PSA Graded Wrestling Card Market Stats And Update......
Dpeck100
Posts: 10,912 ✭✭✭✭✭
So it is has been over six years since I started collecting wrestling cards. It has been an interesting ride to say the least. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that searching for some Brock Lesnar football cards would have turned into an obsession that has lasted this long and involved daily searches for cards and population totals and countless hours chatting with other collectors on message boards.
When I first started searching for cards there were never more then 3,000 active listings on EBAY. I have always pondered some of the stats associated with wrestling cards and today decided it was time to seek out the data. A search today in the wrestling card category returned 63,462 listings. A search using PSA wrestling which includes memorabilia and signed items returned 3,063. Using the key words PSA WWE 3,088 and using PSA WWF 2,146. These numbers are mind boggling. In this period of time there have been new sets released but to think it has increased 20 fold is quite staggering. It is hard to tell if this is simply because prior to 2009 many sellers thought the cards were worthless and wouldn't garner enough attention or if there has really been that kind of increase in interest. My personal belief is it is probably a combination of both. In random conversations with several other collectors I have said I would think there are at least 20,000 cards at this point graded by PSA.
A search using 1952 as the starting date returned the following. PSA has graded 20,037 wrestling cards from that time frame forward. The set with the most graded is the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A with 2,027 cards being reviewed. There are 42 years in which cards have been graded and 278 sets and sub sets represented in these totals.
Up to this point the highest recorded sale for a wrestling cards that I am ware of was the non released 1998 WCW British Bulldog auto that went for over $3,800 a few years ago. It is safe to say though that the card that would command the most if one ever surfaces is the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A #2 Hulk Hogan in a PSA 10. While up to this point the card has remained elusive in that grade you can never say never.
When I looked through the graded card totals I wanted to see if there was any significant impact from newer sets and the answer is no. While they have driven up the total number of sets and subsets that have been graded significantly they have had no material impact on totals.
In this six year period there has been a lot of experimentation with trying to grade cards first and see if there will be value. It is amazing every day when I search active and completed listings the number of cards from obscure sets I see that have been graded and are being marketed on EBAY. There have been plenty of hits and plenty of misses. As it was fairly easy to predict the one set that has taken hold and remained popular among collectors is the Wrestling All Stars series. It features cards offered prior to the Hulkamania explosion and wrestling morphing into sports entertainment with more gimmicky story lines. Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned back in 2009 that I would be bidding $1,001 on a card of The Crusher in a PSA 9 and certainly not bidding that number and losing. While the wrestling card market remains fairly thin at the high end level with a large concentration of the cards in a handful of collectors possession, it has broadened tremendously. There are numerous collectors that have added at least one card to their collections which is a testament to the growth of the market.
The pursuit of high grade raw material is a constant one and the scarcity of cards has never been higher. It has reached a point where no raw cards from the Wrestling All Stars sets that will grade high are being listed as singles and it is extremely parse in many other sets.
It continues to fascinate me that you see high priced sales in many sets. A recent example is the 1991 Merlin WWF The Undertaker PSA 10. A sale was completed for $400 which is a very strong price and coincides with the rookie card element making its way to wrestling cards. Historically there weren't designations given to the cards but collectors have applied their own and every top star that has appeared in cards has been graded at this point and there have been some really strong sales.
It will be interesting to see where the market goes in the coming years. Many cards experienced higher selling prices a few years ago and as population totals have risen very few have been immune to this. Especially in more easily found sets from the early 1990's where cards in high grade were not actually rare but just hadn't been submitted. As prices have fallen population totals have stalled as recouping grading fees is an issue. Also with the limited production totals of many sets that have helped bolster their prices the lack of supply is really showing itself.
In 2010 when I first submitted cards to PSA I sent in 15 cards from a sealed set of the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A. There were 16 cards graded prior from all three sets and today that total stands at 5,752. It is incredible to see such growth and there is no way it can be sustained as so much of the known gradable material has been submitted. It is rare that you can find a set of cards from the 1980's where there are cards with a highest graded copy achieving a PSA 8 NM-MT. The tough cards have been clearly established at this point and market prices reflect this.
