1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A Signed Bruiser Brody Research And Analysis....
Dpeck100
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I have read many stories online about forged signatures of significance getting by various autograph authenticators and I thought it would be wise to do some research and see if I could poke any holes and disprove the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Bruiser Brody autograph being real. There have been issues as simple as the pen didn't exist in that time frame so I wanted to be as broad as possible. Here we go.
1. The signature is in a blue sharpie like pen. The first question that came to mind was is it even possible to have a card signed in the early 80's in a blue one. It turns out the company was started in 1964 and they did indeed release a full standard color line up in 1979 in fine and ultra fine.
2. One of the things that stands out about the cards that came from this collection that are authenticated is that they are all in very nice condition. The seller indicated there were 12 other autographs from the set that were personalized to Jason and he sold those in one lot. You will also notice that there are only cards from the 1982 Series A and B being offered. If one was to forge an autograph of Bruiser Brody I highly doubt they would practice on a mint condition card. The current population of mint examples is 28 with 17 PSA 9's and 11 BGS 9's. I personally have six of the PSA examples so there isn't an abundance of cards to even attempt a forgery. If this was a card from 1988 Donruss where you could burn through 100 practicing and perfecting the signature it would be an entirely different scenario. I think the fact that the cards are all nice leads to their authenticity. You will also find when comparing the signatures that all would pass PSA/DNA that are in the BGS holders.
3. Comparing and contrasting Bruiser Brody autographs isn't easy. There are only a handful that have passed third party grading and I am not sure if any signed with the name have passed PSA/DNA. I do know that a board member has a personal check that has passed with the signature Frank Goodish and King Kong Brody on the back. A check would be easy to authenticate because you can easily look back and see if the performer worked in that area at the time and let's face it they wanted their money so it had to be cashed. This same board member sent me examples of the Bruiser Brody autographs he has and on every signature that has surfaced there is an upward tilt. The similarity in the penmanship is tremendous and after reading both Bruiser Brody books and learning what an articulate man Frank Goodish was I believe he would have put great emphasis on making his signature not only look good but similar every time. Many signatures we see are scribbled with little or no chance of reading them and I don't believe he would have signed that way. I don't want to post any of the photos as they are not mine but naturally if the board member would like to I would welcome that. There have been five examples that I am aware of surface of a signed 1982 Wrestling All Stars card and so far the two that have been deemed authentic by James Spence look the best.
4. In the sellers response he made it clear that the person who owned the collection was a long time employee of the Omni in Atlanta. Professional wrestlers were not anywhere near as accessible as they are today and while it was possible to camp out side arenas it is more probable that someone who worked at the venue or behind the scenes would have been able to get items signed. I read in one of the Wrestling News magazines that Pro Wrestling Enterprises had 54,000 magazine subscribers and so someone living in Atlanta working for an arena that hosted large wrestling matches would have been more likely to have one as they didn't make the programs for these matches. It is entirely possible that this person would have ordered the first two sets as they came out in the first part of 1982 and the middle part and the third set which none are signed didn't come out until September time frame in 1983. With that said you will find that all but Bruno Sammartino performed in the Omni during this time frame. It turns out that there were many WWF cards in 1984 and 1985 and Bruno was announcing for them and his son was wrestling on cards so it is possible he could have been gotten it at this time. It appears when researching it that the first matches booked in the Omni were in 1980. Bruiser Brody wrestled there in 1980, a handful of times in 1981 and three times in early 1983. With the help of the internet we are able to verify that he did indeed work matches after the cards came out. It is also possible that someone who was a wrestling buff could have attended other matches that Georgia Championship Wrestling booked as well and it is likely he worked smaller venues at this time. When examining the wrestlers the only signature that would have had to have come in 1987 or after is the Ted Dibiase as he didn't take the Million Dollar Man gimmick until 1987. It would seem likely that this person got the autographs at various times as there wouldn't have been a single card where all were performing and if they were passionate about pro wrestling it is likely they would have gotten performers who worked in the venue that they spent many years of their life working at. As I stated every single card other then Bruno that is up on EBAY features someone who was active in the matches booked in that arena. It was interesting to see how often they ran cards and to also see the transition in 1984 to WWF matches being booked and to see a month in 1985 where WWF promoted one week and JCP the next.
