Oddball Gold

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last couple of months, you certainly heard about the recent auction sale of a Wayne Gretzky 1979 O-Pee-Chee Rookie Card for a whopping 1.2 million dollars. The owner of the card, Patrick Bet David who many know for his YouTube Channel “Valuetainment”, purchased the card along with the 1979 Topps version of the card just under 2 years ago for a total of 540K. The two combined PSA 10 copies sold this past month for a grand total of 2.2 million netting the owner a cool 1.6+ million dollar profit. This one transaction is a microcosm of the entire crazy sports card world that we are currently experiencing that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Many collectors and sports card investors are very aware of the main heavy hitter holy grail cards of the hobby, such as the 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan RC, the 1979 OPC Wayne Gretzky RC, and the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle to name a few. However, what many may not know about are the less sought after and more scarce off brand cards of these superstars from that same year or rookie card timeframe. As a lifelong collector, these were always the cards that peaked my interest more than the main RC that everyone else was chasing. Even as a kid in the 80’s getting started in the hobby, the oddball cards always caught my attention. I mean the 86 Fleer MJ is an awesome card don't get me wrong, but is it as cool or even as rare as his 1985 Nike Promo card or his 85 Interlake card? I’d argue not even close in the case of the Nike card. To this day his Nike Promo card is one of the coolest shots of MJ I’ve ever seen on a card. And it pre-dates his 86 Fleer RC and is arguably more scarce. The same can be said for the 1981 Wayne Gretzky Red Rooster “Long Hair Version” Sticker.

This is arguably the most rare of any Gretzky card. The sticker is incredibly condition sensitive and there are a handful of variations of the card with the others all showing Gretzky with short hair. The long hair version is the only card of Gretzky ever with long locks. He looks more like he’s auditioning for the role of “Spicolli” from Fast Times at Ridgemont High then about to become the greatest hockey player to ever put on skates.

If you’re a football card collector I’m sure you know all about the 1986 Topps set and all the major Hall of Fame Rookie Cards that grace that set. Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Reggie White, Bruce Smith, and others all have rookie cards in 86 Topps. But, are you aware that Young, White, Jim Kelly and Herschel Walker all have cards that pre date their NFL debuts in the Topps 1984 USFL set? For those unaware, the USFL was an upstart league that perished after just two seasons in the mid 80’s. Topps put out two sets in both 1984 and 1985 to highlight some of the college standouts that choose to sign contracts with the USFL rather than enter the NFL draft. Among those players were star quarterbacks Steve Young and Jim Kelly along with Heisman trophy winner Herschel Walker and star defensive stalwart Reggie White.

As a confessed huge fan of oddball cards, I would argue that as a collector these lesser known and in some cases much more scarce cards are more alluring than their mainstream versions. Most of these cards are still trading for just a fraction of the cost of the mainstream cards. In the case of the 86 Fleer MJ vs the 85 Nike Promo MJ the Fleer sells for over 10x the price of the Nike. One could argue that the Nike is the more undervalued card and has more room for future growth. I would definitely make this argument in some cases where the scarcity is much greater than the mainstream card like it is in the case of the Red Rooster Long Hair Gretzky. While the 79 OPC Gretzky sold for 1.2 million in a PSA 10, you’re likely to never find the Red Rooster in anything graded higher than an 8 and those can still be bought for under 4 figures. Quite the Difference...

As our Hobby grows and the sports card world gains more popularity I find it both challenging and enjoyable to try to find avenues that not every collector or investor is focusing on. Trying to find value is something we are all chasing after and for this lifelong collector I see tons of value in off brand cards that while they may not be at the top of everyone’s want list now they definitely have some potential to be in the future.