By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: A.J. Lee has consistently been one of WWE's most popular wrestlers, and WWE's announcement of her retirement on Friday drove up prices of her collectibles.

As Leaf Trading Cards CEO Brian Grey recently said in an interview with PWTorch, “The hot girls always sell” in the collectibles market. Find a hot girl with fanboy appeal and boy, do they ever.
Since 2012, no WWE wrestler has been hotter with collectors than A.J. Lee. Her action figures are often the first to fly off of store shelves, and her trading cards have consistently been more valuable than those of any other wrestler.

News of A.J.’s “retirement” from WWE on Friday afternoon ignited a flurry of activity on eBay, especially for her autographed trading cards. Collectors quickly snatched up those cards that were already listed, and sellers began listing them at higher prices.

A.J.’s easiest certified autograph to find right now is from the 2015 Topps WWE set. The basic autograph regularly sells in the $45-60 range, and on Friday afternoon sellers were listing them more frequently for $75-100. Colored parallels sell considerably higher, with most black parallels (limited to 50 copies but not serial numbered) selling in the $65-80 range. The red 1/1 parallel recently sold for a whopping $417, with a gold parallel serial numbered to 10 fetching $379.99.




A.J.’s first autograph was in the 2011 Topps WWE Classics set and is pretty tough to find. These cards have been selling in the $80-120 range recently. Her signature also appeared in the 2013 and 2014 Topps WWE sets, with most cards selling in the $50-75 range. Her 2013 Topps WWE Dog Tags Autograph - which features A.J.’s signature trapped inside of a metal dog tag - had been her most affordable signature for some time, usually selling in the $30-45 range. However, in recent months, as the supply has dried up, more of those tags have been selling in the $75-100 range.

A.J.'s relic cards aren’t quite as valuable as her autographs, but they’re probably the most popular WWE relic cards from recent products. Her 2015 Topps WWE Shirt Relic contains a black swatch of a shirt worn by AJ and is pretty easy to find for about $10-15. Multi-colored pieces can fetch quite a bit more, with most selling for at least $25. A gold version serial numbered to 10 recently sold for $100.

The 2013 Topps Best of WWE Shirt Relic is probably her most affordable. It contains a blue piece of a Dolph Ziggler shirt from their run together in 2013, and most single-color pieces can be found for under $10. Multicolor pieces sell for much more, with most eBay auctions usually ending at around $30.

A.J.’s scarcest and most valuable relic is also from the 2013 Topps Best of WWE set. For this unique card, AJ posed for pictures with a beheaded Teddy bear, and Topps put pieces of the bear into cards. Sales of this card are few and far between so pricing it can be difficult. A recent listing on eBay for $74.99 ended without bids, and a seller on Beckett.com is asking $120.

A.J.’s first trading card was included in the 2011 FCW set that was given out at live events. It’s very tough to find, and most cards sell for $50-75. Her first mainstream WWE card was included in the 2011 Topps WWE Classics set and usually sells in the $3-5 range.

Mattel has made just five action figures of A.J. Lee to date. Her first figure appeared in Basic Series 24 in late 2012, featuring A.J. in a yellow top and blue jeans. This figure can be found today for $15-25.

A.J.’s only Elite figure was released a short time later in Elite Series 21. The figure has A.J. in a green and black plaid outfit. It lacks the accessories that drive interest in many Elite figures; the figure’s only accessory is a necklace, which is also included with most of her basic figures. The Elite figure can be found for about $15-20 loose, or $35-40 packaged.

A.J. was also included in Basic Series 30 (black top and shorts) and Battle Packs 28 with Big E (“love bites” t-shirt). Each of these figures can be found for about $15-20 loose.

Perhaps A.J.’s most popular figure is one you might be able to find at your local Walmart right now. Mattel included A.J. in its latest Superstar Entrances series, which features her in a pink t-shirt. These figures retail for $9.99 or less, but appear to have a shorter production run than all other figures in the set. Many collectors have expressed frustration at not being able to find one in the stores. This figure is currently selling online for $25-30.




A wrestler’s retirement or departure from WWE doesn’t typically generate much more interest in collectibles, but A.J.’s has done just that. It’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy in situations like this, but be cautious.

There will probably be a brief period where sales of her collectibles really spike in value, but they’ll probably come back down to earth – but back down to earth for A.J. Lee collectibles is still much higher than most other wrestlers.

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

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt