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."

Who Remembers...Mad Maxine?

As I promised early on, one of my goals is to showcase some of the rarest and obscure wrestling goodies that ever existed. When you're talking rare and obscure in the WWF, you definitely can't forget about Mad Maxine.

Or can you?

During the 1985 "Rock & Wrestling" era headlined by Hulk Hogan, Cyndi Lauper, Mr. T, and others, a greater emphasis was placed on women's wrestling. This was due, in part, to Lauper managing then-WWF Women's Champion Wendi Richter. For a few months, Richter's popularity was near that of Hogan's. The Fabulous Moolah and Leilani Kai were Richter's main opponents at this time, but for a few weeks there was yet another...


While she only had a handful of matches, Maxine was actually originally intended to appear in the Hulk Hogan's "Rock & Wrestling" cartoon. There are varying stories as to why she disappeared so quickly, but nonetheless she has been forgotten by many fans.

Above is the only piece of merchandise I've ever seen featuring Maxine. The photo itself, along with Moolah who managed her, was used in magazines, however I've never heard of or came across a promotional photo using it.

The item above is a vending machine "puffy" sticker. It's actually much smaller than it appears, but it was part of a small set that also included another individual devoid of merchandise--David Sammartino. This one is on its original backing, and seeing that it is so small, I doubt many still exist.

So, while many stars have action figures, magazine covers, and video game likenesses to immortalize their career...Maxine, wherever she is, has a puffy sticker.

Happy Easter!

Easter always reminds me of the classic Hasbro WWF figure line. This could be because my collection of them began with Easter 1991. These are the four original figures I had, as well as my original ring. As evidenced by their condition, a lot of "events" were held with these toys, and rightfully so. Shortly after my Hasbro collection started, my WCW Galoob figure collection started. Seeing as that the figures were relatively similar in height, you could have dream matches such as Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair, Sting vs The Ultimate Warrior, and Dusty Rhodes vs Arn Anderson among others.

Good times from the Bunny...