Top 10 Modern Wrestling Rookie cards outside of the 1982-83 wrestling all stars set.

eagles33

Since I love lists I decided to start a topic about wrestling cards. For the sake of the discussion ive decided to exclude the 82 and 83 all stars set only because I think 9 out of the top 10 cards would come out of those sets and I wanted hear some opinions on other sets... I agree with dpeck it's the 52 topps of wrestling cards.. No debating that. Anyways.. Here is my list. It is based solely on my opinion and just trying get a discussion going while my wife watches real housewives of new jersey and befor Monday night football. In no peticular order

10) 1985 OPC series 2 Macho Man

9) 1985 OPC Rowdy Rody Piper

8) 1987 OPC Bret Hart

7) 1985 Wrestling All Stars Road Warriors

6) 1988 Wonderama Sting

5) 1986 Carnations Road Warriors (first card that is not hand cut and a very rare set)

4) 1989-90 WWF Wrestling Super Stars Ultimate Warrior

3) 1976 Yamakatsu New Pro Wrestling Andre the Giant

2) 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz The Rock

1) 1995 Cardz WCW Main Event Steve Austin

The last 2 cards might be to common but I felt they were the only cards from that era that deserved to be mentioned.

Honorable mention..

1991 Merlin The Undertaker
1985 OPC The Britishbulldogs
1989 wwf superstars The Rockers (Shawn Michaels)
1989 wwf superstars Demolition

Real wrestling cards the deserve to be mentioned

1972 Panini Munich Dan Gable
1998 Heroes of Wrestling Randy Couture

Dpeck100

I think one card that must be added to the list is the 1973 Andre The Giant paper card.

While I am not a huge fan of the paper cut out cards, there have been some strong prices for these cards and the Andre especially. A PSA 9 example sold for $1,500.

You did a great job of listing the most important cards and there are very few others that I can think of.

eagles33

I thought about including the paper cards. The 73 Andre, 78 flair and 81 hogan all could be added... I just have a tough time considering them cards since they are basically handcut newspaper stock.. the 78 and 81 cards are huge too and barely resemble a traditional trading card. I know they have sold well.. This is just my personal opinion of those cards. If the Andre sold for 1500 then clearly at least 2 people really like them.

Dpeck100

1989 Market Scene



I would like to get an Ultimate Warrior card one day. I think a high grade example could do quite well of that card. These are tough to find and very few cards from the three sets have been graded.

Dpeck100

I like your inclusion of the OPC cards for the Bret Hart and The Roddy Piper card. With Bret being so popular in Canada I think the OPC could do very well in high grade. The Topps too but since he is an icon there and they generally collect OPC I think it would command more then the Topps.


I would like to buy one of the boxes of OPC Series I on EBAY but they are way over priced. I would pay $250 or so for a box but not $450 to $650.


I have been disappointed at how little interest there has been in the Randy Savage card. I do not regret buying a large number in search of high grade examples for my collection but it has certainly not done very well in price for how tough that card is.

The Road Warriors Carnation card is one of my favorite cards and I think it still has great potential for appreciation.

I also think the 85 Wrestling All Stars could do great in a holder too.

The 1988 Wonderama Sting is a popular card and I think now that the factory sets are hard to come by that card still has some potential. I sold my last PSA 9 for $154 which I was very pleased with. I sold the signed copy for $150 as well.

NHLfightguy

Good list Eagles on rookies.

I'd like to see a list of the top signed certified autograph list.

eagles33

The market scene cards are really tough to find and very condition sensitive. I bought 3 set when a seller in the uk had them and got 2 warriors that were a psa 6 at best and was lucky to get one that graded an 8. The blue backs bleed through to the front. It looks like he got some new stock because I thought the hogan was sold out.

I went with opc over topps because I thought the topps cards were just way over produced.

ROCKDJRW

Not top 10 (yet) but in the past decade you have to mention this card. Scan stolen from Ebay.

ROCKDJRW

sorry guys not sure why image is so huge.

Dpeck100

I happened to notice there is a red parallel version of that and one sold for $125.

The modern pack busters are all over the card.

