Do you think smaller orders, in general, will process faster than larger orders? or does the size of the order not make much of a difference?

From what I can tell there is no difference. I think over the years I have seen that the more uniformity of the cards in the sub it can speed it up. They are so swamped with orders now that might not hold true today. If you sub at the faster more expensive service levels my experience is they get them done within the stated time. The rest you just wait in line and one day they will pop.

I know Wrestling All-Star cards (Hulk in particular) have been on fire lately. But, wow, $36,600 for a signed Hulk WAS card. :eek:

I will be honest that I don't really "get" $36K for a signed Hogan card. Hulk has always been a gracious signer, is still alive and is still accessible for autographs for a relatively small fee.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1982-Wrestl...p2047675.l2557

Mint 9's on that card are very tough and might well sell for over $20,000 without the autograph. The fact that you likely will never find a higher grade card autographed is what's driving the price.

In 2011 I cracked out four BGS Hogan's. Two BGS 9's and two 8.5's to send out to CA to have signed by Hogan. Now bare in mind landing a PSA 9 is much different than a BGS 9 as PSA is much tougher on these cards and especially the lower border. The best one came back creased. Hogan put his bear paws into it and so it is obviously no longer in strong condition. The second that has the white dot next to his head is still razor sharp and resides in a blue flip.

Fast forward to 2014. I go over to the Hogan's Beach Shop grand opening and get three signed. Hogan looked annoyed signing them and flicked them back at me on the table. Thankfully there was some bunched up table covering and so no damage. None of these have a shot at grading Mint.

I have seven signed ones currently.

There are 16 in the PSA pop report that have graded a 9. I believe two of those don't exist from actual crack and resubmissions shooting for a 10.

I have three of them. You couldn't pay me to crack one out.

This card has been in the pop report since 2010. It was actually Rob Wrestling Card King's copy he sold on EBAY then for $135 and the guy cracked it and got it signed and it stayed a 9. He held it for the entire time and then auctioned it off earlier this year for just over 20k. It was listed by him for two or three months at a BIN of $9,999 best offer and nothing and then he consigned it. I was stunned when it went for 20k but it was after the Hogan had gone up ten fold. Ten years later it is still the only one.

The Hogan card has taken off in a huge way and is now really looked at as a marquee trading card. I can't say I saw the move in a card like this coming but if a Jordan PSA 10 is over 220k now anything is possible.

This is a true apex item in the wrestling card world and so being able to say you have the only 9 which is the highest grade any has been awarded that is also signed is really something.

I have attended a handful of wrestling conventions and have cracked out nice cards to get signed. I am at 50/50 with them regrading the same with PSA. There is tremendous risk in handling nice cards and then hoping the person is just as careful. Most don't understand how important it is for them to stay in the same condition.

It will be interesting to see what a PSA 9 brings if one comes to market sometime and it will go big that is for sure.

I started a thread about the fractional ownership trend that was going to be a game changer for the hobby. Obviously my forecast was spot on and so items like this are in the crosshairs of those buyers.

There is big money wanting to move into wrestling and they aren't going to play around with the minor cards and instead will go for the best.

David, thanks for the thoughtful post. There is lot to unpack, but here are just a few random thoughts:

Why was Hogan annoyed at signing your Wrestling All Star cards? I had always read that he was extremely gracious and accommodating to fans.

It is amazing to me what even low to mid-grade Hogan WAS cards go for now as opposed to a year ago. One of the genres I collect are racing cards cards and the same phenomenon has happened with the 1972 STP NASCAR set. That set is similar to the Wrestling All Stars in that it is the first real set of NASCAR cards. Richard Petty was a $125-150 card just a couple years ago, and now sells for over $1,000. Even lesser drivers that were sub $100 cards just a couple years ago are now up 500 percent.

