Quote:
Originally Posted by Dpeck100
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.
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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.