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Cardboard box filled with unopened hockey cards sells for more than $3.7 million at auction
An unopened cardboard box filled with packs of hockey cards from 1979-1980 sold for a whopping $3.72 million at auction on Sunday, according to Heritage Auctions.
There are 16 boxes of cards in the carton, each filled with 48 packs of O-Pee-Chee hockey cards, according to a news release from the auction house.
Heritage Auctions said the box might contain two dozen Wayne Gretzky cards from his rookie years. Gretzky, known as one of hockey’s all-time greats, played for the Edmonton Oilers at the time the cards were printed.
“We knew from the moment we heard this O-Pee-Chee case existed that it would get the attention of hockey card collectors worldwide,” said Chris Ivy, director of sports auctions at Heritage.
The box of cards was originally owned by a man who was a “rabid collector” in the 1960s and 1970s, according to Heritage Auctions.
Heritage Auctions / HA.com
“Remarkably, our consignor wasn’t aware he owned this outrageous Holy Grail case until very recent accounting of a long-forgotten pile of boxes in his home in Saskatchewan,” Heritage Auctions wrote in the item description.
The man’s son found the case behind “stacks and stacks of other stuff,” Heritage Sports card specialist and consignment director Jason Simonds said.
There were 10,752 “fresh off the factory floor” cards inside the case, which was authenticated before auction, Heritage Sports said.
According to Heritage Auctions, no other unopened case of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee cards has ever surfaced in the 21st century.
“By any metric of evaluation, it’s a thrilling miracle of survival, and one of the greatest trading card lots that Heritage has ever had the privilege to offer,” Heritage Auctions said.
The auction house has not disclosed the identity of the buyer.
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A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.