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Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
#1

Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
I'm mainly a baseball card collector, but I grew up watching WWF and NWA in the 80s/early 90s. I was thinking it would be cool to own the top 5 or so cards from that time period. Is there a top 5? Or are there only 1 or 2 cards that stand out from a collector's POV? Thanks in advance.
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#2

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
Cdillion17,

The vintage wrestling card market is not very large. The first sets produced were in 1954 and 1955 and were made by a Canadian company Parkhurst and feature some major stars from that time period. The most valuable card from that set is the Bronko Nagurski card and it would easily be in the top 10 wrestling cards for sure. This set is extremely condition sensitive with many being in the PSA 2 to PSA 5 range and very hard to find in nice condition.

Next you have the paper cards which were issued by Victory Sports in their 1973, 1978 and 1981 magazine. The 1973 set features the first card of Andre The Giant and one recently sold on EBAY for $660 in a PSA 8. The paper cards are just that, sheets of paper that you must cut out of the magazine. Once a few got graded it changed the pricing structure dramatically with sales of Hulk Hogan from 1981 commanding $170 and a 1978 Ric Flair reaching $245. The paper cards are interesting to some but not all as many collectors appreciate true card stock and pass on these. Either way they certainly are rare and can command large dollars.

The 1982 and 1983 Wrestling All Stars are by far the best wrestling cards that exist, period. There is no set of wrestling cards that have the rarity, condition sensitivity and star power that these do. The cards were mail order only and feature the first set of true card stock wrestling cards since the 50's. There are stars from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's in the sets. With the booming high grade vintage card market these have found their way onto many collectors radar and high grade specimens can fetch serious money. The reason your question really can't be answered and is simply too broad as the obvious choices from the set are The Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, and Ric Flair cards but in some cases other cards have sold for a great deal and could be lumped into the category of a top five card. For example, one of the most rare wrestling cards happens to be the Matt Borne card that sold last night for $745 in PSA 9 mint condition. That card is the last card in the set and the back card on the sealed sets. It suffers tremendous printing issues and being a Pop 1 it went for huge money. Other Matt Borne examples would never command those prices. That is one of the few top grade cards I do not own for my Wrestling All Stars PSA graded sets.

Here is my best guess for a top 10 for you and you can go from there.

#1 1982 Wrestling All Stars Andre The Giant PSA 9 Pop 2(BGS 9's are PSA 8's with the Andre card, I have found out the hard way.)

#2 1982 Wrestling All Stars Hulk Hogan PSA 9 Pop 5 (Will sell for more then the BGS 9.5)

#3 1982 Wrestling All Stars Ric Flair PSA 10 Pop 3

#4 1982 Wrestling All Stars Dusty Rhodes PSA 10 Pop 1

#5 1982 Wrestling All Stars Junkyard Dog PSA 10 Pop 1

#6 1985 Topps Hulk Hogan PSA 10 Pop 1

#7 1982 Wrestling All Stars Rick Martel PSA 9 Pop 1

#8 1983 Wrestling All Stars Matt Borne PSA 9 Pop 1

#9 1983 Wrestling All Stars Superstar Graham PSA 10 Pop 2

#10 1955 Parkhurst Bronko Nagurski PSA 8 Pop 1

If you are not concerned with condition this list would differ but for me condition is paramount. The Wrestling All Stars sets have a total of 108 performers so I would say just stick with those and you will be just fine.

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#3

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
(04-09-2012, 10:48 AM)dpeck1000 Wrote: Cdillion17,

The vintage wrestling card market is not very large...
Thank you, thank you... that was an awesome response, great history lesson, too. An awesome top 10 list... those are some high end cards for sure. Loved some JYD... good to see him on your Top 10.

What about a top 5-10 list from 1985 on? Not necessarily graded, just a most recognizable card list. The 1985 Hogan would be #1... then what?

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#4

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
I have no interest in modern wrestling cards so really anything past 1988 has little meaning to me. There are a few select cards like The Undertaker and The Rock auto cards that are cool. The WCW auto cards do very well too but once again are not really of interest to me.

The 1985 Topps set is a low cost popular option. It features severall Hogan cards of course. The 1985 OPC Series II is a great set with the Randy Savage and Elizabeth card. That is a very tough card in nice condition and not to expensive in NM-MT. The set is really from 1986 as it has images from Wrestlemania II but the printing on the back says 1985.

