NWA Fanfest & The Horsemen Reunion Is Only Two Weeks Away!

August is near, and that means it's time for the annual NWA Fanfest in Charlotte, North Carolina. This year my crew and I will be returning for what is already the biggest Fanfest of all-time. With over EIGHTY wrestling superstars appearing over the four day event, some who have done little to no appearances in a convention/fanfest/signing atmosphere, this will be an event long remembered.



While Fanfest always causes a major buzz among wrestling collectors and convention goers, this years event is garnering even mainstream wrestling coverage due to the COMPLETE reunion of the Four Horsemen, more notably the ORIGINAL Horsemen. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson and manager J.J. Dillon will all be appearing at the event, not to mention later Horsemen members Barry Windham and Lex Luger as well as their valet Babydoll. For a myriad of reasons, not one hyperbolic, this could very well be the last time all of these stars appear in one place.

Add to that the names of Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Austin Idol, "Purple Haze" Mark Lewin, Jackie Fargo, The Steiner Brothers, Bob Backlund, Vader, Diamond Dallas Page, Jeff Jarrett, The New Age Outlaws, Sunny, Abdullah the Butcher, Sir Oliver Humperdink, Jimmy Hart, "Number One" Paul Jones, "Glamour Girl" Judy Martin, Jerry Jarrett, The Killer Bees, The Nasty Boys, Haku, The Barbarian, Jim Cornette & The Midnight Express, Susan "Tex" Green, Bugsy McGraw and legendary announcers Bob Caudle and Lance Russell among many others and it truly is an event like no other.

Fanfest, however, is more than just autographs and photos. It's also wrestling matches, question and answer sessions, and the Hall of Heroes banquet and induction ceremony, where promoter Greg Price will induct a handful of wrestling legends into the NWA Fanfest Hall of Heroes.

Perhaps the one event I myself am looking forward to the most is the "25 Years After Starrcade" question and answer session. This session will see Ric Flair and Harley Race up on the stage taking questions from the convention goers. Folks, I think I can truly die a complete wrestling fan after this one.

I get no kickback for this, but if you are a fan of wrestling, you owe it to yourself to join us at this once-in-a-lifetime event. It's an eight-hour trek for my crew, but we always said we would return to the NWA Fanfest when the stars aligned, and there is no better year to go than this one. Tickets are still available at NWALegends.com. You will not regret it.

I've peppered this blog entry with some of my favorite autographed Horsemen-related items from my own collection. I'm sure there will be a few more in two weeks!





Pictures Include: Horsemen signed photo, WWE Hall of Fame 2008 signed program, Starrcade '88 program signed by Flair, Luger, Rhodes, signed WWE Classics of Flair, Anderson, Blanchard, Luger.

June Update

Long break between posts, but that doesn't mean I've disappeared!

Due to a couple of no-shows not everything in the last entry ended up getting signed, but I still came home from the Legends of the Ring convention with more autographs than I bargained for and some new items to boot!

For the figure collectors out there, Jakks released some of the final series lineups before they cease production on the WWE line. The good news...Jack Swagger WILL get a figure. The bad news...it seems the Blackjack Mulligan Classic figure has been canceled.

My friend and reader Big Chad has requested an entry on my top five favorite Dusty Rhodes collectibles, after he asked me how many total I had. While a few have already been seen in here, that's upcoming!

Now, it's off to Charlotte, North Carolina in August! For those of you into the autograph world, you may be interested in joining us. It's the NWA Legends Fanfest, and this year it will be the place to meet some of the truly, truly classic wrestling greats that you may never get another chance with. Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham, "Purple Haze" Mark Lewin, The Fargo Brothers, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Big Van Vader, The Steiner Brothers, Magnum TA, Harley Race, Judy Martin, and many, many more! Check out NWALegends.com for more details.

Legends of the Ring VIII Prep

This weekend, for my crew, the Spring wrestling convention season ends with Legends of the Ring VIII on Saturday. Legends of the Ring is in Monroe, New Jersey and will feature a plethora of stars including (but not limited to) Pat Patterson, Eric Bischoff, Lex Luger, Taz, Hillbilly Jim, Zeus, Kurt Angle, and many, many, many more.