ROCKDJRW

I've got one of each i'm hoping to get signed.

eagles33

I haven't really watched wrestling since wrestlemania 6.. And got back into a little during college with Rock... I don't know cm punk at all.. But that's not say he couldn't crack my rookie card checklist. One certified auto that I think could actually have potential is the 98 comic images The Rock auto. The set was mass produced but the autos were somewhat limited.

Dpeck100

CM Punk is a top guy in today's wrestling world but would not of made the roster in the 1980's in my opinion.

One time he tried to get in backstage in Madison Square Garden and the staff did not even recognize him. If you are the champ this is not good.

The Rock auto card is a great card and one I am somewhat interested in. His run in in the late 90's was incredible and both him and Stone Cold Steve Austin drew huge money.

Stone Cold has an auto card but it is not a rookie.

I am not sure if you would call this a card or not but a Shawn Michaels Midnight Rockers backer card from his AWA Remco figure would be sweet to have and get signed.

ROCKDJRW

I think the Bill Goldberg college football card would be a cool one to get signed as well. He's not one of my favorites but he was huge for a time during the Monday Night Wars!

Dpeck100

Rock that is an excellent idea on the Goldberg card. If you can find a pic of it post it I would be interested to see what it looks like.

He was a huge draw for a time and when we went to see him at the Orlando Arena I thought the roof was going to blow off the place. He got an insane reaction when he was on that run.

He won the title from Hogan in the Georgia dome shortly after and they sold out the 39,000 seats in a matter of days.

Goldberg


Goldberg has a certified auto in the WCW/NWO set that is popular. There is a lot of interest in those auto cards and a good selection of wrestlers in the sets.

Dpeck100

1988 Goldberg



This is a very cool card. I will have to keep an eye out for this one next time it comes up for sale.

ROCKDJRW

I used to look for that card regularly. I'm bummed I missed that one!

jswieton

The Ultimate Warrior's best rookie card is generally viewed to be his Wrestling All-Stars card but I actually found it more difficult to find a decent 1989 Classic card. Classic used the same set for their 1990 set and the only difference is that his 89 version has a small line of print on the back stating that it was released in 1989. Before finding a true 1989 rc I purchased 5-6 Classic cards that were advertised as being his 89 version, but were in fact his 1990 card before finding his 1989 card.

eagles33

The site referenced above that has the wwf super stars cards as quite a few 89 classic cards. Very cool ultimate warrior cards. I was wondering who had the signed one.

bladefox

Another notable: 2002 Fleer Royal Rumble John Cena RC. Sales have been going for around $10+ on the ebay

bladefox

P.S. good call on the 1985 OPC Bret Hart card, I had his Topps RC signed at Frank N' Sons show signing last month. Nice guy too.

Statman

On the 1989 Market Scene cards - is it worth grading some like Ultimate Warrior or Rockers (w/Michaels) if they are only about PSA 6? Or would it just be better to sell them raw? I picked up a lot of 10 singles in a bigger wrestling lot recently. Unfortunately small scans led to cards that were in a little lesser condtion than I hoped, but it's still cool to get them. About the only one that may be an 8 or better is Miss Elizabeth.

eagles33

I wouldn't bother grading if you think it would grade less than a 8. It's a tough set to find. Nice score that the cards you got had the warrior and rockers card. What is the date on the back of the warrior card. I've never seen one with 1989. I'm wondering if there are versions with 89 on the back

KNAPP

I don't think you can go wrong with the 1973, 1978, and 1981 cut cards. Does anyone know how many magazines were produced? I recently got a few cards back from PSA and they look great in holders.

eagles33

I had a really nice 78 flair that graded a 9. It was the first one ever graded. I did ok on it but think it would prob do better today since they seem a little more popular. Personally I wasn't a fan of the paper thin stock or the post card size on the 78 and 80. I really like the 1976 yamakatsu cards. I'm still working with psa on grading these. I think it will just be s matter of time since they already grade the yamakatsu baseball and Star Wars cards

