1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky #18 RC

One card, two countries

In the fall of 1979 the National Hockey League had just absorbed four teams from the defunct World Hockey Association, and with them an 18-year-old center named Wayne Gretzky. Topps put him on card #18 of its 1979-80 hockey set for the United States market, while its Canadian counterpart, O-Pee-Chee, issued the same card for Canada.

The two cards share the same photo and the same design, with sky-blue borders. The photograph was taken on November 9, 1978, at an Oilers game against the New England Whalers, while Gretzky was still playing in the WHA.

More Topps cards were produced for the larger American market than O-Pee-Chee printed for Canada, and the gap shows in the price of the top grades: in December 2020 a Topps PSA 10 brought $720,000 while an O-Pee-Chee PSA 10 brought $1.29 million at the same sale.

The Great One's first NHL season

Gretzky was born January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario. He turned professional at 17, signing with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers on June 12, 1978, and was soon sent to Edmonton, where he signed a 10-year contract on his 18th birthday. After the WHA folded on June 22, 1979, the Oilers joined the NHL.

His first NHL season, 1979-80, was the season this card was issued. He scored 51 goals with 86 assists for 137 points, tying Marcel Dionne for the league lead. His WHA season made him ineligible for the Calder Trophy, but he won the Lady Byng and became the youngest Hart Trophy winner in history.

He set the single-season marks of 92 goals in 1981-82 and 215 points in 1985-86 and finished his NHL career with 894 goals, 1,963 assists and 2,857 points. He won four Stanley Cups, was traded to Los Angeles on August 9, 1988, and played his last game on April 18, 1999. The NHL retired number 99 league-wide, and he went into the Hall of Fame that year.

A PSA 9 that went from $7,000 to $48,000

At the very top, the Topps card has seen seven figures. On December 11, 2020, a Topps PSA 10 sold for $720,000 in the same auction where an O-Pee-Chee PSA 10 brought $1.29 million. In May 2021, a Topps PSA 10 sold for just over $1 million. Sources disagree on how many PSA 10s exist: reports from 2020 and 2021 counted two, while a 2026 guide lists one.

PSA 9 copies, the grade tracked here, show the card's climb. At auction one sold for $7,170 in May 2016 and $9,560 that August. Prices stayed under $10,000 into 2019, then jumped in the pandemic boom: a PSA 9 sold for $52,000 in January 2021 and $48,000 at auction that July.

Since then PSA 9 prices have settled in the $25,000 to $38,000 range. A copy brought $37,200 at auction in October 2023, another sold for $25,000 in February 2024, and in 2026 PSA 9s sold for $31,720 in March, $30,500 in April and $37,820 in July.

Telling Topps from O-Pee-Chee

Turn the card over. The Topps back is in English only; the O-Pee-Chee back is bilingual, English and French. On the front, the O-Pee-Chee has a small yellow ink mark on Gretzky's left shoulder that the Topps does not.

The stock differs too. Topps used a darker, less bright stock, while the O-Pee-Chee is whiter and fluoresces much more intensely under a blacklight, a quick way to tell the two apart.

Both versions share the condition problem of the sky-blue borders, which show every chip along the edges. In a February 2021 count, the most common PSA grade for both the Topps and O-Pee-Chee versions was 7, which is why a PSA 9 sits near the top of the market.

The numbers

1979-80 NHL season, Edmonton (card year)

79 GP, 51 G, 86 A, 137 PTS; tied Marcel Dionne for the league points lead. Hart Trophy (youngest winner) and Lady Byng Trophy.

1978-79 WHA season (Indianapolis, Edmonton)

80 GP, 46 G, 64 A, 110 PTS

Best seasons

1981-82: 92 G, 212 PTS; 1985-86: 52 G, 163 A, 215 PTS

NHL career (1979-1999)

1,487 GP, 894 G, 1,963 A, 2,857 PTS

Honors

9 Hart Trophies, 10 Art Ross Trophies, 2 Conn Smythe Trophies, 4 Stanley Cups; number 99 retired league-wide

Hall of Fame

Inducted 1999, waiting period waived

Timeline

1. Jan 26, 1961

   Wayne Gretzky is born in Brantford, Ontario.

2. Jun 12, 1978

   Signs with the WHA's Indianapolis Racers at 17.

3. Nov 9, 1978

   The photo used on card #18 is taken at an Oilers game against the New England Whalers.

4. Jun 22, 1979

   The WHA folds; the Oilers join the NHL.

5. 1980

   Finishes his first NHL season with 137 points and the Hart Trophy.

6. Aug 9, 1988

   Traded to the Los Angeles Kings.

7. Apr 18, 1999

   Plays his final game; inducted into the Hall of Fame that year.

8. May 12, 2016

   A PSA 9 sells at auction for $7,170.

9. Dec 11, 2020

   A Topps PSA 10 sells for $720,000.

10. Jan 2021

    A PSA 9 sells for $52,000.

11. May 2021

    A Topps PSA 10 sells for just over $1 million.

12. Jul 23, 2021

    A PSA 9 sells at auction for $48,000.

13. Jul 23, 2026

    A PSA 9 sells at auction for $37,820.

The world in 1979

• Mar 29, 1979

  The Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania.

• May 25, 1979

  American Airlines Flight 191 crashes at Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

• Jul 11, 1979

  Skylab falls back to Earth.

• Sep 16, 1979

  The Sugarhill Gang release Rapper's Delight.

• Oct 17, 1979

  The Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore in seven games to win the World Series.

• Nov 4, 1979

  Iranian students seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

• Dec 3, 1979

  Eleven fans die in a crowd crush before a concert by The Who in Cincinnati.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this card every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

No completed sale at PSA 9 is on record yet. The same card at other grades:

Every grade and recorded sale for this card

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky #18 RC is number 48 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (66 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Topps and O-Pee-Chee Gretzky rookies use the same photo, taken while Gretzky was still in the WHA.
• The quickest tell is the back: English only on Topps, English and French on O-Pee-Chee.
• Only the O-Pee-Chee version has a small yellow ink mark on Gretzky's left shoulder.
• A PSA 9 that sold for $5,520 in February 2019 was worth $52,000 two years later.
• Gretzky tied for the NHL points lead in his first season but could not win rookie of the year because of his WHA season.
• In December 2020 a Topps PSA 10 sold for $720,000 at the same auction where an O-Pee-Chee PSA 10 made $1.29 million.