I am proud to say I had a chance to participate in the growth of this genre. Clearly wrestling will never garner the attention or interest that standard sports do but at this point there are plenty of cards that sell for reasonable prices and this doesn't seem to be ending. My collection has stalled as adding fresh material that can impact it has become tough but I don't see myself giving up any time soon. The hunt continues to try and un cover the best cards out there and I have truly enjoyed sharing my hits and misses with others on the PSA message boards. Thanks for the good times and hopefully there are more to follow.
When I first started searching for cards there were never more then 3,000 active listings on EBAY. I have always pondered some of the stats associated with wrestling cards and today decided it was time to seek out the data. A search today in the wrestling card category returned 63,462 listings. A search using PSA wrestling which includes memorabilia and signed items returned 3,063. Using the key words PSA WWE 3,088 and using PSA WWF 2,146. These numbers are mind boggling. In this period of time there have been new sets released but to think it has increased 20 fold is quite staggering. It is hard to tell if this is simply because prior to 2009 many sellers thought the cards were worthless and wouldn't garner enough attention or if there has really been that kind of increase in interest. My personal belief is it is probably a combination of both. In random conversations with several other collectors I have said I would think there are at least 20,000 cards at this point graded by PSA.
A search using 1952 as the starting date returned the following. PSA has graded 20,037 wrestling cards from that time frame forward. The set with the most graded is the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A with 2,027 cards being reviewed. There are 42 years in which cards have been graded and 278 sets and sub sets represented in these totals.
Up to this point the highest recorded sale for a wrestling cards that I am ware of was the non released 1998 WCW British Bulldog auto that went for over $3,800 a few years ago. It is safe to say though that the card that would command the most if one ever surfaces is the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A #2 Hulk Hogan in a PSA 10. While up to this point the card has remained elusive in that grade you can never say never.
When I looked through the graded card totals I wanted to see if there was any significant impact from newer sets and the answer is no. While they have driven up the total number of sets and subsets that have been graded significantly they have had no material impact on totals.
In this six year period there has been a lot of experimentation with trying to grade cards first and see if there will be value. It is amazing every day when I search active and completed listings the number of cards from obscure sets I see that have been graded and are being marketed on EBAY. There have been plenty of hits and plenty of misses. As it was fairly easy to predict the one set that has taken hold and remained popular among collectors is the Wrestling All Stars series. It features cards offered prior to the Hulkamania explosion and wrestling morphing into sports entertainment with more gimmicky story lines. Never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned back in 2009 that I would be bidding $1,001 on a card of The Crusher in a PSA 9 and certainly not bidding that number and losing. While the wrestling card market remains fairly thin at the high end level with a large concentration of the cards in a handful of collectors possession, it has broadened tremendously. There are numerous collectors that have added at least one card to their collections which is a testament to the growth of the market.
The pursuit of high grade raw material is a constant one and the scarcity of cards has never been higher. It has reached a point where no raw cards from the Wrestling All Stars sets that will grade high are being listed as singles and it is extremely parse in many other sets.
It continues to fascinate me that you see high priced sales in many sets. A recent example is the 1991 Merlin WWF The Undertaker PSA 10. A sale was completed for $400 which is a very strong price and coincides with the rookie card element making its way to wrestling cards. Historically there weren't designations given to the cards but collectors have applied their own and every top star that has appeared in cards has been graded at this point and there have been some really strong sales.
It will be interesting to see where the market goes in the coming years. Many cards experienced higher selling prices a few years ago and as population totals have risen very few have been immune to this. Especially in more easily found sets from the early 1990's where cards in high grade were not actually rare but just hadn't been submitted. As prices have fallen population totals have stalled as recouping grading fees is an issue. Also with the limited production totals of many sets that have helped bolster their prices the lack of supply is really showing itself.
In 2010 when I first submitted cards to PSA I sent in 15 cards from a sealed set of the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A. There were 16 cards graded prior from all three sets and today that total stands at 5,752. It is incredible to see such growth and there is no way it can be sustained as so much of the known gradable material has been submitted. It is rare that you can find a set of cards from the 1980's where there are cards with a highest graded copy achieving a PSA 8 NM-MT. The tough cards have been clearly established at this point and market prices reflect this.
