier) by PSA, with only 2 at the gem-mint PSA 10. There are also only 127 graded at PSA 9, and the rest of the grades as follows:
- 28 at PSA 8.5
- 1,212 at PSA 8
- 72 at PSA 7.5
- 1,833 at PSA 7
- 64 at PSA 6.5
- 1,565 at PSA 6
The O-Pee-Chee variation has 7,388 base grades at PSA. This card also has only 2 at the gem mint PSA 10, but it has a smaller population 91 PSA 9 cards. Here are the other PSA examples:
- 39 at PSA 8.5
- 769 at PSA 8
- 73 at PSA 7.5
- 1,189 at PSA 7
- 86 at PSA 6.5
- 1,338 at PSA 6
The reality is that there are more PSA grades of Gretzky’s O-Pee-Chee brand than the Topps cards, but there are fewer examples of the O-Pee-Chee up in the grades that have attracted collectors and investors in those higher grades. These are some recent prices seen for multiple grades by PSA:
- PSA 8 $4,550.00 for the Topps (1/19/22), but a Heritage Auction from November 2021 showed the last PSA 8 sale of $19,200.00 for the O-Pee-Chee.
- The PSA 6 level last showed a sale of $2,027.00 for the Topps variation, but the last PSA 6 in O-Pee-Chee sold for $3,999.99.
- The PSA 5 level last sold for $1,499.00 for Topps and $2,475.00 for the O-Pee-Chee.
- PSA 4 has 2 sales at $1,105.00 and $$1,113.00 for the Topps cards, but the last PSA 4 from December in the O-Pee-Chee brand sold for $1,826.00.
We also cannot forget that the PSA 10 O-Pee-Chee is now a multi-million card and is among the highest sport card prices ever seen! And the image above (by Heritage Auctions) shows just how rough the edge cuts could be back in the day.
While both the Topps and O-Pee-Chee versions of the Gretzky rookie easily show any dings or chipping along the blue border, the O-Pee-Chee printings are known for having more print defects and rough-cuts than the Topps card. PSA’s CardFacts also explain that the centering is often 50/40 or worse.
The SGC grading population reports show only 764 graded O-Pee-Chee rookies, with only 1 at a 10 grade and only 14 at a 9 grade. SGC’s population reports show 1,886 of the Topps variation, but the highest grade is a SGC 9 with only 7 examples.
As Gretzky’s O-Pee-Chee cards were issued in Canada, many of those cards have also never left Canada other than for grading purposes. This probably means that the U.S. graded populations of the O-Pee-Chee cards are even available less than they might look on a head-to-head view.
As with most modern cards that are high-end, counterfeit cards are out there in the Topps and O-Pee-Chee Gretzky cards. The book Spotting Fakes is a great tool to use for spotting the fake Gretzky rookies, and there is a popular video from 2021 about this. The Canadian grading company KSA, which has been used by Canadians for more than two decades, also has a video on spotting these fakes.
The long and short of the matter is that the wire-cuts for Gretzky rookie cards just made many of the cards look less appealing than other cards. And in 1979 and 1980, cards were just not printed and cut with as much care and precision as cards are made now.
Perhaps the hardest issue to contend with other than debating over Topps or O-Pee-Chee is that the Wayne Gretzky rookie cards are now well over 40 years old.
