Offered is a TYPE I black and white head and shoulder photograph of all-time National Hockey League legend Wayne Gretzky, captured in 1979 at a press conference. The 7x10-inch photograph is stamped on the back with the date “Sep 28 1979” in red.

Gretzky is portrayed with short hair, in a light-colored sport coat with a dark, open collar shirt, speaking at a press conference.  In 1978, the 18-year-old Gretzky signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), where he briefly played before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When the WHA folded, the Oilers were one of four franchises (Hartford, Winnipeg an Quebec) who joined the NHL, where he established many scoring records and led his team to four Stanley Cup championships. In his first NHL season, 1979–80, Gretzky was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player (the first of eight in a row) and tied for the scoring lead with Marcel Dionne with 137 points.

The photograph has been determined to be authentic and graded TYPE I by PSA/DNA (1P07944). The characteristics of the image, paper stock, reverse stampings and notations are consistent with those of a TYPE I photograph, which indicates a first-generation photograph, developed from the original negative within approximately two years of when the photo was taken.

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