20 Years Of Legends, Charlotte, Moments & Memories

Twenty years is a long time. Occasionally, as in the case of what I’m looking back on today, it feels like it was the blink of eye. It was Thanksgiving weekend 2004 and I was headed to North Carolina -- for the first time, to a wrestling convention – for the first time. Talk about not having a clue as to what to expect! All I knew was that I was about to be in the presence of Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat and many, many more.

I wasn’t any stranger to meeting the legends of wrestling. Thanks to local autograph signings and independent wrestling events I’d met a nice roster of greats. But so many in one place? Would they even show up? Show up, they did. This was the original NWA Fanfest, at the time known as The Mid-Atlantic Legends Fanfest. Promoted in the Charlotte University Hilton (now truly famous for wrestling conventions) by Greg Price, this was actually the third event of its kind that year. This one, being over Thanksgiving weekend, was a tribute to Starrcade.

While many of you experienced at least one NWA Fanfest and/or it’s current spiritual successor The Gathering (also promoted in the Charlotte University Hilton), this early show was different. It was a few years before more northern fans caught on to the excitement. Sure, there were plenty of one day events held in the northeast, but an entire weekend? Unheard of. Once the northern fans began taking their dollars south, greedy (there’s no other way to put it) promoters followed. They quickly learned that bringing in just anyone as a “vendor guest” didn’t necessarily guarantee a weekend of riches in The Queen City. By and large, despite fans attending from all over, the southern flavor of the event is what kept it alive. I don’t think that I was prepared for just how robust that flavor was!

At this November 2004 event, the majority of the fans attending were diehard original fans of Jim Crockett Promotions. They lived it and breathed it when it was rocking the wrestling world and they still kept the memories alive all those years later. Many of these fans had been meeting and mingling with these wrestlers dating back to their active days. I couldn’t believe when, during Q&As, these wrestling greats knew many of these fans by name. It was a different atmosphere that absolutely never permeated to northern events.

It’s hard to fathom a convention today with the likes of Jack Brisco, Gary Hart and Ole Anderson, but they were all there. Ole was one of the ones who was absolutely astonished that my friend and I would come from Pittsburgh for this show. It was a different mindset. It was a different generation altogether. Nickel and diming the fans had yet to make its way to these nostalgia-driven events. Was wrestling always about money? Sure. What isn’t? But there was a different feeling then. I can’t think of many, if any, wrestlers that weekend who seemed “fake.” Sure, they were all getting a payday and a reunion with former colleagues, but it’s completely different than if you’ve only attended conventions or “meet and greets” in recent times.

There was also a level of resentment against the company that, for three years by that point, had ultimately won the wrestling war. While one fan was actually moved to tears when I gave him a WWF Mankind folder he’d admired that I was using to keep photos in, love for anything not tried and true southern wrestling was few and far between. These fans absolutely did not care that LJN WWF and Remco AWA figures were sitting at rock bottom prices at vendor tables. They wanted to visit with Paul Jones, Ivan Koloff and The Rock n’ Roll Express. Looking back now, I can’t say that I blame them.

One thing that does make it quite clear that two decades have passed is the hard truth of loss. Not only have many of the names on that 2004 show passed away but so have a bevy of fans who made the event what it was. They truly had a passion for it. Did some of them even get autographs? I’m not sure that they did. I think some just walked through the line to make one more connection to their beloved hero or dastardly villain. It’s unlike anything that you ever saw up north and even at today’s southern shows. I’m not disparaging the northern way at all. “Sign my items, take the photo, pay the money” has always been the name of the game up here. It works and you’re on your way. It just doesn’t have the same heart. Twenty years ago I got to witness the latter and I cherish the memory. 

 

Wrestling MarketWatch: Jakks WWE Classic Superstars of the 1970s

For sheer variety alone, Jakks WWE Classic Superstars line still holds the title of "Best Wrestling Figure Line" in this neck of the woods. No, it wasn't perfect. There were glaring omissions. The production quality went down at the end just as it did across the entire Jakks WWE line. There were even promised figures that never made the light of the day. Nevertheless, what we did get was usually amazing. Stars of the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s were produced and even some current names like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Nattie Neidhart officially made it into the line through special means.

The stars of the '70s were special in the line as many of them had never before been made into figures. Others had but maybe just never saw that definitive figure. In this latest edition of Wrestling MarketWatch, it's a look at some of those '70s stars who became Classic Superstars. As always, the quoted sale prices are from recent online auctions and are for carded, non-autographed examples only unless otherwise noted.

*Why not start with a legend who is still making the headlines on Monday nights? Bob Backlund has done it all. World Heavyweight Champion. Wholesome hero. Crazed villain. Presidential hopeful. Now, he's once again a manager...err...life coach, trying to make Darren Young great again. No matter how that turns out, Backlund has reinvented himself multiple times to stay in the game. He's also the author of one of the best wrestling books of all-time. His best figure, thus far, has been in the Classic Superstars line. It will be interesting to see if Mattel produces new figures of Mr. Backlund now that he's back with WWE. His Classic Superstars figure recently sold for $30.

