1992 and 1983 Wrestling All Star Set Build

I was always curious about the Wrestling All Star set and with my renewed interest in wrestling cards, I decided that I was going to build both the 1982 and 1983 sets.  The 1982 set consists of Series A and B, both 36 cards each, while the 1983 set consists of only Series A, 36 cards.  So 108 cards in total.  These cards were not from a major manufacturer at that time but were only available through Pro Wrestling Enterprises’ mail in offer where you could get all 36 cards in a series for $5.00. And they were available for several years after 1983, so the exact number of sets issued is not known but were estimated at around 2,000.

Some of the popular wrestlers from the 1982 Series A (from my WWF point of view): Andre the Giant, Junk Yard Dog, Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Bob Backlund, Terry Funk, Bruno Sammartino, Don Muraco, Ric Flair, Ivan Putski, and Jerry Lawler.

Some say Series B was not as popular, but it did include some of my favorite wrestlers: Ricky Steamboat, Paul Orndorff, Tito Santana, Sergent Slaughter, The Iron Shiek, and Greg Valentine.

And the 1983 Series A concluded with Superfly Jimmy Snuka (my favorite wrestler at that time), Iron Mike Sharpe, Jimmy Hart, Big John Studd, Rocky Johnson, Jake Roberts, and Lou Albany.

For my set build, I decided to go after my favorite wrestlers first, while leave the most expensive ones for last (Andre, Hogan and Flair). And I am going for mid grades as the cost can add up quickly. So I had to start it off with Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco.  I will always remember Snuka going off the top of the steel cage in Madison Square Garden. And Bruno Sammartinno, WWF’s Champion for 2 reigns that last for over 10 years combined.

Next was Rocky Johnson (2nd favorite tad team of the ‘80’s behind the Wild Samoans) and Antonio Inoki.  While these 2 are not graded, they are in great shape and were at a good price.  I think I will send them in to PSA at some point to be graded.

My Next purchase was Bob Backlund, Harley Race, Dory Funk Jr., and Ernie Ladd.  Backlund would be WWF Champion from 1978 to 1983, losing his Championship to The Iron Shiek.  And would later have a 2nd title run in 1994 beating Bret Hart at Survivor Series, only to lose it 2 days later to Kevin Nash. While I was not a fan of the other wrestlers I purchased, they were a priced right so I picked the up.

My latest purchase this past weekend was the Junk Yard Dog.  I have been looking at this one for a while and finally added it to the collection.  He was in WWF from 1984 to 1988.  While he was never a champion in WWF, he was a fan favorite at the time.

10 cards down, 98 more to go. It will be a slow build that I expect to take a few years to complete as I have only been adding cards purchased at local shows. But I am in no rush.