In Brief: The sales price of "Rainmaker Cash" jumped 5,500 percent post-Wrestle Kingdom.

By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

Merriam-Webster defines the term rainmaker as “a person ... who brings in new business; also: a person whose influence can initiate progress or ensure success.”

Kazuchika Okada has indeed been a rainmaker – not just for New Japan Pro Wrestling, but for fans and collectors who deal in wrestling memorabilia. Ever since the Wrestle Kingdom 9 pay-per-view on January 4, sales of New Japan-related items on eBay and other collecting an auction have increased substantially. There are suddenly more New Japan t-shirts, trading cards, action figures, and other memorabilia available to U.S. collectors than ever before.

Rainmaker Cash

Okada made a rare U.S. appearance at the May 27 "War of the Worlds" event promoted by NJPW and Ring of Honor. Prior to the match, Okada struck his Rainmaker pose and replica dollars featuring his likeness fell from the ceiling.

Fans scurried to gather up as much Rainmaker cash as they could. Some fans popped their excess Rainmaker cash on eBay as quickly as they could; others held onto theirs.

One fan who climbed onto the entrance ramp to collect Okada dollars has been selling them sporadically on eBay. Prior to Wrestle Kingdom 9, some of those auctions ended as low as 50 cents. After the Jan. 4 show, sales of the Rainmaker cash increased as much as 5,500%, with one auction ending at $28. Since the Jan. 4 show, auctions for the Rainmaker cash have ended at $28, $28, $11.50, and $18.

In addition to higher sales, auctions for the Rainmaker cash have received considerably more interest. One of the Okada dollars sold on Nov. 13 for $1.50 with six bids; on Dec. 9, one sold for 50 cents with just one bid. All auctions since then have had no fewer than seven bids and as many as 14.




Trading Cards

Serious collectors have been searching for rare Japanese BBM Trading Cards since 2008. While those very rarely surface on eBay, more and more older BBM Japanese cards are popping up - especially since Jan. 4.

From December 11 to Jan. 3, there were 22 completed auctions for New Japan related trading cards. From Jan. 4 to Feb. 6 - roughly half the time - there were 49 completed auctions. In addition to early BBM trading cards of Eddie Guerrero, Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit), Rob Van Dam, and Sabu, more and more sellers are starting to list large lots of newer BBM cards and complete sets.

T-shirts

ProWrestlingTees.com has t-shirts available of several of NJPW’s top acts, including Bullet Club, the Young Bucks, Okada, and Shinsuke Nakamura, among others. In addition, official NJPW logo and Wrestle Kingdom 9 shirts have been hot sellers on eBay in recent weeks, with many selling for as much as $55.

Action Figures

Japanese wrestling action figures are quite different from the Mattel and Jakks Pacific toys that North American fans are used to finding at their local big box stores. The Japanese figures are often more aimed at collectors, as they are more immobile figurines than actual action figures.

There are “mini big head” figures that are roughly the size of a AA battery. These are very popular with U.S. collectors. Recent sales of “mini big heads” have included Giant Baba, Tiger Mask, Giant Bernard (Albert), Masa Chono, Karl Gotch, and more.

More traditional sized Japanese wrestling figures were produced in the late-1990s and early-2000s. (See a related article HERE.) Recent sales of these figures have included Tiger Mask ($49.99, $40), Minoru Suzuki ($50), Vader and Scorpio ($19.99), and Jushin Liger ($30).

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

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