*Bob Backlund had a plethora of evil villains to battle during his long run as WWWF Champion. One of those baddies was the devious Mr. Fuji. Master Fuji has had three action figures, two of which were in the Classic Superstars line. The single release reflected his years as a manager, complete with cane, hat, and number sign representing his "entry" into the Atlantic City Boardwalk run at WrestleMania V. "The Devious One" even has his red eye makeup on. Fuji was produced much more to scale than earlier managers in the line who seem to tower over their proteges. This great figure recently sold for $25.

*One star who did not see a figure until this line was Jerry Brisco. Both he and his brother Jack saw their first and only representations very late in the Classic Superstars run. They also suffered from poor case distribution leading to supply not meeting demand. They may be simply clad in red trunks, but the figures bring a lot of excitement to collectors who waited a long time to have The Brisco Brothers in their collection. An out-of-package example of Jerry Brisco recently sold for $30. No carded versions have been offered in recent months reflecting that the demand is still out there.

*They may have made their name in the '80s, but it was 1979 that saw the debut of the Fabulous Freebirds as a unit. Their style certainly reflected the rough and tumble, wild west attitude of '70s wrestling, too. Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts had a magic that few teams do. They considered themselves brothers and probably shared more wild times than most real brothers do. Some collectors may remember these sets being clearanced out at Spencer's stores despite originally being Wal Mart exclusives. Did you stock up? The boys recently sold at $40.

*One of the biggest marquee stars of the '70s happened to see his WWE return just as the Classic Superstars line was at its height. Thus, there are quite a few Jakks releases for Superstar Billy Graham. We saw just about every variation for Graham, but one of the most unique was a figure done completely in "black and white." The effect probably would've made more sense for a Bruno Sammartino variant, but it was Graham who was one of the WWE's "star" legends at the time. Surprisingly, this figure has seen a considerable drop in price. In past years you could not find this figure for under $50, it recently sold for just $22.50. It may be a good time to pick one up.

While some Classic Superstars prices are still high, a lot have steadied between $20-$30. That's still more than original retail, and prices do nothing to effect the value of a figure as far as how great it is to have in your collection. Mattel is making more and more legends in their WWE line, but I still don't believe that we'll ever see quite the variety that we did from Jakks. There's room for both, as each line brings something different to the table. Bring em on!

The Heritage Of Topps WWE Heritage

 There are a few things that I frequently ask for here on the blog. I'm sick of asking, you're sick of reading the pleas, something has to give. It has. This Summer, Topps announced the return of their WWE Heritage trading cards after a three-year absence. Coming this November, the 110-card base set will be accompanied by various subsets, relic cards, and on-card autographs. A few weeks ago, Alundra "Madusa" Blayze released a picture via social media of her signing the cards, so there is one confirmed signer.

The Heritage releases are the only modern wrestling trading cards that truly excite me. I anticipate their infrequent releases and as much as I wish they were released once a year, maybe it's better that they aren't. I usually purchase several hobby boxes and individual retail packs. Only with the Heritage cards do I try to assemble several base sets, and of course set aside many for autographs. The Heritage sets take me back to the trading cards of my youth, right before everything in the card world, sadly, went glossy. This 2015 set is based upon the 1985 Topps baseball design, a series that I'm very familiar with. They're cardboard, the way that trading cards should be, and the matte finish makes them very easy to obtain autographs on.

Beginning in 2005, Topps rolled out their first four WWE Heritage sets. The best of these sets was Heritage II which had a design based on the 1963 Topps baseball cards. Among my friends this is known as the "Wonder Bread" set. This nickname came from none other than Rob Van Dam. The extreme icon was signing his card in the set for me and proclaimed that "this is the set that looks like they came from a package of Wonder Bread." The cards do have a colorful design and great studio shots. What also makes the set fun is that while the 1963 baseball design is limited to the base, there are exclusive cards released in other avenues that utilize the same style. WWE Magazine and Jakks action figures included cards of Roddy Piper, Sgt. Slaughter, and Lita among others. Even more names such as Jeff Hardy and Linda McMahon were further added in the Topps Chrome release of the series.

Following those first four sets, WWE Heritage became a subset. The Topps WWE 2011 set featured a 50-card Heritage subset in the style of the 1962 Topps baseball cards. Just as with Heritage II, I have a personal wrestler-given nickname for this set. While signing his card, Kevin Nash called it a "Bowman." Bowman Gum was another trading card producer until Topps bought out the rival company. While we have yet to see any WWE Heritage produced after the Bowman style, the nickname will stick with me for this set.

Finally, in the last glimpse of Heritage until this year, Topps released the 2012 set. Based on the 1985 Topps WWF set, these are my favorite of the Heritage sets to date. Even the hobby boxes themselves were a nod to the past, being based on the Canadian 1986 WWF set from O-Pee-Chee. I think that the biggest appeal for me is that these are wrestling cards based on wrestling cards, rather than based on other sports designs. Admittedly, there aren't too many old wrestling card designs to pay tribute to, but I would still like to see a Heritage set based on the 1987 Topps WWF design.

After that quick refresher course in Topps WWE Heritage, it's time for the 2015 edition. With plenty of chase cards planned and the all-important autographs, it should be an extremely fun set to collect. There is also another product, WWE Undisputed, coming from Topps a month earlier. These are being aimed at a "high-end" collecting market and are basically a set of just autographs, relics, and parallels. Thanks, but no thanks. Give me the basic, vintage-styled, cardboard goodness of Heritage!