By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Japanese trading card sets include top stars of the U.S. and Japan.

In the U.S., pro wrestlers have been featured on trading cards since the late 1800s. While Japanese wrestling trading cards don’t quite have that rich of a history, they have been in existence for more than 60 years.

In the 1950s an unknown company created Japanese wrestling trading cards of Rikidozan and other legends. These cards somewhat resemble the classic U.S. 1948 Leaf sports cards, with a color photo on top of a single color background. The backs of these cards are blank, so very little is known about them. Because of a small supply and limited information, sale prices are extremely volatile. Single cards usually sell for about $30.




The first Japanese wrestling cards documented by WrestlingTradingCards.com were inserted into Gong Magazine in 1969. Many of the names on these cards are very familiar to American wrestling fans: Karl Gotch, Skull Murphy, Pedro Morales, Sam Steamboat, Peter Maivia, Mad Dog Vachon, and Billy Robinson, to name a few.

A company called Yamakatsu produced Japanese baseball and monster movie trading cards at least since the 1950s, and entered the wrestling trading card game in the 1970s. According to the Guide to 1970s and Japanese Mini Cards by Ryan Laughton, these cards were distributed in boxes of 50 packs with one pack per card. A New Japan Pro Wrestling set was produced in 1974, followed by an All Japan Pro Wrestling set in 1976. Each set consisted of 40 cards of top Japanese and gaijin stars like Antonio Inoki, the McGwire Brothers, Andre the Giant, Dory Funk, Jr., and Giant Baba.

Gong Magazine cards continued into the 1980s, with cards of everyone from Tatsumi Fujinami to Bruiser Brody. The 1980s also saw the debut of wrestling cards from BBM, which is the top manufacturer of Japanese wrestling trading cards today. The first BBM cards were inserted Puroresu Magazine throughout 1982 and ’83. This set includes early cards of Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, and Abdullah (spelled “Adull”) the Butcher, among others.

The 1990s were big years for Japanese wrestling, and the Japanese wrestling trading card market grew with the sport. Just as American trading card companies began expanding their products with inserts and special trading cards, companies like BBM began producing acetate and lenticular cards. The 1999 BBM Pro Wrestling cards feature top stars from New Japan, FMW, Big Japan and others.

Modern Era Cards

In 2002, BBM produced the first wrestling card set that resembled what American fans had become accustomed to. The 2002 BBM Pro Wrestling product featured the first Japanese wrestling certified autograph and relic cards. This product included event-worn/event-used memorabilia from Mitsuhara Misawa, Antonio Inoki, Yuji Nagata and Jun Akiyama, and autographs from stars such as Keiji Muto, Masahiro Chono, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Taka Michinoku, and Shinjiro Otani.

The basic 2002 BBM Pro Wrestling set was made up of more than 400 cards of familiar names like KENTA (now Hideo Itami in WWE), “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Mike Rotunda, Ultimo Dragon, Curry Man, and Mike Barton (Bart Gunn).

BBM found a winning formula with its 2002 set, one that continues to this day. Since then, BBM has produced certified autographs of legends and early cards (sometimes dubbed “rookie” or “pre-rookie”) and autographs of wrestlers who have since become some of the biggest names in U.S. pro wrestling. The 2003 set featured the first certified autographs from Jushin Thunder Liger, the Great Muta, the Great Sasuke, KENTA, Steve Corino, Low Ki, and Kensuke Sasaki.

The 2004 BBM Pro Wrestling set has become somewhat well known with American collectors because of the first card of American Dragon, a/k/a Daniel Bryan. American wrestling fans became familiar with this card during Bryan’s rise in 2013, and since then its value has really taken off. A Beckett Grading Services Gem Mint (BGS 9.5) is currently listed on sale on eBay for $195.00 or best offer.

Beginning in 2007, BBM started producing smaller sets that were specific to each Japanese wrestling promotion. For example, in 2007-08, BBM produced separate sets for All Japan, New Japan, Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling NOAH. Some notable cards from 2007-08 include a Dragon Gate Autograph of BxB Hulk, New Japan Autographs of Prince Devitt (now Finn Balor in WWE) and Hiroshi Tanahashi, NOAH Autographs of KENTA and Misawa and All Japan Autographs of Muta (as both Muta and Muto), and Senada.




Notable cards from 2008-09 include Dragon Gate Autographs of Akira Tozawa and YAMATO, New Japan Autographs of Okada, Devitt and Tanahashi and NOAH Autographs of Misawa and Kenta Kobashi.
BBM released similar sets for All Japan, Dragon Gate and NOAH in 2009-10, and in 2011 released a multi-promotion Legend of the Champions set.

This set includes an amazing assortment of autographs from top stars like Tiger Mask, Riki Choshu, Kensuke Sasaki, Masa Chono, Tenzan, Karl Anderson, Ultimo Dragon, Sasuke, (Fergal) Devitt, Kenny Omega, Muta, and more.

If you want to learn more about Japanese wrestling cards, check out WrestlingTradingCards.com. This site offers comprehensive checklists and references to other great sources.

New Leaf Wrestling Cards

Leaf Trading Cards will release its long awaited second series of wrestling cards, 2014 Leaf Originals Wrestling, early next week. This product includes an amazing assortment of autographs from wrestling stars like Dynamite Kid, Raven, Demolition Ax and Smash, J.J. Dillon and Ole Anderson, along with the usual top stars like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, and Jeff Hardy. Look for an interview with Leaf CEO Brian Gray in next week’s PWTorch Collectibles Column.

PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MMooreWriter .

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2015 Collectibles Columns

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