I know the Wrestling All Stars card is the iconic Hogan to have. But I wonder if the price explosion will also also carry over to Hogan's Kajiwara and Cosmos cards, given their scarcity.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Guy Evans' excellent read on the collapse of WCW, and one of the tidbits mentioned in there is that billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has long been a big Hogan fan.

I listen to Jim Cornette's podcast from time to time and he did make passing reference to the Wrestling All-Star cards on an episode I recently listened to. I know you are familiar with Cornette and that some of the Wrestling All Star photos are his. He just recently mentioned that he can't believe what the cards are worth now.

In 2014 I think Hulk needed to sign to make money. This was pre sex tape trial where he was back in great financial condition. I know his back was really bothering him and so that could have played a role. I think he thought I was a flipper and was going to make money on getting the right item signed. He no longer will sign Wrestling All Stars for a standard auto fee. I paid $50 per item that day and he now charges at least $200. When I got the Hogan Popy figure and Marusho signed I paid $375 to get that done. I was there for investment purposes so if I am correct about my assumption he was accurate in some ways. I also got him to sign my 2012 SMR on his card and had to get that done as we were heading out because he thought I had gotten all of the items signed I had paid for and I got with Ron and he had to bring it over to him. It was odd but it all worked out. When I did my happy hour with Ric Flair I got him to sign his card in the magazine too so it is a cool item.

It doesn't surprise me one bit that the 1972 STP cards have moved up significantly. I just saw the other day a signed low grade PSA/DNA Richard Petty went for like $1,800+. One of the reason I haven't posted much in this thread the past year is because there is just so much negativity on this forum towards grading cards and the investment aspect of them and the direction the hobby is going. There has been an absolute explosion in the card market not just in price but the number of buyers chasing cards for investment purposes. If people venture out of their echo chamber and see what is taking place on Instagram and Twitter all of this makes sense. Cards are now cool and the amount of money people are making makes them even more cool.

My thesis when I started the thread about Collectable was that the advent of non natural buyers was going to make highly desired items go up as it would add so much more buying pressure as you no longer needed more and more people with deep pockets. They have been selling out items at above market prices in less than five minutes in many cases. Just this week they sold an 86 Fleer box for 189k and the owner kept 45k of equity so they found buyers for the remaining 144k in less than 15 minutes. I believe it said 380 investors bought in. When you give the little guy a chance to buy a slice of the best items they will and have and will continue to and so its having a tremendous impact on the market. There are also funds being set up to buy items and the two most expensive basketball cards were sold to a fund. Not a person. They raise money and have to put it to work. There is no waiting for the next one and so this puts upward pressure on price. I was contacted by one on Twitter recently and they want to get into wrestling. I haven't had any further discussions with them but it is out there and more and more money is going to be raised to target collectables and this "bubble" as so many want to call it will keep inflating.

The wrestling card market has exploded. All of the cards you listed are benefiting. Even high grade junk wax era cards are going ballistic. Just yesterday a 1982 Cosmos PSA 6 Ric Flair sold in a BIN for $500 the day it was listed. Just this past week a ton of cards sold in PWCC for huge money and I know lots of the bidders and so the shilling comments are simply not accurate when it pertains to these auctions. There is simply not enough supply of the good cards from the various genres to satisfy demand. When a little kid jumps in the pool it makes a splash, when a heavy set person jumps in the pool water goes flying everywhere and waves are created that impact the entire pool. There has been so many new people want to get involved and buy the right items and so anything that was already considered good heading into 2020 lifted significantly. I have been fortunate and a huge benefactor of this shift with so many of the right cards and I get contacted non stop on social media from people trying to buy stuff. I put out a lot of content on IG and Twitter to showcase the items because awareness creates more desire and obviously higher prices. I do podcasts frequently to discuss my collection and one I enjoy them but two there is a profit motive because more information flow is important when trying to build a market.