Tonight is loading up the gimmicks for the big trip tomorrow, and below is a picture of some of the items I will be bringing. Some items you may have seen before, some you may not have known even existed, but once they are autographed, many will find themselves part of entires on this very blog.

If you're going, see you at LOTR!

Signed Classic Superstars

Since the line began in 2004, Jakks WWE Classic Superstars collection changed the entire landscape of wrestling collecting. Some collectors who had never entertained the notion of collecting "toys" suddenly changed their tunes. After all, who would've thought old school wrestling legends such as Bruiser Brody, Harley Race, Ron Bass, The Midnight Express, and The Rock & Roll Express, to name a few, would be made into action figures in the new millenium?

Say what you want about the company, Jakks Pacific changed that. Getting off to a rocky start in this collectors opinion, as each new series was announced, thoughts of future figures to be produced began forming in the heads of fans everywhere. "If such-and-such gets a figure, why not this guy?" Into 2005 it was clear that the lame initial lineup featuring stars who'd already had a host of figures produced, not to mention many product inaccuracies, was not going to be the standard.

Hundreds of figures and five years later, we are nearing the end of the line. It's uncertain as to whether or not Mattel (who will take over the WWE line) or Jakks (who will start producing TNA Wrestling figures) will try to tackle or some sort of "Legends of Wrestling" series.

One major concept that came out of the Classic Superstars lined was getting the figures autographed. While getting items signed is obviously nothing new, getting the Classic Superstars signed has been a goal of many collectors. Personally, I have around one hundred of them signed, and I've always felt one of the appeals of getting them signed is the visual aspect. There's no question as to WHERE these things should be signed. The plastic bubble or window encasing the figure is the end-all be-all spot.

For examples, I've peppered this entry with various examples of a few signed pieces from my collection. I hope you've enjoyed this very brief history of the line as well as the photos, as I plan on doing a lot more features on the Classic Superstars in the future. And now, onto my personal favorite...as if you had to guess by now...

I have all of the Dusty Classic figures signed, but this, by far, is my favorite because of the signature. It's the full Dusty signature and is also personalized to me, both concepts that used to be fairly rare in a Dusty autograph.

Again, like you had to guess?

Other Pictures Include: Superstar Billy Graham "Black & White" Exclusive signed, Akeem & One Man Gang signed, Demolition Tag Team Set signed (the singles are more visually appealing, however this is the first one that Bill "Ax" Eadie had ever signed), and "The Outlaw" Ron Bass signed (one of the ones I never thought would get a figure, and was very pleased about).

I Love Memphis Wrestling

Of the old school wrestling territories, Memphis ranks among my top favorites. While the wrestling may not have been "scientific" enough for some fans and the characters and feuds too "goofy" for others, to me Memphis had a perfect blend of everything I look for in wrestling.

And "The King."

A package full of old Memphis wrestling items came in the mail today, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about it. This stuff is great, and I even got some things I didn't bargain for. One of which, was this...

It loses a LOT in the photo (it's a bright yellowish gold with an almost psychedelic '70s effect to it), but I've never seen one of these before. How cool is that? Some of the other items fit into categories of separate entries I've been planning on doing, but I promise a lot more of these great Memphis items will show up here. So for those of you Lawler, LeDuc, Idol, and Jimmy Hart fans out there...stay tuned!

Wayne "The Fonz" Farris, anyone? :-)

A Signamania Signed Goody...And A Lesson!

As promised, a look at one of the pieces I had signed at Signamania IV. Arn enjoyed seeing and signing this figure, and even showed it off to Dean Malenko. He commented that they "got the right bodytype," which I took as a jab at the slightly over-buff Arn Anderson Classic Superstars figure which he had been signing throughout the day.

At first glance, this is like any other WCW Galoob figure released in the United States. As any collector worth his or her salt knows, in 1990 Galoob released a series of 12 WCW figures in the United States. The series included Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious, Sting, Lex Luger, Ron Simmons, Butch Reed, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Brian Pillman, and Tom Zenk. The figures were also released in two-packs as seen below.