5. I am not going to spend much time on this section as I covered much of it above but what struck me was seeing the grouping of autographs featuring performers that worked the Georgia territory frequently in the early 80's. Harley Race was NWA champion several times during this time frame and was a main stay on major NWA cards. You will also see Ernie Ladd who worked an angle with Chief Jay Strongbow where he ridiculed him as being a drunk because of his Indian heritage. Angles like this today would create outrage but were common place in these days of wrestling.
6. So far the Bruiser Brody is the only card from the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A that PSA has not authenticated a red flip example of. I feel highly confident if there was a blue flip we would have seen it surface. You will also find that there are 9 wrestlers from Series B and 11 from the 1983 set that haven't passed PSA/DNA in red flips. Many of the wrestlers not authenticated do have copies floating around but the obscure nature of their signatures or their lack of access has been a road block. There are guys like Les Thornton or Killer Kahn that went overseas and have no interest in returning to the states for signings. The only performer that we know of that would have proven essentially impossible to get signed was the Grand Wizard who appears in the 1983 set as he died in Oct of that year and would have meant a collector would have had essentially no more then one month to get it signed.
Overall I believe there is solid evidence to support this autograph being real. There isn't one hole that can be pointed using this analysis to the validity of this collector getting a hand signed card. One of the major obstacles for getting many of the performers autographs was that the heal wrestlers were not easily accessible. It is unclear what this persons role was at the Omni but it would take someone working for the venue to be able to easily get up close and personal with Brody. The fact that he worked in that arena in three separate years increases the odds this person would have been in a position to ask him and for it to occur. Bruiser Brody is said to have been a personable guy when he was at home and spent much of his free time with his wife and young son. He traveled constantly and had a very imposing presence who very few would have dared approach him. Because Brody never worked for the WWF during the expansion phase he wasn't the household name in the states like many other wrestlers were. In 1985 while working in Japan he for a time was the highest paid professional wrestler and was like a God to the Japanese fans. I am perfectly content with the card in the holder that it sits but one day will attempt to cross it over to PSA/DNA. It is said that James Spence will take analysis into consideration when authenticating an autograph and if PSA does this information should give them a higher comfort level. I am glad I performed this exercise as it gives me even further confidence that this signed card is the real deal.
1. The signature is in a blue sharpie like pen. The first question that came to mind was is it even possible to have a card signed in the early 80's in a blue one. It turns out the company was started in 1964 and they did indeed release a full standard color line up in 1979 in fine and ultra fine.
2. One of the things that stands out about the cards that came from this collection that are authenticated is that they are all in very nice condition. The seller indicated there were 12 other autographs from the set that were personalized to Jason and he sold those in one lot. You will also notice that there are only cards from the 1982 Series A and B being offered. If one was to forge an autograph of Bruiser Brody I highly doubt they would practice on a mint condition card. The current population of mint examples is 28 with 17 PSA 9's and 11 BGS 9's. I personally have six of the PSA examples so there isn't an abundance of cards to even attempt a forgery. If this was a card from 1988 Donruss where you could burn through 100 practicing and perfecting the signature it would be an entirely different scenario. I think the fact that the cards are all nice leads to their authenticity. You will also find when comparing the signatures that all would pass PSA/DNA that are in the BGS holders.
3. Comparing and contrasting Bruiser Brody autographs isn't easy. There are only a handful that have passed third party grading and I am not sure if any signed with the name have passed PSA/DNA. I do know that a board member has a personal check that has passed with the signature Frank Goodish and King Kong Brody on the back. A check would be easy to authenticate because you can easily look back and see if the performer worked in that area at the time and let's face it they wanted their money so it had to be cashed. This same board member sent me examples of the Bruiser Brody autographs he has and on every signature that has surfaced there is an upward tilt. The similarity in the penmanship is tremendous and after reading both Bruiser Brody books and learning what an articulate man Frank Goodish was I believe he would have put great emphasis on making his signature not only look good but similar every time. Many signatures we see are scribbled with little or no chance of reading them and I don't believe he would have signed that way. I don't want to post any of the photos as they are not mine but naturally if the board member would like to I would welcome that. There have been five examples that I am aware of surface of a signed 1982 Wrestling All Stars card and so far the two that have been deemed authentic by James Spence look the best.
