THE SPECIALISTS COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: How WrestleMania & Raw affected WWE stars's memorabilia - Bryan, Shield, Bray, A.J., Paige, more
Apr 8, 2014 - 4:40:18 PM
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By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist
The autographed photo of Paige from WWEShop.com that was featured in the April 1 PWTorch Collectibles Column sold out in less than a week – and that was before Paige made her Raw debut on April 7.
Fans and collectors have been buzzing about Paige for the better part of a year, so it’s no surprise that hers was the first of the four signed NXT photos to sell out. WWEShop.com is still selling signed photos of Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, and Emma for $14.99 each.
PWTorch specialist Justin James received his Paige autograph on April 7, and was very complimentary of the quality of the photo and the care with which it was shipped.
It appears that one eBay seller bought several copies of the signed Paige photo from WWEShop.com and is now selling them for $39.99 or best offer. Several have sold already, but interestingly, none had sold since April 3 at the time this column was published.
Paige also has a card in the NXT insert set from 2014 Topps WWE that has been selling for just a couple dollars. It’s possible that the card and signed photo may start selling higher after Paige’s Raw debut, depending on how she is booked going forward.
- Bray Wyatt has been one of the most popular WWE personalities with hardcore fans and collectors since debuting in 2013. His autograph from 2014 Topps WWE has been the hottest in the set so far. As soon as his WrestleMania match with John Cena was teased, collectors began discussing what that could mean for the value of that card.
Some collectors suggested if Cena “buried” Wyatt at Mania, he would become just another mid-carder and interest in his autograph would drop. It’s still very early, but that doesn’t appear to be the case at all. After WrestleMania ended, one copy of his autograph sold on eBay for $85, with 11 bids. In the two weeks leading up to Mania, other listings ended at $56, $68, $63, and $65.75.
There are several listings of this card on eBay right now. One was listed just after WrestleMania as a seven-day auction, and as of the time this column was published, was at $26.01 with eight bids.
Speaking of Wyatt, his first action figures should be hitting your local toy and retail stores soon. His first figure is included in Basic Series 39, scheduled for a late-May release. RingsideCollectibles.com just released images of Wyatt’s first Elite figure, which will be included in Elite Series 28 this summer. The figure comes with a removable hat and shirt and will probably be one of the hottest figures in quite some time.
- Roman Reigns’s 2013 Topps Best of WWE has dropped in value significantly over the last month. But that has more to do with supply than interest in the current direction of the Shield.
After Reigns’s Royal Rumble performance, interest in this card skyrocketed and by mid-March it was regularly selling in the $75-100 range. Many collectors who paid $15-20 for their copy noticed this and hoped to cash in. By late-March sales tumbled, with the card regularly selling in the $50-75 range. On April 6, one eBay auction ended at $53.52 with eight bids. When this article was published, there were five active listings on eBay, with Buy it Now prices in the $50-70 range.
- No WWE personality has sold as consistently well over the last two years than A.J. Lee. If that continues will depend on how WWE handles her character after her April 7 title loss.
From March 24 through April 3, there were eight completed eBay listings for A.J.’s 2014 Topps WWE Autograph. Almost all of those sold for $50, with a low of $45 and a high of $53.25. A.J.’s older autographs sell even higher, as they don’t pop up for sale nearly as often as the 2014 Topps auto. Her 2011 Topps Classics Autograph – her first certified autograph – sold on April 2 for a whopping $152.50.
A.J.’s other scarce cards from 2014 Topps WWE, such as her Divas Kiss and Commemorative Belt cards, outsell just about every other card in each of those respective sets.
- Daniel Bryan’s cards have held steady over the last few weeks. Like many other wrestlers, Bryan’s is 2014 Topps WWE Autograph is his most readily available right now since it is his most recent. From March 20 to March 30, most listings for that card ended in the $30-35 range. After his WrestleMania victory on April 6, one sold for a Buy it Now of $35.
One savvy seller timed his auction for a Bryan 2014 Topps WWE Autograph so that it would end just after WrestleMania. This often happens in the big sports. Over the last year, sellers have set auctions for Peyton Manning autographs to end just after the Super Bowl (ouch), and autographs and rookie cards of Lebron James to end just after the final game of the NBA Finals.
The Bryan autograph that ended at auction on April 6 was an interesting glance at how a WrestleMania victory could influence interest in a rising star’s collectibles. The auction sold for $44.33, about $10 higher than the Buy it Now listing that same day.
But Bryan’s win also appears to have ignited a bidding frenzy on the auction format, as there were 27 bids. Of the other Bryan 2014 Topps WWE Autographs that sold at auction since March 20, none had more than 13 bids.
PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MMooreWriter .
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