The winning bidder of more than a dozen unopened boxes of classic hockey cards uncovered in a Regina home says heB次元官网网址檚 feeling remorse over his $3.7-million-dollar purchase after hearing how sad the runner-up was upon losing out.

B次元官网网址淲hen I heard the runner-up bidder was literally devastated by missing out on acquiring this, I felt real empathy for him,B次元官网网址� Jack Arshawsky of Thornhill, Ont. said in an interview, adding heB次元官网网址檚 hoping someone famous, perhaps even Wayne Gretzky, might be interested in taking the boxes off his hands.

Heritage Auctions said the lot, which sold last month, contained 16 sealed boxes of O-Pee-CheeB次元官网网址檚 1979-80 hockey card collection, amounting to more than 10,000 cards.

Odds suggest that means there could be 25 to 30 copies of Gretzky rookie cards in the collection.

Arshawsky, who said heB次元官网网址檚 in the real-estate business, explained that heB次元官网网址檚 not a huge card collector himself but has a keen eye for value, and was keeping close tabs on online bidding for the boxes as the auction deadline loomed in February. He said he already owns one rookie Gretzky card, something that had once belonged to his uncle, which further piqued his interest.

He said he drank four cans of energy drink to stay sharp as each new bid prompted a half-hour wait for responses. There was a celebration when he won, he said, but then he watched an interview of an auction company official speaking about the second-place bidder.

B次元官网网址淚t got me thinking that IB次元官网网址檓 not really so passionate B次元官网网址� as a lot of others would be, and I decided that it should really have a home where itB次元官网网址檚 truly appreciated for the Holy Grail of hockey cards memorabilia that it is,B次元官网网址� Arshawsky said.

So far, he said heB次元官网网址檚 reached out to a litany of stars and famous collectors including Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz, professional poker player Daniel Negreanu and rapper Drake to see if theyB次元官网网址檒l take the boxes. He only wants what heB次元官网网址檚 paid for them. No one has called back yet, though.

B次元官网网址淭hese people are basically impossible to make contact with, so it seemed like the best way get in contact with them was to announce it to the world and somebody B次元官网网址� one of their friends B次元官网网址� are probably going to eventually inform them that, hey, your name was mentioned with the guy who won the auction .. and he believed that you might give these cards a good home,B次元官网网址� he said.

Arshawsky made it clear heB次元官网网址檚 got the money to cover his bid B次元官网网址� he inherited a bundle from an uncle whoB次元官网网址檇 bought farmland in the Greater Toronto Area decades ago and later sold it.

The discovery of the boxes, and the bidding to acquire them, garnered significant attention.

Jason Simonds, the sports consignment director at Heritage Auctions, said when bidding was underway that the boxes were a B次元官网网址渙nce-in-a-generation find,B次元官网网址� adding he believed it was the first time a case had been made available since 1979.

Simonds told The Canadian Press he got involved after a man and his father in Regina found the case when they were clearing out a storage room in the house. He said the father has been a longtime collector, noting he also had a set of baseball cards in the storage room worth about $200,000.

The family asked to remain anonymous.

The cards were brought to Indiana in an armoured vehicle to get it authenticated. Baseball Card Exchange, which inspected the boxes, found them to be in pristine condition and sealed.

Each box of the hockey cards contains 48 packs, and each pack has 14 cards. A pack cost 20 cents in 1979.

A mint condition Gretzky rookie card fetched $3.75 million when it was auctioned in 2021, although Simonds explained itB次元官网网址檚 likely that not all Gretzky cards within the boxes will attain the highest rating of B次元官网网址済em mint 10.B次元官网网址�

Arshawsky said the cards remain in a vault in Texas. He said heB次元官网网址檇 like them to go to someone who will display them where the public could see them, and that if no one suitable wants them, heB次元官网网址檒l give them to a former school crush who he said inspired his interest in hockey.

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