1982-83 Wrestling All Stars PSA Graded Cards

[Dpeck100]

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.