The Rise of the WWE Trading Card Hobby

CardLadder reports that WWE trading card collecting is on an upward trend. Many diehard collectors focus on collecting WWE cards, while an increasing number of casual card buyers are becoming aware of them as an investment opportunity.

Recently, The Rock’s one-of-a-one Black Prizm card sold for $126,000 and shows him performing his signature move against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Topps

Topps is one of the oldest and most iconic trading card companies worldwide, making its products staples of many households worldwide. It is commonly associated with collecting hobbies and offers an impressive variety of cards, including stickers, albums, collectibles, entertainment products like trading cards based on movies/TV/music celebrities/etc, and humorous Wacky Packages/Garbage Pail Kids for your enjoyment!

It was founded as a confectionery company in 1938 and launched trading card operations in 1951. Originally privately held but going public in 1972, ownership has changed hands several times; currently owned by Michael Eisner’s Los Angeles-based investment firm The Tornante Co and Chicago private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners.

Topps began experimenting with premium sets in the early 1990s, including high-end baseball cards known as Stadium Club. Packs cost $25 at that time – an enormous sum. Topps aimed to draw younger customers in and increase sales; its premium cards quickly became popular.

Additionally, they introduced various innovative technology to enhance the production of their cards. In 1957, they revamped their cards to be 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches and started using color photographs and showing career totals on the back – this set a standard that other trading card companies quickly followed suit with.

Topps may still reign supreme in the trading card industry but recently has seen its dominance lessen due to a decision by the MLB players’ union to switch its licensing agreement from Topps to sports merchandise giant Fanatics and thus force Topps to revamp its business and launch several new products.

Topps has had great success with their baseball trading cards, which remain among the best-selling trading cards worldwide. Additionally, Topps has created other products, including its Allen & Ginter baseball series, that draw upon some of the earliest trading cards ever produced.

Fleer

Fleer was known for producing cutting-edge WWE trading card sets during the early 2000s, including memorabilia cards, autographs, and kiss cards of female stars like Trish Stratus, Lita Sable, and Stacy Keibler. These sets also featured unique insert sets and specialty cards like Flair Showcase that featured one-of-one masterpiece parallels along with shirt relics, medallions, title belts, and title belts from these decades renowned diva wrestlers such as Trish Stratus Lita Sable, and Stacy Keibler, among many female stars like Trish Stratus Lita Sable and Stacy Keibler among many more female wrestlers featured prominently among others like Trish Stratus Lita Sable and Stacy Keibler in their trading card sets.

Fleer was founded in 1981 and was located in Olney, North Philadelphia. They produced sports trading cards and bubble gum, marketing them worldwide. Fleer pioneered female-oriented wrestling cards alongside baseball, football, basketball, and wrestling trading cards, which remain immensely valuable today.

Financial trouble forced Fleer to sell off its assets, including its trademark. Upper Deck purchased it for $6.1 million.

Fleer was known for its groundbreaking packaging and special effects. For instance, it’s first Fleer Tradition set was designed to look like a pack of baseball cards, complete with gum. When Topps objected, Fleer replaced the gum sticks with team stickers instead and filed an antitrust suit; eventually, this case was settled out-of-court to allow Topps to maintain its exclusive agreement with wrestlers.

Fleer continued producing creative, unique cards until its bankruptcy in 2005 when Panini America took over its WWE license.

Panini WWE Prizm cards released in 2022 have proven an enormous success and reignited interest in WWE trading cards. Rebranding has attracted newcomers while creating demand for Gold and Black Prizims, providing collectors a great way to collect past wrestling legends.

Upper Deck

Upper Deck is a global entertainment company offering trading cards, memorabilia, games, and online platforms that bring sports fans and collectors closer to their favorite athletes and characters. Their licensed properties include NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, and WWE franchises, among many others; trading cards and collectible products can also be found based on those properties, such as Survivor or Wizard in Training CCGs produced.

Carlsbad-based and privately owned Upper Deck Company’s flagship products are baseball cards. Since its founding, however, Upper Deck has expanded into other major sports’ card production and gaming cards for popular titles like Halo. Furthermore, this entity holds several licensed properties under its roof, including several licensed properties including the Halo video game franchise.

Upper Deck made waves in the industry during the 1990s by offering autographed cards with serial numbered signatures and inserting game-used material such as jersey or bat pieces into its cards (called Piece of History cards). One Piece of History card featuring Babe Ruth’s 500th Home Run includes part of his jersey swatch!

Upper Deck expanded its business and introduced holograms into its products to protect cards against counterfeiting. Upper Deck was able to secure rights from a manufacturer who produced these holograms – printing them directly on each card’s back makes forging or reproducing near impossible.

Upper Deck is renowned as an industry leader, setting standards of quality and authenticity across sports collectibles industries. Upper Deck also stands out with its dedication to customer service; customers can get assistance for collecting or trading needs through email, telephone calls, or live chat services provided by this company; furthermore, its websites contain educational resources and information; while its customer support team are available 24 hours per day seven days a week!

Panini

Collecting WWE trading cards can be an exciting hobby, but it requires great care in handling them properly. These precious pieces of paper are susceptible to falling damage, liquid splashes, and scratches; for this reason, they should be stored in card sleeves or protective cases to maintain their value and protect from potential fall damage or liquid splashes. Grading companies such as Beckett or PSA only grade cards in pristine condition for official grading services such as Beckett and PSA certification.

This year has seen an explosion of interest for WWE cards due to female superstars like Becky Lynch breaking glass ceilings and expanding fan bases – these women will likely translate to higher prices for WWE cards.

Panini currently holds WWE’s official trading card license and has produced trading cards for decades – many still selling well in secondary markets. Panini cards are known for accurately reflecting both the sport and its superstars.

Established in Modena, Italy, in 1961, and is known for producing books, magazines, stickers, and trading cards. Starting by publishing FIFA World Cup trading cards in 1970 before expanding into other major sports events. Today they hold licenses to make trading cards for all major American leagues and player unions and produce an English Premier League sticker album.

WWE card manufacturers have been striving to meet product demand, with many fans eagerly collecting the new 2022 Panini Prizm WWE set, which promises one autograph per Hobby box. Other groups expected this spring include Topps AEW Wrestling’s first edition and 2021 Panini Finest WWE.

The hobby of collecting WWE trading cards has seen steady expansion over time and is quickly gaining popularity among non-wrestling collectors. While its continued growth is positive, some challenges could impede it further – for instance, its timeline can confuse newcomers; typically, card years run April-April, but delays could push release dates into June or July.