KNAPP

Eagles33, do you have any more information on the Andre Japanese cards? What years, set size, how many different cards of Andre? Also, if you're looking to trade or sell those Andre's just let me know. I specialize in boxing and wrestling. Thanks, Greg

eagles33

The smaller cards were from a Japanese manufacturer called yamakatsu from 1976. This is a partial checklist that I have been able to piece together. I have both Andre cards and one inoki. I'm still working with psa to get these slabbed. I plan on keeping one for my rookie card collection an would prob sell the other one once they are slabbed.
#1 Inoki and Sakaguchi
#2 Bill White
#3 Antonio Inoki
#6 Kantaro Hoshino
#7 Antonio Inoki(vs Sakaguuchi)
#10 Antonio Inoki
#13 McGwire Brothers
#14 Inoki vs Gotch
#15 Seiji Sakaguchi
#21 McGwire Brothers
#22 Kotetsu Yamamoto
#23 Inoki vs Singh
#24 Tiger Jeet Singh
#25 Andre the Giant
#26 Johnny Powers
#27 Antonio Inoki
#28 Tiger Jeet Singh
#29 Andre the Giant
#30 Inoki vs Singh
#31 Antonio Inoki
#32 Seiji Sakaguchi
#33 Karl Gotch
#34 Antonio Inoki
#35 Royal Kangaroos
#38 Stan Starjack
#39 Seiji Sakaguchi
#40 Antonio Inoki

Here are some scans of other cards in the set



This is the album

wrestlingcardking

The Market Scene cards would be fun to go about and try to get an autographed set of them. They are perfect for autos and rare to find in comparison to other wrestling cards from this era.

KNAPP

Eagles33, keep me posted when you decide to sell that Andre. Great cards I might say.

Mdube16

The Rock had a 1994 University of Miami team card. It was part of a sheet of perforated cards given out at one of the games. I have 2 of them. You can see Dwayne Johnson in the 3rd row, 2nd card in.

wrestlingcardking

I'd like one of those!

wrestlingcardking

I'd like th Ray Lewis and Warren Sapp too, those are neat cards.....

wrestlingcardking

I like the large card of Hussein Arab too!

Dpeck100

Mdube if you want to consider selling one of those I am interested.

Yankees001

The Greatest Wrestling Card ever is the 1987 Topps Wrestlemania card of The Honk Man. Greatest Rookie card ever.

Long Live the Greatest Intercontintal Champion EVER!!!!

Dave

SumoMenkoMan

These 1976 Yamakatsu Mini Cards pop up on the Japanese auction market from time to time. I can help fill in the holes of the checklist if interested. There are 3-4 different albums as well from this set. I've only seen 3, but most mini card sets have 4.

The biggest challenge with these cards is condition as they are full-bleed photos and as you would expect show corner dings and edge wear pretty easily. Also, there are presumably gold-stamped winner card versions of all the cards in the set. It's unclear whether each card was stamped or just certain cards from the set. There just aren't enough of the cards around any more to find out. Pulling one of these winner cards was the only way for kids to get an album. And finding an uncancelled one is extremly hard no matter what mini card set it is. I have a few dozen winner cards for the 1975 Sumo Wrestling Set spread over 7 different cards and I have only ever been able to find 4 uncancelled cards. Likewise, the 1977 Star Wars Yamakatsu Mini Card Set has 36 cards in the set and I've only seen winner cards for about 12 different cards in that set.

wrestlingcardking

If we can checklist the set it would be better odds of having PSA slab them.

eagles33

Also if you have any scans of the original packaging or advertising material it would be helpful. Do you have any pics of one of the cards with the gold stamp? I never knew about those. Very interesting. An Andre with a the stamp could be a heck of a find

eagles33

SumoMan
I tried PMing you but it wasn't turned on. Do you know anything about these cards or what the text on the backs say. I'm told they are from 1978 promoting a movie called inside the square jungle but I don't have any concrete info

SumoMenkoMan

Wrestling Card King,

A checklist shouldn't be too hard...might take a few months to complete it as this set is somewhat hard to find. I did a quick search over through the Japanese internet realm and didn't produce anything usable. I'll see what I can dig up as far as a box. I have several images of the albums. Will have to dig deeper.

