1979 Rax Roast Beef Wrestling Cards....
Dpeck100
Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
This set seems to be the most elusive set of wrestling cards out there. With only one set coming to market on EBAY in August of 2009. I would assume many are buried in closets somewhere or were simply thrown away.
Naturally I would like to acquire a set one day and hopefully someone sees this thread and go searching for them.
Here is the checklist and a picture of the set that sold.
Not a ton of star power but easily the earliest card of Dr. David Schultz and Robert Gibson.
Personally I love the design with the Pabst Blue Ribbon logo on them and they kind of remind me of the Carnation Major League Wrestling cards.
Pics
Dr. D Pic
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - David Shultz
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Nick Gulas (promoter)
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Len Rossi
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tojo Yamamoto
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Jerry Barber
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - George Gulas
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Robert Gibson
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Ricky Gibson
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Bobby Eaton
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Ken Lucas
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tommy Kerkeles
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Mike St. John
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tom Renesto Jr.
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Dennis Condry
Note: Restaurant food premium. Cards are unnumbered.
Naturally I would like to acquire a set one day and hopefully someone sees this thread and go searching for them.
Here is the checklist and a picture of the set that sold.
Not a ton of star power but easily the earliest card of Dr. David Schultz and Robert Gibson.
Personally I love the design with the Pabst Blue Ribbon logo on them and they kind of remind me of the Carnation Major League Wrestling cards.
Pics
Dr. D Pic
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - David Shultz
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Nick Gulas (promoter)
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Len Rossi
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tojo Yamamoto
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Jerry Barber
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - George Gulas
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Robert Gibson
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Ricky Gibson
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Bobby Eaton
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Ken Lucas
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tommy Kerkeles
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Mike St. John
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Tom Renesto Jr.
circa 1979 - Rax Roast Beef Restuarants/Pabst Blue Ribbon Gulas N.W.A. Mid America Championship Wrestling - Dennis Condry
Note: Restaurant food premium. Cards are unnumbered.
1
Comments
<< <i>Do you know what that auction lot went for? >>
No. If someone has a membership to that Worthpoint site they would be able to see.
If the right collectors saw a set pop up it would go for a few hundred or more pretty easily I think.
<< <i>I imagine singles of these cards would go for go for good money and a complete set no telling. Is there a complete checklist out there. >>
I am sure you are right.
I believe the checklist I posted is complete but I can't really verify that. It came from a reliable site.
<< <i>Oh man! I used to love Rax! Little story about Rax. My wife and I, when we were dating, were on our way to Dayton, OH to see Bob Dylan in concert and heard that there was a Rax in a small town, a bit off the beaten path, but on the way. So we stopped and found that Rax was no longer there. Instead it was a pancake house called Stacks! Ha! The last Rax is in Harland, Kentucky. I only know this as we have family there and stopped there on the way back from our honeymoon 4 years ago. Our fam says it's still there. >>
Cool story. Thanks for the post.
This place sounds pretty awesome. Beer and roast beef. Nice combination!
"No. The man who made these cards is Scott, who is a friend of mine. He only has one set himself and cannot bear to part with them. Dr. D has his card that he let me copy it but will not give it up either. Funny, he gave me a three foot high trophy and many other things but would not give up that card."
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Never knew these cards existed.
CDsNuts, 1/9/15
<< <i>Got this message from a collecting friend of mine
"No. The man who made these cards is Scott, who is a friend of mine. He only has one set himself and cannot bear to part with them. Dr. D has his card that he let me copy it but will not give it up either. Funny, he gave me a three foot high trophy and many other things but would not give up that card." >>
I wonder what he means by Dr. D let him copy his card?
<< <i>
<< <i>Got this message from a collecting friend of mine
"No. The man who made these cards is Scott, who is a friend of mine. He only has one set himself and cannot bear to part with them. Dr. D has his card that he let me copy it but will not give it up either. Funny, he gave me a three foot high trophy and many other things but would not give up that card." >>
I wonder what he means by Dr. D let him copy his card? >>
Photocopy I imagine.