I can't speak to if Mark Cuban has been active in cards but one buyer who has been stepping up big is Hulk and Ric Flair's agent. My friend Gregg has sold him some cards and he "flexs" them on his IG and gets tremendous feedback. I took a gamble in 2019 and sold one of my Hogan's to Gary V and my bet was he would put it on Twitter and it would make the rest of mine go up. He did and they did.

I used to be very friendly with Cornette and we spoke on the phone a few times. We communicated on Twitter as well and I was one of the few people he followed. I can't remember the exact situation but he was going on one of his daily rants against Donald Trump and I said something in a comment that was pro Trump and he blocked me. Apparently if you don't join in and go on a vile tirade against him he blocks you so it is nothing new. I remember when he was blown away a set was worth $500. If he is checking EBAY sales now his head must be exploding. Much of it at the time was that most wrestling collectors don't have money. They aren't really in a position to pay high prices and certainly not for trading cards. That has changed as so many non traditional wrestling collectors have moved in. It is not going to stop either. This bull is running. In the next year when a lot more cards begin to hit the market from various genre's is when the test will come. If you own stuff that is hard to recreate I think you are good. If you own stuff that is really a dime a dozen and the supply hasn't increased because people are waiting for their cards and are really just a future seller it will be fascinating to watch. Just yesterday Collectable sold a block of 50 of the 85 Nike Jordan cards out in no time for right at 140k. This throws a monkey wrench into the supply idea because you could have non natural buyers sop it up. Obviously an 85 Jordan is better than a 1990 Classic WWF card but the point is that you have a buyer buying them up and then selling them to others in one block at an even higher price and now that block exists but they have been taken off the market. It will indeed be hard to predict but those forecasting the top and the doom and gloom have already lost all credibility as cards like Jordan are up over 300% since their forecasts so they missed the call regardless of what happens in the future. You can't say a stock is a bubble at $15 and it runs to $60 and then falls back to $15 and be right. You were wrong.

David I always find your wrestling card posts thought provoking and informative please continue! I've been a fan and collector for over 30 years and I still learn something everytime you post! I also enjoy your instagram (My Wrestling collectable instagram name is hulkamaniac4ever)
For the record Hogan has always been amazing and gracious with me when Ive had him sign at his shop or even conventions. I guess everyone can have bad day :)

Thank you for another thoughtful post, David. That autographed Petty STP card you referenced blew my mind when I saw the sale. There was a signed Petty STP card that sat on eBay for a long time at $200. Several other ones sold for similar amounts or slightly higher just a year or two ago.

The Jordan Nike promo card is one of the cards I have noticed that have really exploded recently. I have followed that card for a while, and I kick myself for not buying a few of them before the explosion. The card always seemed so undervalued to me because that was the impetus of the iconic Jumpman logo.

I know of only one Kajiwara Hogan which sold during the summer, it was a PSA 7, and the final sale price was not really that impressive ($2,247 USD). It looks like the AS Hogan has caught up with it! As for the other Japanese issues, I think as of now it's mostly advanced wrestling collectors who are familiar with them, but as time goes on, they will get more exposure and grow in popularity.

Popy Hogan
 

I agree that this card will gain in popularity with the Popy Hogan as more awareness builds and as the pop report stays low.

Why did this card grade so low? Not long ago, I sent a WAS Hogan to PSA and it had small borders, print spots and was off-centered! The grade? PSA 7!

I think it got hit hard for the black ink dot and a few of the corners were touched a little. Tremendous card regardless.

I just thought I'd share something cool with you guys: here is a sealed set of the 82' Series B cards. This is something that doesn't show up for sale often, and with wrestling cards getting hotter by the day, sealed sets are only going to get harder to find because collectors will just rip most of them open!

I think they sealed these sets way too tightly - the cards at the bottom of the deck are even bending slightly! This was completely unnecessary, but then again, they were just five bucks for a set! The Rick Martel card on the top has corner wear and appears to be EX.

I would like to add a sealed Series A set to my collection as well, but I probably missed the boat on that one!