Here is a picture of some cancelled "Winner Cards":




Eagles33,

Those cards appear to be a special set from the 1976 Andre the Giant and Inoki match. Not for certain though. The Kings of the Square Ring have a lot of different pictures and people represented on the cards. Those cards are a little taller and skinner than the standard mini cards. Muhammad Ali, Andre the Giant, Inoki and various other wrestlers, fighters and boxers were on those cards. I've attached a few images below:




I hope this helps!

eagles33

Great thanks for the info. Let me know if you can dig up any scans of the packaging ect... It would be great to get these slabbed

SumoMenkoMan

Eagles33,

I just picked up a lot of 30 of these 1976 Yamakatsu New Japan Pro Wrestling Mini Cards over in Japan including both of the Andre the Giant cards. It should also help fill in most of the holes in the checklist you started. I never did ask, but how did you come up with the 1976 date on the set? I heard it from a collector in Japan as well once a while back, but I never asked him how he came up with the 1976 date either. Also, no luck on finding a photo of the box and an unopened pack yet from this set. I'm still looking though. I consider it a personal challenge to find something.

Wrestling Card King,

Once we get the checklist somewhat finalized, is that something you would be able to put on your website?

Thanks!

scashaggy

Like the Rock, Goldberg also had a team issued college card.

BenG76

Now my wantlist keeps getting longer.

I picked up a 1967 Topps Wahoo McDaniel football card a while back. I sent it to PSA and got a 6.5. He has another football card from 67 as well but I have not ran across one yet other than the one with a buy it now on Ebay. Wahoo was on of my favorites back in the day.

I will try to post a scan of the card in the next day or so.

Any other cards of wrestlers playing other sports worth looking for?

ROCKDJRW

Ernie Ladd and Steve McMicheal could be added.

BenG76

<< <i>Ernie Ladd and Steve McMicheal could be added. >>



I actually got McMichael to sign a football card by TTM a while back.

Ladd would be a good on to get some cards of as well.

markmac

Angelo Mosca had a CFL card in the early 60s. Leon White or "Big Van Vader" also had a few professional cards I think. He was with the Rams for a time.

Statman

Do you think there will be much of a market for newer graded wrestling rookie cards - say 1995 to now? Obviously some have started to catch on, like Cena and Punk, but what about guys like Orton, Jericho, Guerrero, Goldberg, etc... What got me thinking of this was trying to collect the rookie card of all the people that have won the WWF/WWE Chamionship, starting with Buddy Rodgers back in 1963.

Will people ever want to collect rookies like that, or are they really just going after the more iconic figures, such as Andre, Hogan, Flair, etc...?

eagles33

I don't really think the modern cards will catch on as much as the 80s cards just because I don't think wrestling is as popular as it was then. I also think that the peak of baseball cards was around the same time of the peak of the wff so there are a lot of people from era might have an interest in getting a hulk hogan rookie. I also never would have expected the kind of prices that wrestling cards from era have been selling at either. I made a list a while back of the rookie cards of the first 30 wwf heavyweight champs. You should prob replace the rock with the football card. I also excluded the paper handcut cards

1 Buddy Rogers 1955 Parkhurst
2 Antonio Inoki 1983 Wrestling All-Stars 27 (also has a 1976 yamakatsu not yet recognized by psa)
3 Ivan Koloff 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 24
4 Pedro Morales 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 14
5 Stan Stasiak
6 Bruno Sammartino 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A 13
7 Billy Graham 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 1
8 Bob Backlund 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 12
9 The Iron Sheik 1982 Wrestling All-Stars-Series B 25
10 Hulk Hogan 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A 2
11 André the Giant 1982 All Stars-Series A 1 ( also has a 1976 yamakatsu not yet recognized by psa)
12 Randy Savage 1985 OPC Wwf
13 The Ultimate Warrior 1989 Classic Wwf 127 (or 89-90 wwf superstars)
14 Sgt. Slaughter 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series B (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 14
15 The Undertaker 1991 Merlin 40
16 Ric Flair 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A 27
17 Bret Hart 1987 OPC Wwf 1
18 Yokozuna 1993 Merlin 10
19 Diesel 1995 Merlin 15
20 Shawn Michaels 1989 Classic Wwf 11
21 Sycho Sid 1991 WCW Premiere Edition Trading Cards(Impel) 24
22 Steve Austin 1995 WCW Main Event Trading Cards (Cardz) 29
23 Kane 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz 17
24 The Rock 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz 8
25 Mankind 1995 BBM Pro Wrestling 112 (Japanese card as cactus jack)
26 Triple H 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz 16
27 Vince McMahon 1993 Merlin 124
28 The Big Show 1999 Wwf SmackDown! Trading Cards (Comic Images) 4
29 Kurt Angle 2001 Wwf WrestleMania (Fleer) 51
30 Chris Jericho 1998 Topps WCW Wrestling 19