The most rare wrestling cards are the 1986 Carnation Major League wrestling sets that were found in hot cocoa mix. That set features six cards and it has a great Ric Flair card and the best card of The Road Warriors. These are almost impossible to find and most have a surface wrinkle on the back which will keep them out of high grade holders.

The 1988 NWA Wonderama cards are a great value and those can easily be located in a factory set on EBAY for $39.95 delivered. This is a cool set that features Sting's first card and is a big set of 343 cards. It also has the first card of The Four Horsemen which is a very cool card.

The 1986 Monty Gum set is a cool set too but really have not caught on with collectors and are still very reasonable. There are 100 cards in this set and they come attached with a small perforation so many are in terrible condition.

The best set from 1985 is the Wrestling All Stars magazine set. This has cards that are perforated and on a fairly heavy paper stock making them more like an actual card. This set features early cards of the Von Erichs and many other popular wrestlers from the different territories and consists of 54 cards. You can't go wrong with this set and especially if card grading is not of much interest.

In the end it all comes back to the Wrestling All Stars. There is just nothing else like them.

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#5

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
(04-09-2012, 01:05 PM)dpeck1000 Wrote: I have no interest in modern wrestling cards so really anything past 1988 has little meaning to me. There are a few select cards like The Undertaker and The Rock auto cards that are cool. The WCW auto cards do very well too but once again are not really of interest to me.

The 1985 Topps set is a low cost popular option. It features severall Hogan cards of course. The 1985 OPC Series II is a great set with the Randy Savage and Elizabeth card. That is a very tough card in nice condition and not to expensive in NM-MT. The set is really from 1986 as it has images from Wrestlemania II but the printing on the back says 1985.

The most rare wrestling cards are the 1986 Carnation Major League wrestling sets that were found in hot cocoa mix. That set features six cards and it has a great Ric Flair card and the best card of The Road Warriors. These are almost impossible to find and most have a surface wrinkle on the back which will keep them out of high grade holders.

The 1988 NWA Wonderama cards are a great value and those can easily be located in a factory set on EBAY for $39.95 delivered. This is a cool set that features Sting's first card and is a big set of 343 cards. It also has the first card of The Four Horsemen which is a very cool card.

The 1986 Monty Gum set is a cool set too but really have not caught on with collectors and are still very reasonable. There are 100 cards in this set and they come attached with a small perforation so many are in terrible condition.

The best set from 1985 is the Wrestling All Stars magazine set. This has cards that are perforated and on a fairly heavy paper stock making them more like an actual card. This set features early cards of the Von Erichs and many other popular wrestlers from the different territories and consists of 54 cards. You can't go wrong with this set and especially if card grading is not of much interest.

In the end it all comes back to the Wrestling All Stars. There is just nothing else like them.
Again, thank you for all the information. I feel like I just got caught up on a half a decade of wrestling card collecting.
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#6

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
My #1 is the 1998 Image Owen Hart Auto. The Undertaker, Rock and HHH from that series would be in my top 10 of the '90s.

Vintage (prior to 1980 for me) is cool in all but not something I go after very often.

PS Love anytime Doink the Clown gets love. (#8 1983 Wrestling All Stars Matt Borne PSA 9 Pop 1 )
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#7

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
I know this is a wrestling CARD thread but does anyone collecting wrestling autos on 3x5 cards at all? Have some sitting in a photo album in storage. Most are from the attitude era.
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#8

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
phils i would depending on who
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also dez bryant,any bama players in bama uni,john parker wilson,jered weaver,matt kemp,topps triple thread stuff,anthony rizzo
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#9

RE: Top 5 vintage wrestling cards?
(04-09-2012, 09:10 AM)cdillon17 Wrote: I'm mainly a baseball card collector, but I grew up watching WWF and NWA in the 80s/early 90s. I was thinking it would be cool to own the top 5 or so cards from that time period. Is there a top 5? Or are there only 1 or 2 cards that stand out from a collector's POV? Thanks in advance.
look on the bright side, theres only 2 crazy-expensive sets from the 80s (those dang All-stars!), most of the 90s stuff is pretty cheap until you get to those crazily overpriced WCW autos.

Now, I prefer the Pakrhurst sets from the mid 50s....and then there's always the Gotch cards from the early 1900s...those are gorgeous (still trying to find one for less than 300 bucks lol).
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11-12 UD Hockey w/ YGs: 438/500 (88%)

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