1992 WWF Merlin Gold Series Part 1 The Rocket Owen Hart of High Energy....

Dpeck100

In my search for wrestling rookie cards I came across this one and thought it was a really cool card. These are tough to find and I have purchased several sets from UK sellers.

The one issue that has plagued the Merlin cards I have purchased so far is there is an issue with the cards at the lower border that seems to be on all of them. Almost like a stapler that barely touched the cards. It is that far apart on many of them and a very small imprint on the card. I have never seen anything like it. This one only has one of the imprints but many have both.

I got in the mail today this example and it has great centering which I am thrilled about but I have no clue how PSA will handle this surface issue. If anyone has any thoughts I would like to hear them.

Owen Hart was an awesome actual wrestler and was a tremendous performer in the ring and it is a tragedy how his life ended. I have to think there are a few people out there that would be interested in this card graded.

Here are the scans.






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eagles33

Cool card. I always appreciate it when you dig up tough to find sets I have never seen before

CDsNuts

I've seen stuff like that on European issues, I know the 1990 McDonald's Pink Michael Jordan has the same deal, imprint on every card. Must be something to do with the manufacturing process over there. In my experience you're looking at an automatic 6 unless the grader misses it.

Dpeck100

Thank you. I appreciate the response.

calgarycollector

Growing up in Alberta, Owen was the man in the 80's the main attraction for Stampede Wrestling. Stampede Wrestling was a proving ground for many WWF stars, I'm sure they must have made cards, post cards at some point?

DPeck has there ever been a consolidated wrestling rookie card post? May be something to do so we can keep all these together and capture debate/agreement on what is deemed rookie cards.

Thanks for the post

Dpeck100

Here are some scans of the better cards from the Merlin sets I have purchased.



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[URL=http://s767.photobucket.com/user/dpeck100/media/Razor10_zpsdb79bc6e.jpg.html][/URL]

wrestlingcardking

nice to see scans of these cards as you do not see them often

Aric

<< <i>Cool card. I always appreciate it when you dig up tough to find sets I have never seen before >>



+1. Any idea how these were distributed? Packs?

Dpeck100

According to the website www.wrestlingtradingcards.com it references 25 card blister packs were available and I believe they came in smaller packs too for the 1992 set.

I purchased some 1991 Merlin packs yesterday from a site and they actaully have pictures of the Classic cards on them. I believe Merlin distributed those overseas and they are referred to by many sellers in the UK as Merlin cards as well.

I have yet to see any packs of the cards that are posted above and I have my eye out for them currently.

If I find any better details I will share them in this thread.

Dpeck100

I received in the mail yesterday the five packs I purchased. I was super excited when I opened them and found the cards I was actually looking for inside. As I stated there was a picture of another set that is commonly referred too as Merlin from foreign sellers and they are actually the European Classic cards and I thought that was what might be inside.


Complicating matters more is the packs say copyright 1992 and the card backs say 1991.


The packs were not in the best of shape and a handful of the cards were badly creased and they all had the same issue I referenced above. The two little dents are on the edges of all of them and the cards do not come all in the same direction in the pack so some have the issue on the top and some have it on the bottom. It did not pick up well in the scans I have already posted and you may be able to see it in the scans below.

I really like this set and think the cards are very aesthetically pleasing. There are many cards in the set that would make for great cards to get signed and I think these will present well in a PSA graded holder.

What is very interesting to me is The Undertaker came on the scene in late 1990 in the WWF after wrestling in the WCW and WCCW under other names and was instantly making his way to the top. He was billed as unstoppable and with a gimmick like he had I highly doubt anyone at the time thought he would have such a long run as one of the WWE's top guys. Clearly at this point The Undertaker has to be considered one of the top pro wrestlers of all time and he has had a tremendous career. He has been involved in a number of brutal matches and his entrance is one of the best ever and he gets a tremendous crowd reaction.



Fun fact: Undertaker won his first title on April 1, 1989 the day I turned 10.


The Undertaker




There are seven cards from the set that The Undertaker appears on and in my eyes his true base rookie is card #40. The example that I pulled from the packs that will be posted below is actually one of the checklists and is a great shot and is card #30.

I plan to continue to try and acquire more of these cards and see if I can find many that do not have the little surface issue that seems to plague these cards. The rookie card that I posted above of The Undertaker is actually in strong condition and doesn't have the surface issue so I know some exist without it. I was so disappointed when that card arrived as it was hanging out of the top of the nine pocket page it was shipped in and the upper left corner got nicked because of that. Otherwise the card looks great.