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Got this message from a collecting friend of mine
"No. The man who made these cards is Scott, who is a friend of mine. He only has one set himself and cannot bear to part with them. Dr. D has his card that he let me copy it but will not give it up either. Funny, he gave me a three foot high trophy and many other things but would not give up that card." >>
I wonder what he means by Dr. D let him copy his card? >>
Photocopy I imagine. >>
Interesting. These must be insanely rare.
Can you see if he can get in contact with Scott and ask if he has any recollection how many sets were made?
This is really interesting. Like their roast beef, this set appears to be very rare.
I'm wondering if this was the set that never was? Maybe a "conceptual prototype" presented to the principals and rejected?
Rax was originally known as JAX Roast Beef, founded by Jack Roschman in 1967, in Springfield, Ohio. It went thru some name changes before settling on "Rax."
The Dr. David Shultz card would certainly be helped by this clip.
<< <i>Is Wrestling Fake?
The Dr. David Shultz card would certainly be helped by this clip. >>
Fake?
Well, there's no way I'm getting in the ring to find out.
I wasted about 45 minutes this morning watching the episode on Youtube of the Morton Downy Jr. show that he stares in. It is pretty funny to watch.
Morton Downey Jr.
He took the photos, produced and published the cards. His email was brief and I sent him another response. I will post any additional information I get.
<< <i>There is various stories about the slapping incident and no one is really certain the truth. >>
I was in school when this happened. And Stossel was just asking questions that many have thought about pro wrestling at the time.
edit: my take from the 50s/60s? It was an exhibition - pre-scripted - and predetermined who would be victorious. Did I care? Heck no, it was great!
If baseball's considered a metaphor for life? Then wrestling is a metaphor for the conquest of "good" over "evil" - at least back then.
How many times have you seen a tag team match where the "bad guys" are beating up on one good guy and one of the "heroes" (Bruno e.g.) comes running in from no where to beat the crap out of both of them in the ring. If that isn't great entertainment for a kid? We loved it!
In my note I mentioned that if he ever wanted to sell his set I would be interested but he didn't make any mention in his response so I will leave it at that.
I did tell him about my site to check and see if he took any of the photos used for the Wrestling All Stars.
The official answer is these cards are extremely rare.
Ryan
<< <i>Thanks for the information and I can't wait until one of these sets gets unearthed for everyone to see!
Ryan >>
This is either going to be an early bird gets the worm scenario or a straight auction that will blow the roof off.
It has been five years since a set hit EBAY so maybe sooner then later another will surface.
One of the great things about collecting is stories like this where no matter what you will pay you can't get your hands on a set. I love it.
Although I don't collect wrestling, I grew up loving it and I like to read these wrestling card threads. I will surely be a spectator when one of these sets hits the auction block.
The cards apparently came in little sealed sets and he said he has never opened his and wouldn't sell his for anything. I gave him a value estimate of $500 to $1,000 for a set and he said he would check with friends and see if anyone has one. He said if he can dig them out he will send a pic and I will post it.
Hopefully this will push some into the market.
Since Dr. D is the main card here is a nice shot of him from an AWA program.
<< <i>
<< <i>Do you know what that auction lot went for? >>
No. If someone has a membership to that Worthpoint site they would be able to see.
If the right collectors saw a set pop up it would go for a few hundred or more pretty easily I think. >>
Your stomach is probably going to hurt when you see what a song these went for:
Vintage LOT 17 1970s era NWA Wrestling Cards!!
SOLD FOR: $76.00
ITEM CATEGORY: Sports
SOURCE: eBay
SOLD DATE: Aug 02,2009
CHANNEL: Online Auction
Do I think it is a good investment at $500 or $1,000? Probably not but it is a set that just about everyone who actively collects wrestling cards doesn't have and it would bring out the bidders. I can think of six collectors who would be bidding on the set and I am sure there are a few more and this is the type of item where someone would have to bid to win because they know it is not coming up again soon. The last Carnation Pack with Slaughter/Koloffs went for over $600 and that pack generally yields cards in the PSA 5 to PSA 6 range and that is over $300 a card. Was the pack a good investment? Probably not but two snipes went off and bamm. I believe the same would happen here.