BenG76

<< <i>I don't really think the modern cards will catch on as much as the 80s cards just because I don't think wrestling is as popular as it was then. I also think that the peak of baseball cards was around the same time of the peak of the wff so there are a lot of people from era might have an interest in getting a hulk hogan rookie. I also never would have expected the kind of prices that wrestling cards from era have been selling at either. I made a list a while back of the rookie cards of the first 30 wwf heavyweight champs. You should prob replace the rock with the football card. I also excluded the paper handcut cards

1 Buddy Rogers 1955 Parkhurst
2 Antonio Inoki 1983 Wrestling All-Stars 27 (also has a 1976 yamakatsu not yet recognized by psa)
3 Ivan Koloff 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 24
4 Pedro Morales 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 14
5 Stan Stasiak
6 Bruno Sammartino 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A 13
7 Billy Graham 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 1
8 Bob Backlund 1983 Wrestling All Stars Series A (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 12
9 The Iron Sheik 1982 Wrestling All-Stars-Series B 25
10 Hulk Hogan 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A 2
11 André the Giant 1982 All Stars-Series A 1 ( also has a 1976 yamakatsu not yet recognized by psa)
12 Randy Savage 1985 OPC Wwf
13 The Ultimate Warrior 1989 Classic Wwf 127 (or 89-90 wwf superstars)
14 Sgt. Slaughter 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series B (Pro Wrestling Enterprises) 14
15 The Undertaker 1991 Merlin 40
16 Ric Flair 1982 Wrestling All-Stars Series A 27
17 Bret Hart 1987 OPC Wwf 1
18 Yokozuna 1993 Merlin 10
19 Diesel 1995 Merlin 15
20 Shawn Michaels 1989 Classic Wwf 11
21 Sycho Sid 1991 WCW Premiere Edition Trading Cards(Impel) 24
22 Steve Austin 1995 WCW Main Event Trading Cards (Cardz) 29
23 Kane 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz 17
24 The Rock 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz 8
25 Mankind 1999 Wwf SmackDown! Trading Cards (Comic Images) 46 has an earlier Japanese card but couldn't find it
26 Triple H 1998 Comic Images Wwf Wrestling Superstarz 16
27 Vince McMahon 1993 Merlin 124
28 The Big Show 1999 Wwf SmackDown! Trading Cards (Comic Images) 4
29 Kurt Angle 2001 Wwf WrestleMania (Fleer) 51
30 Chris Jericho 2001 Wwf WrestleMania (Fleer) 54 >>




I think Mankind aka Cactus Jack as well The Big Show and Chris Jericho should have cards that predate the ones listed from the days they were in WCW. Great list by the way. I would have to look into it more but I am am almost 100% sure at least Jericho and Big Show were in WCW sets before they went to the WWF.

I have seen a picture of the Japanese BBM Cactus Jack possibly on here as it was autographed and graded by PSA.

BenG76

Ok after digging around a bit it looks like Jericho and The Giant aka Big Show had cards in the 98 Topps WCW/NWO Series 1 Jericho was card #19 and the Giant #7.

Also both Cactus Jack and Steve Austin had cards in 1993 WCW magazine Collectors special #3. Austin card #10 and Cactus Jack #12. Not sure exactly what these are yet though. Maybe these arent too common I have not really looked so far.