4. In the sellers response he made it clear that the person who owned the collection was a long time employee of the Omni in Atlanta. Professional wrestlers were not anywhere near as accessible as they are today and while it was possible to camp out side arenas it is more probable that someone who worked at the venue or behind the scenes would have been able to get items signed. I read in one of the Wrestling News magazines that Pro Wrestling Enterprises had 54,000 magazine subscribers and so someone living in Atlanta working for an arena that hosted large wrestling matches would have been more likely to have one as they didn't make the programs for these matches. It is entirely possible that this person would have ordered the first two sets as they came out in the first part of 1982 and the middle part and the third set which none are signed didn't come out until September time frame in 1983. With that said you will find that all but Bruno Sammartino performed in the Omni during this time frame. It turns out that there were many WWF cards in 1984 and 1985 and Bruno was announcing for them and his son was wrestling on cards so it is possible he could have been gotten it at this time. It appears when researching it that the first matches booked in the Omni were in 1980. Bruiser Brody wrestled there in 1980, a handful of times in 1981 and three times in early 1983. With the help of the internet we are able to verify that he did indeed work matches after the cards came out. It is also possible that someone who was a wrestling buff could have attended other matches that Georgia Championship Wrestling booked as well and it is likely he worked smaller venues at this time. When examining the wrestlers the only signature that would have had to have come in 1987 or after is the Ted Dibiase as he didn't take the Million Dollar Man gimmick until 1987. It would seem likely that this person got the autographs at various times as there wouldn't have been a single card where all were performing and if they were passionate about pro wrestling it is likely they would have gotten performers who worked in the venue that they spent many years of their life working at. As I stated every single card other then Bruno that is up on EBAY features someone who was active in the matches booked in that arena. It was interesting to see how often they ran cards and to also see the transition in 1984 to WWF matches being booked and to see a month in 1985 where WWF promoted one week and JCP the next.
5. I am not going to spend much time on this section as I covered much of it above but what struck me was seeing the grouping of autographs featuring performers that worked the Georgia territory frequently in the early 80's. Harley Race was NWA champion several times during this time frame and was a main stay on major NWA cards. You will also see Ernie Ladd who worked an angle with Chief Jay Strongbow where he ridiculed him as being a drunk because of his Indian heritage. Angles like this today would create outrage but were common place in these days of wrestling.
6. So far the Bruiser Brody is the only card from the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A that PSA has not authenticated a red flip example of. I feel highly confident if there was a blue flip we would have seen it surface. You will also find that there are 9 wrestlers from Series B and 11 from the 1983 set that haven't passed PSA/DNA in red flips. Many of the wrestlers not authenticated do have copies floating around but the obscure nature of their signatures or their lack of access has been a road block. There are guys like Les Thornton or Killer Kahn that went overseas and have no interest in returning to the states for signings. The only performer that we know of that would have proven essentially impossible to get signed was the Grand Wizard who appears in the 1983 set as he died in Oct of that year and would have meant a collector would have had essentially no more then one month to get it signed.
Overall I believe there is solid evidence to support this autograph being real. There isn't one hole that can be pointed using this analysis to the validity of this collector getting a hand signed card. One of the major obstacles for getting many of the performers autographs was that the heal wrestlers were not easily accessible. It is unclear what this persons role was at the Omni but it would take someone working for the venue to be able to easily get up close and personal with Brody. The fact that he worked in that arena in three separate years increases the odds this person would have been in a position to ask him and for it to occur. Bruiser Brody is said to have been a personable guy when he was at home and spent much of his free time with his wife and young son. He traveled constantly and had a very imposing presence who very few would have dared approach him. Because Brody never worked for the WWF during the expansion phase he wasn't the household name in the states like many other wrestlers were. In 1985 while working in Japan he for a time was the highest paid professional wrestler and was like a God to the Japanese fans. I am perfectly content with the card in the holder that it sits but one day will attempt to cross it over to PSA/DNA. It is said that James Spence will take analysis into consideration when authenticating an autograph and if PSA does this information should give them a higher comfort level. I am glad I performed this exercise as it gives me even further confidence that this signed card is the real deal.
