Gretzky RC....real or fake?

[SymphonicMetal]

The owner of our LCS bought a collection that included a 1979-80 Topps Wayne Gretzky RC. I looked it over and it appears to be legit but I know there are many fakes of this particular card.

After looking at some 79-80 cards of my own, the stock and texture of the card seems legit but I'm still not 100% certain. I'm also concerned this card may have been trimmed as it looks a little short at the top but I did not want to handle the card except for looking at the top 1/3 of the card while the bottom part stayed in the top loader. When the card is completely in the top loader the top looks funny but when it is out it looks normal.

One thing I did not like about this card is it did not come with other "like" cards. Most of the cards in this buy were late 90s/early 2000s with a few stray vintage cards like a beat up 81-82 Topps Gretzky and a 1970 Topps Jim Wynn.......talk about random.

Anyways, if anyone has any tips on this I'd really appreciate it.

 

[mm1sub]

An owner of a card shop showed me trick one time. Take a card from that set and hold a flashlight up to it . Like you would be looking through it. Do the same thing with the Gretzky and see if they are the same.

This is just a thought but I think it may be a good way to tell if it is a fake.

 

[SymphonicMetal]

The LCS owner showed me that trick and was not sure if it was true or not. Apparently it is since you found out about it too. The light did NOT go through the card which would indicate it is real. I'll take a common down this week and see if the light shows through the card as well. The texture of the card was also like my 79-80 Topps Hockey cards which is another indicator of its legitimacy.

The LCS owner showed me that light trick on some fake Star Michael Jordans and the light went through those.

Thanks for the input on this!

 

[KCLJ520]

An owner of a card shop showed me trick one time. Take a card from that set and hold a flashlight up to it . Like you would be looking through it. Do the same thing with the Gretzky and see if they are the same.

This is just a thought but I think it may be a good way to tell if it is a fake.

The LCS owner showed me that trick and was not sure if it was true or not. Apparently it is since you found out about it too. The light did NOT go through the card which would indicate it is real. I'll take a common down this week and see if the light shows through the card as well. The texture of the card was also like my 79-80 Topps Hockey cards which is another indicator of its legitimacy.

The LCS owner showed me that light trick on some fake Star Michael Jordans and the light went through those.

Thanks for the input on this!

@mm1sub @SymphonicMetal

That is REALLY interesting, I had no idea! A guy I hang with sometimes is a big Jordan collector, so I will mention this trick to him, might be good to try at shows before purchasing, he goes a lot in Missouri and I go sometimes as well. Great info!

In other related news, glad the Gretzky appears legit, that is a nice pickup!

Blessings,

Kevin

 

[shig]

I have one of these. Look st the surface of both sides of the card with it and compare to another card of that set. I tried it on my friends "Bradshaw rookie" of unknown origin as well as a Michael Jordan my uncle has had for years that he won as part of a raffle prize in the 90s (we knew it was bs at the time and so did the people running the raffle).

 

[SymphonicMetal]

Well the dealer traded away that card last night and the person who traded for it is going to get it graded by SGC. which is thought to be the strictest grading company. We should know in a few weeks how it grades out. The buyer, the seller and one other person thought it would be a 6 but I think it'll be a 4 assuming it is not trimmed which I am a little concerned about. We shall see.

 

[SymphonicMetal]

Well PSA seems to be working pretty quickly these days. The Gretzky in question was authentic and came back a PSA 4 as I thought. It did not come back altered or trimmed as I feared. To me it was a "tweener" card. It certainly was not junk but it also would not have gone into a nicer set.

 

[PRosefan1]

Well PSA seems to be working pretty quickly these days. The Gretzky in question was authentic and came back a PSA 4 as I thought. It did not come back altered or trimmed as I feared. To me it was a "tweener" card. It certainly was not junk but it also would not have gone into a nicer set.

I have a collection full of Tweener vintage. Not 9's and 10's but not 2's and 3's either. They bring me joy!!

 

[SymphonicMetal]

I have a collection full of Tweener vintage. Not 9's and 10's but not 2's and 3's either. They bring me joy!!

I agree. I just love older cards of all 4 major sports.

I only buy collections (I have not bought a pack of cards since 1992!) so I get a wide range of conditions in these purchases, I certainly build higher grade sets but I also build lower grade sets to make use those off conditioned cards That particular Gretzky would not have fit into either especially since it was such a high dollar card. I think I would have stored it with my better conditoned dups even though it was not up to NM conditionwise.

My brother sells a lot of vintage online and his theory is a PSA 6 in vintage is pretty much what we historically called NM and is the equivalent of ultra modern cards being a 9 or 10. I'd have to agree with that philosophy. I bought a 1964 Topps A. L. Bombers (Mantle/Maris/Cash/Kaline) last week and it is as nice as one could want. If mine is a 6 what on Earth does a 9 or 10 look like? Or a 7 or 8 for that matter? Weird because a 6 sounds mediocre but in vintage grading it is not. This grading stuff dries me nuts.

 

[PRosefan1]

I agree. I just love older cards of all 4 major sports.

I only buy collections (I have not bought a pack of cards since 1992!) so I get a wide range of conditions in these purchases, I certainly build higher grade sets but I also build lower grade sets to make use those off conditioned cards That particular Gretzky would not have fit into either especially since it was such a high dollar card. I think I would have stored it with my better conditoned dups even though it was not up to NM conditionwise.

My brother sells a lot of vintage online and his theory is a PSA 6 in vintage is pretty much what we historically called NM and is the equivalent of ultra modern cards being a 9 or 10. I'd have to agree with that philosophy. I bought a 1964 Topps A. L. Bombers (Mantle/Maris/Cash/Kaline) last week and it is as nice as one could want. If mine is a 6 what on Earth does a 9 or 10 look like? Or a 7 or 8 for that matter? Weird because a 6 sounds mediocre but in vintage grading it is not. This grading stuff dries me nuts.

Agreed! One only has to look at what 6's bring in to realize that. Ive seen 4's and 5's that look absolutely beautiful in my opinion. Eye of the beholder.