Somewhere, between Niagara Falls and Hamilton Ontario on a vast piece of farmland sits this simple little forgotten homestead.
Located several meters off a main road, over an old rotten bridge, nestled in between overgrown bushes and trees, along a small stream that snakes across the field, this home would have once been a bustling farm.
Today, the empty shell of a farmhouse sits, forgotten and decaying, home to turkey vultures and raccoons. But, there was a small surprise waiting to be found beneath an old plastic tarp on the kitchen floor.
The hockey card that I found in this house features Wayne Gretzky in an Indianapolis Racers jersey. The card was produced by National Sports Cards and may be the only card ever printed by the ghost company. The Gretzky WHA card was #1 in a series of 1.
The card isn’t a fake since a fake would be counterfeiting an existing card. This was simply an unauthorized card featuring a new angle of the “ Great one “.
Wayne Gretzky played in the World Hockey Association for one season 1978-1979, the last season for the WHA. He began with the Racers, but was traded to the Edmonton Oilers after just 8 games.
Since the last O-Pee-Chee card was produced in 1977-78, Gretzky never officially had his picture on a card during his short lived career in the rebel league. Of course the Wayne Gretzky rookie card was part of the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee/Topps series as a member of the Edmonton Oilers.
This National Sports Cards Wayne Gretzky card (commonly called The Red Rooster) features a photo of Gretzky in a Racers jersey on the front with his name, the team and 1978 printed on the bottom. The card is bordered in beautiful Blood red.
The back features a rather informative (but plagiarized) blurb about Waynes start in the WHA.
This card has apparently become quite an item among collectors. It is not known how many of these cards were originally put into circulation since it was printed in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s.
Online, this card is listed from $4.99 all the way up to $417 and several other values in between.