Here the scans of the pack and the cards I chose to scan were some of the bigger names and those that had the best centering and were not creased. These are the Italian version and those above are the English version. There is also a German version too.


[URL=http://s767.photobucket.com/user/dpeck100/media/MerlinPack_zps5f4bb7b4.jpg.html][/URL]








[URL=http://s767.photobucket.com/user/dpeck100/media/MerlinPackBack_zps8c644348.jpg.html][/URL]








The surface issue is right at the top of this card.




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[URL=http://s767.photobucket.com/user/dpeck100/media/Hogan1991_zpsdfb072d2.jpg.html][/URL]

SumoMenkoMan

Very nice! I really like the simple design and they aren't cluttered with a bunch of distracting graphics.

I could see how those packs could lead to cards in poor condition. I'm trying to see what the picture on the back of the wrapper is. Is it an album that you can mail away for?

Dpeck100

It is this


This price is very high relative to what I have seen others sell for but this is the exact item advertised on the back. It is a Merlin binder and the European Classic cards.


European Classic



According to the footnotes it is unknown how they were distributed and after attempting to read the pack it looks as if you could mail away for them with the binder.


I plan on trying to track down one of those sets too.

robert67

Dpeck100

I just got these back in the mail recently.


1987 OPC












1987 Topps Sticker












1987 Topps

KNAPP

[URL=http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/boxingandwrestling/media/2HulkHogan1991MerlinPSADNA10_zps3c61f278.jpg.html][/URL]

Dpeck100

Undertaker $400


This seller gets amazing prices for wrestling cards. I constantly see his items sell where he declines legit offers only to have the person go even higher. $400 is a very solid number for this card. I bought the checklist Undertaker card in a PSA 10 for $150 and figured I might have way over paid. Maybe not.

wrestlingcardking

Rejecting $350 and $375 would be insane but he clearly got another $50 out of the deal so who am I to judge? LOL.

Dpeck100

I sent a few of these off a while ago and here are some scans.

Stone193

Those cards are just stunning!

How come some companies can cut cards that nicely?

There's nothing nice than colored borders or black without chipping - sweet.

Incredible centering also.

Dpeck100

Thanks for the comment. I am not very familiar with the set in terms of it certain cards are more difficult to find centered. I too think these looks great in a holder.

I purchased a set looking for the Owen Hart and it had brutal centering so naturally I purchased a second set and it had this example which has tremendous centering and I stopped buying them since I found the card I wanted. The yellow card is from the Series II and I think I only purchased one set. In both cases centering was all over the place but once again I can't determine the difficulty of any of the cards.

I read recently that the WWE is going to finally release a DVD on Owen Hart. They have been in a long standing battle with his wife. His death was so tragic and the spot that he did wasn't necessary. It is such a shame that such a great worker and family man lost his life in that manner. For those that don't know who he is he is the brother of Bret Hart from the legendary Hart wrestling family. His final moments were spent up in the rafters with the intent to swoop down into the ring in his Blue Blazer character and the cable snapped and he plunged and hit the turn buckle and was dead on impact.

Stone193

<< <i>Thanks for the comment. I am not very familiar with the set in terms of it certain cards are more difficult to find centered. I too think these looks great in a holder.

I purchased a set looking for the Owen Hart and it had brutal centering so naturally I purchased a second set and it had this example which has tremendous centering and I stopped buying them since I found the card I wanted. The yellow card is from the Series II and I think I only purchased one set. In both cases centering was all over the place but once again I can't determine the difficulty of any of the cards.

I read recently that the WWE is going to finally release a DVD on Owen Hart. They have been in a long standing battle with his wife. His death was so tragic and the spot that he did wasn't necessary. It is such a shame that such a great worker and family man lost his life in that manner. For those that don't know who he is he is the brother of Bret Hart from the legendary Hart wrestling family. His final moments were spent up in the rafters with the intent to swoop down into the ring in his Blue Blazer character and the cable snapped and he plunged and hit the turn buckle and was dead on impact. >>

I remember hearing about his on ESPN - don't remember what year?

Tragic.

Dpeck100

Owen Hart wiki

He died in 1999. In searching for the date I found this Youtube clip.

Death coverage


A lot is made of wrestling being pre determined but Owen was one of the better in ring workers. It is one thing to say it is pre determined, it is an entirely different thing to call it fake. Just because it is scripted doesn't mean that most can or could ever do the moves.

Check out this clip of another wrestler at the 47 second mark Cesaro slam . When I saw this live I was losing my mind.