I am proud to say I had a chance to participate in the growth of this genre. Clearly wrestling will never garner the attention or interest that standard sports do but at this point there are plenty of cards that sell for reasonable prices and this doesn't seem to be ending. My collection has stalled as adding fresh material that can impact it has become tough but I don't see myself giving up any time soon. The hunt continues to try and un cover the best cards out there and I have truly enjoyed sharing my hits and misses with others on the PSA message boards. Thanks for the good times and hopefully there are more to follow.
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Comments
<< <i>I am proud to say I had a chance to participate in the growth of this genre. >>
Not trying to kiss butt or blow up your ego but the truth is you probably are the number one catalyst for the boom in Wrestling cards. Your article in SMR, your posts on this board, your research & excitement...you are the man!
One of the areas that PSA has done really well with wrestling related items is through PSA/DNA. There are a large number of signed items on EBAY and many get pretty good prices. One of the other things that has helped the wrestling card market is the wrestling conventions. Tons of performers rely heavily for income from signings and appearances and getting cards signed has really expanded.
Gorgeous George
I love seeing old pieces like this slabbed.
Always looking to buy or trade for Andre the Giant autographs
psacard.com/psasetregistry/non-sports/famous-personage/andre-giant-master-set/alltimeset/180400
It is going to be really interesting to see how some of these do. The Hogan BGS 9.5 is nice and will blow away the price of what the beater version that keeps getting auctioned off at ever increasing lower prices.
Many are BGS graded and nowhere near as popular with collectors but the high profile seller accompanied with a chance to secure a number of cards at one time should help the sellers cause I would think.
I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
One thing I do appreciate is that Brent treats the higher profile cards from the Wrestling All Stars with respect.
Andre BGS 9.5
Hogan BGS 9.5
Always looking to buy or trade for Andre the Giant autographs
psacard.com/psasetregistry/non-sports/famous-personage/andre-giant-master-set/alltimeset/180400
<< <i>Insane. I'm skeptical about cards graded by Beckett. Dave, do you think the Andre or Hogan cards were trimmed. >>
They looked normal size. The Dutch Mantell BGS 9.5 and the Bruiser Brody BGS 9.5 were definitely trimmed.
I don't think either will grade a PSA 10 but both at least from the scan have a chance of grading PSA 9. These were nice looking cards.
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
rather than feeling the you have stalled a bit lately as the rarer stuff becomes even more difficult to find, have you looked into maybe collecting another year besides 1982 or perhaps another sport? I know you have some baseball along with Tiger Woods SI and Tyson Rookie in a 9 but as far as wrestling, the only thing I am familiar with that seems like it has real value is the 1982 set. Are there any other years that are worth collecting that you can take on a new challenge?
<< <i>David,
rather than feeling the you have stalled a bit lately as the rarer stuff becomes even more difficult to find, have you looked into maybe collecting another year besides 1982 or perhaps another sport? I know you have some baseball along with Tiger Woods SI and Tyson Rookie in a 9 but as far as wrestling, the only thing I am familiar with that seems like it has real value is the 1982 set. Are there any other years that are worth collecting that you can take on a new challenge? >>
I have a fresh batch of stuff I am sending in this week. There are 32 cards that I don't have graded in my collection which is cool.
I get excited getting fresh material graded and a bunch of these cards have never been graded as so few exist in reasonable condition.
<< <i>Cool. I'm looking forward to seeing what they are. >>
I am sending in some of those 1997 Cardinal WWF cards, a good number of pack fresh Market Scene cards and I am finally getting the 1976 Yamakatsu The Sheik card graded. Plus some miscellaneous others cards.
There is a pretty good chance I will land some 10's from the Market Scene cards which would be really cool. I am sending in duplicates of a handful trying to get the highest grades I can.
<< <i>Cool. Good luck with grades. I would be interested in upgrading my PSA 3 ultimate warrior if you have a spare 1989 version. >>
I will have to check the backs of them. One of the cards I am sending in is a nice Warrior. I can't recall if I have two 8's or just one and then I do have the 9.