DALLAS – Less than six months ago, Heritage Auctions set the world auction record for a hockey trading card when it sold a gem-mint example of Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oiler’s rookie card for $1.29 million. The firm has more than doubled that figure when it sold – in a recently announced private sale – the only other known gem-mint card, which has never previously come to market, for $3.75 million.

Both the buyer and the seller have asked to remain anonymous, but in a May 27 press release announcing the transaction, Heritage quoted the buyer as saying, “Throughout many years of collecting, this card has always been our ‘white whale.’ Our family is thrilled to become the new guardians of this world-class hobby treasure.”