Wayne Gretzky’s ‘Burger King’ McFarlane figure is yours for $10K (Puck Treasures)
Puck Treasures looks to find those hidden hockey treasures from the past and present, and gives them their proper remembrance. Seen an interesting piece of hockey apparel? Send us an email at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com.
When I sit at my desk and pump out some hockey blogging gold, staring back at me surrounding my laptop are a slew of bobbleheads and a couple of McFarlane figures. They dress up a desk that otherwise would be filled with Post-It notes, legal pads, NHL preview magazines and the always fun "NHL Guide and Record" book.
There's always room for just one more bobblehead or McFarlane figure should I come across an interesting one in my travels. And then this morning I was informed that McFarlane made a very special Wayne Gretzky figure. For all the ones already created of him in an Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers or Team Canada sweater, there was one missing: No. 99 in a Los Angeles Kings "Burger King" sweater:
At first I thought maybe it was one of those custom jobs? Nope. It's real and it's spectacular. There's even a website tracking every time one of them is uncovered by a collector.
Now while this eBay seller is a saint for somehow allowing this to leave his collection, he's aiming for the sky in his asking price of $9,999 trying to cash in the fact this one is numbered -- you guessed it -- No. 99. Previous auctions of this Gretzky figure have gone in the range of $300-$400, but he must have been thinking like the NHL in a CBA negotiation and decided to ask for the moon at first. (UPDATE: As reader Ben N. points out, this seller was the winner of the linked $411 figure, which now has received a $9,600 markup.)
The figure is unique, just 250 were made, and it's not even listed on the Spawn website as part of the NHL 27 series.
Sadly, our cursory search for a Paul Kariya figure in the "duck breaking through ice" Anaheim Ducks jersey from 1995 was unsuccessful. But, if you were looking for some hockey jersey nostalgia, the Kings' website has video of the time the Kings and Ducks met when both teams sported those infamous alternate sweaters. It was 60 minutes of ugly ... and the jerseys were pretty bad, too.
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