Later on, a second series was released in the United Kingdom only. This series included Big Josh (Matt Bourne--the Original Doink), El Gigante (Giant Gonzales), Dustin Rhodes, Michael PS Hayes, Jimmy Garvin, and Sting and Luger in entrance gear. Different colored variations of the United States released figures were also released in the U.K.

The lesser known variant on these figures was actually a part of the original United States release. Infact, the Arn Anderson figure above is a variant. Can you spot it?


In the lower right corner of the packaging, the card reads "Presents Superstars of the NWA" as opposed to the MUCH more common "Presents Superstars of the WCW."

This variation has been little-talked about over the years in discussions of this line among collectors. The printing of these cards had to have been relatively short, as every example I can remember seeing and opening back in the early '90s read "WCW."

On this carding, in theory, this is the ONLY NWA action figure line featuring a cast of the classic NWA wrestlers.

In this collectors opinion, the NWA carded figures are much more desirable then their later altered counterparts and will undoubtedly rise in popularity as the years go by.

Signamania IV Is In The Books

As I mentioned early on in the life of this blog, autographs have become a big part of my wrestling collection over the years. There are several (sane) ways to obtain these autographs, one of which is the recent trend of wrestling conventions/fanfests that have popped up along the east coast in the past decade or so.

This past weekend was the fourth offering from the fine folks at Signamania. Signamania is a convention held by George's Cards and Collectibles in Levittown, Pennsylvania. Starting in October of 2007, Signamania has quickly become one of the "Big Three" of sorts, in regards to wrestling fanfests. George Nahm and Marc Rapport have worked hard to build a reputation among not only the fans, but the wrestlers themselves. With names such as Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Mick Foley, Harley Race, Roddy Piper, and most recently Dusty Rhodes among many others appearing at Signamania, their hard work has obviously paid off.

This past Saturday was Signamania IV with Rhodes, Hart, Jim Neidhart, The Dudley Boyz, The New Age Outlaws, The Midnight Express, Matt Bourne, Bob Holly, Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, Trevor Murdoch, and Colin Delaney all appearing as Superticket guests. In the world of conventions, a Superticket will usually get you an autograph and photo from each of the guests included. Vendor guests included Cowboy Bill Watts, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, Ron Simmons, Victoria, Sunny, The Rock n Roll Express, Jim Cornette, Jimmy Hart, and The Nasty Boys to name a few. Vendor guests are stars who are at the show separate from the main ticket, meaning there is a fee for autographs or photograph opportunities (also known as "photo ops"). Often, a "combo" is offered for each guest, offering an autograph and photo at a reduced price. Others, especially stars who attend the shows themselves without the middleman of a dealer or agent, will offer bulk prices on multiple autographs.


The above picture shows the items I had signed at the show. All but two (The Rock & Roll Express and Victoria figures) were items I had brought with me. While there are vendors selling photos and various other items to get signed, a lot of the more serious collectors already have items. I, personally, usually bring a variety of items ranging from action figures to promo photos to magazines and programs. In the coming weeks I will be highlighting some of these items in separate entries. In the meantime, please check out Signamania for information on Signamania V, which is scheduled for this Fall!

Last but not least, I present my personal favorite item that I had signed at the show...

The Bunkhouse Stampede '88 Program

Usually when I get a program signed, it's the beginning of a "project." A project consists of an item, usually a poster, magazine, program, book, or vhs/dvd cover or box, that you get signed by the stars who are featured on that particular item. When I purchased this program off of NWA Fanfest promoter Greg Price (more on his Fanfest weekends in a future post) a few years ago, I knew immediately there was only one signature I wanted on it--"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.

In all, I had seven items signed by my all-time favorite wrestler, Rhodes, at Signamania, and this was by far my favorite. The fact that he signed it with a full signature and was in great spirits made it all the more special.

I leave you with what is, to me, the most special photo op in my hundreds of pictures with wrestlers. Myself, and The American Dream, recreating Dusty's famous "Million Dollar Smile."