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Comments
The biography of Brody that (if I remember correctly) was written by his wife, is a ”must read.”
His lack of affiliation with the McMahon company makes it an under-told, but important story.
Don't waste your time and fees listing on ebay before getting in touch me by PM or at gregmo32@aol.com !
<< <i>Side note to this terrific analysis:
The biography of Brody that (if I remember correctly) was written by his wife, is a ”must read.”
His lack of affiliation with the McMahon company makes it an under-told, but important story. >>
Thanks for the comment.
I have read both books and it was quite interesting to see the dichotomy of opinions. His wife and good friend Larry Matysik had essentially only positive things to say about him. If you read Bruiser Brody you get quite a different view of him from many wrestlers. I am not a big book reader but he is such a fascinating person from wrestling history that once I started his autobiography I couldn't put it down and immediately looked for the second book and purchased it and once again blazed right through it.
Everyone has their dream match ups in wrestling and some have speculated that Vince would have brought him to do a program with Hogan but I don't believe that. Hulk would have never wanted to work with Brody because he was so stiff and Hulk apparently wasn't interested in matches with a high level of physical brutality.
I don't think a lot of casual wrestling fans realize who he is and what he was capable of.
Take a look at this.
Brody in action
Harley Race on Bruiser Brody
Great Sabbath tune in that first video too.
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Here he makes quick work of a young Mark Calaway.
Top Ten Moves
Brody was an animal. He was involved in some of the most bloody matches ever and was known for hurting people on purpose. If you botched a spot in the match or if he just didn't like you he could hurt you.
The crazier he got the more the Japanese fans loved him. As crazy as it sounds they welcomed the violent interaction and being hit was an honor.
I love watching his interviews and highlights as he was a true professional wrestler in every since of the word.
The neighbors took us to see them..I think I have bob backlund (the reigning champ?), sgt slaughter vs the iron sheik, jimmy superfly snuka (?) and weren't there the somoans (?triplets) who came squeezed into a limo. The autos should be in my elementary or middle school yearbook.
Bob yelled at all of us kids. Then made everyone address him as mister backlund, (fine). I think snuka spit straight up in the air as a trademark and then spit into the audience (nice)...My intro to the wwf.
...and then the Hulkamania and Wrestlemania followed. On VHS rental if you missed it. Some great childhood memories. Sorry, I don't think I have any signed cards from then to send you.
Thanks for sharing.
Backlund was the WWWF champ from 1978 to the end of 1983. Technically they became the WWF in 1982.
It is funny you mention Backlund and Slaughter. My auto guy that goes to the conventions got a bunch of my cards signed for me this past weekend. I should be getting those back in a few days.
An interesting Brody fact is that he got his big break when he wrestled Bruno Sammartino in a series of matches in 1976 in the WWWF.
prob around 1980...makes sense since they were promoting slaughter vs iron sheik...and its americanism.
thats the only reason i know the answer to ONE kind of obscure wrestling trivia question...that is who was the champ, for a lot of years, before the Hulk became champ and the WWFs popularity took off and became huge?....bob backlund.
and i do remember when it switched from wwf because they got sued by world wildlife fund (?), the original wwf...right?..ok..thats all i know.
as a kid, i recall that id never get used to wwe since it was wwf for years.
thanks for bringing back the memories...id start to get into cards but it sounds like you have too much of a head start...and all of the cards.
Brody entrance
Pretty exciting news to hear about one passing PSA/DNA.
I had listed this card once before to try and see where the market was on it. I had an offer of $3,100 and decided to keep it. Just for fun I did the same thing last night and woke up in the middle of the night to a serious offer. I hate to see the Bruiser go but it will now reside in a new home that is collecting the signed set. After serious deliberation I hit accept and the buyer paid right away.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-Wrestling-All-Stars-20-Bruiser-Brody-Signed-JSA-AUTH-BGS-9-Mint/163235917892?hash=item26019e7044:g:umIAAOSwtRBbjIme
What an awesome sale! Congrats!
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
Wow! Nice job, brother!
Wrestling - Danielson - Storm - Tajiri
The $9999 is your original asking price, not what it sold for, right?
You can find out by going to watchcount.
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
$5,001 was the price
Perhaps you said that you would not take 5k for it? LOL
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