The WCCW set if it surfaced would do great too. The Kevin Von Erich card was a beater and sold for $10. I had that one on my watch list but thought it was a little high for the condition and said I will wait for the next. I am still waiting since no other copies have surfaced.
Dytch thank you for pulling up the listing. There is another collector on another message board who thought it went in the $80 range and he was very close and I am sure with shipping did. That is actually a strong number for 2009 and indicative of why I think they would go for so much more today. You could get most vintage wrestling cards for very cheap in 2009 and at $4.47 a card that was actually expensive.
I got my first set of 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A in August of 2009 for $199 and it came with a PSA 9 Hogan, PSA 9 Lawler, and a tremendous raw set that many graded well. That is $5.52 a card.
They do exist.
Rob contacted me after they ended and he missed them too.
I just looked at the final prices and my $1,000 estimate for a set that is sealed looks to be right on. I just added them up and the total was just over $720 raw.
Strong prices for every card.
Man I hope this pulls out some more.
Jeff
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
I immediately commented that I still want to buy them and he just laughed and said he was keeping them. I copied the link to this thread for him and others to read and asked if I could post the pics to the thread and he said that would be great.
I sent the pics to Rob and he said that looks like King Tonga or better known as Haku. I was now officially losing my mind. There isn't a complete checklist from the set.
I made a post on mine and showed the packs and some comments went back and forth. Finally I threw out some higher numbers and he sent me a private message to call him. We agreed upon a price and I am mailing him a check this morning.
My plan is to work with PSA and see what my options are. If they will grade them I am busting it open and sending in the complete set. If they won't I will just keep it the way it is.
This is an incredibly exciting purchase for me. I have been actively hunting for all things wrestling card related for nearly seven years straight and this is a really scare set of cards.
It turns out he found the advertisement for the cards.
There were more printed than originally thought but the fact that no complete sets have surfaced online other than this one suggests most didn't survive. The cards that made it to EBAY from a closet find were from a non wrestling related person and he was shocked it turns out that they had value. It appeared to be close to a complete set but now after seeing this advertisement we know there are 22 cards.
This right here is what makes collecting exciting. I gave Scott specific instructions on how to mail them and should get them later this week.
I truly hope now that a complete set exists that PSA will grade them. Rob pointed out that the person who won the card is the guy I bought the 82 A and B uncut sheets from who is best friends with Dr. D. In our discussions I had asked him to offer Shultz $200 for his copy and his response was he laughed and said obviously this guy doesn't know me. Bob when we spoke said this is what made him realize it would take more than $200 to win and so he bid accordingly. He has apparently already sent it in to PSA so we shall see what happens.
I will update further later this week.
There are 3 cards of the 22 that haven't been seen when you include the King Tonga.
It would be so cool if Bruce Reed from this card is one of them. Went on to stardom under the name Butch Reed.
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Leaving Ken Lucas, King Tonga and two others that are unknown.
There is an image from the web of the lot that sold years ago and I haven't cross referenced those to the recent listings.
Maybe consider asking about the set on the Kayfabe Memories message board in the Mid-America section.
Thanks for the tip.
I am planning on doing a lot more research on the cards.
This morning when searching I found that Superstar Graham didn't end up working the event even though he was advertised.
Looking forward to seeing what happens after you get them in hand.
Thanks for sharing
Time to get to work with the scans!
IG: goatcollectibles23
The biggest lesson I've learned in this hobby, and in life, is that if you have a strong conviction, you owe it to yourself to see it through. Don't sell yourself, or your investments, short. Unless the facts change. Then sell it all.
If they will grade them this is getting sent in too. I bet people were more excited to get the free fries than the cards. LOL
I just got off the phone with Bob from New York who is really close with Dr. D. He said that Shultz put out want adds for the cards in the area they were issued to try and help Bob locate one. No luck.
Glad Bob won the Shultz and he sent it with the Leo Rossi to PSA.