Hulk Hogan’s most valuable card has reached the top rope, selling for a record price of $132,000 Saturday at Heritage Auctions.
Hogan's 1982 Wrestling All-Stars card, which is one of 17 PSA 9s, with none graded higher, now ranks as the most valuable wrestling card of all time, just edging out the 2022 The Rock Black Prizm 1/1, which fetched $126,000 last year
The previous record for a Hogan card was the $52,840 achieved by another copy of the 1982 card, graded BGS 9.5, in September 2022.
“The card is the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle of wrestling cards,” said David Peck, a longtime wrestling card collector and the owner of the top set in the PSA Registry.
Jeremy Padawer, Chief Brand Officer of toy manufacturer Jazwares and a large wrestling card collectoor, said the Hogan was "on the Mount Rushmore of wrestling cards." Padawer believes if a PSA 10 copy ever emerged it could become the first-ever million-dollar wrestling card in the future thanks to its "extraordinary fanfare."
The record-breaking card is “easily one of the best copies in existence,” according to Peck, who says the population of PSA 9s is even fewer than displayed on the PSA census, as he knows of at least four which are no longer in PSA slabs. One became an SGC 10.
Just before the World Wrestling Federation soared in popularity in the 1980s, “Wrestling News” magazine had the foresight to offer a card set for fans via mail order. Known as the Wrestling All-Stars 1982 series A and B sets and featuring stars such as Ric Flair and Andre the Giant, they weren’t the first wrestling cards to hit the market, but are widely considered the first standard American set ever produced.
Released in cellophane-wrapped complete sets, cards were easily damaged, resulting in a dirty of high-grade examples.
Compounding condition sensitivity with rarity, it’s believed around 2,000 sets were produced at most.
Peck says he found the original set was only advertised for around six months, further contributing to its rarity.
The Hogan card features the Hulkster right before his career took off and is widely considered the most important wrestling card ever produced, with added lore due to the fact there has never been a PSA 10, despite 435 graded.
This record sale will represent the first time a PSA 9 Hogan was offered publicly in more than four years. The last time one sold was April 2020 on eBay for $4,050.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.