BuzzMania: Busting a 1991 Merlin WWF (Italian) pack (Hour 4)

The biggest weekend in professional wrestling is here with WrestleMania 34 set for Sunday in New Orleans and events beginning tonight with the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a NXT Takeover on Saturday and then Raw/Smackdown tapings after that. We'll make today a big day for wrestling collectors right here on The Buzz with #BuzzMania, a series of WWE wax box and wax pack breaks all day long.

How long will we go? Stay tuned ...

The pack: 1991 Merlin WWF (Italian edition)
The cost: Will vary 

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

Cards per pack: 8 (all in gallery below)
Base set completion: 
8 of 150 (5 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Base cards – The Undertaker, Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig), British Bulldog (Davey Boy Smith), Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich), Bushwhacker Luke, Sid Justice (2)

Inserts: None

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

Card That Stole The Show: The Undertaker (Rookie Card!)

What's Buzz-worthy: These Italian sticker-packet-style packs read 1992 but the cards themselves carry a 1991 copyright -- and that makes the appearances of The Undertaker here to be "Rookie Cards." (He has a few cards in the set.) These packs are from a timeframe where WWE wax wasn't all that plentiful in the United States, but there's a wealth of international releases that U.S.-based collectors have been scooping up in the last few years. There are English versions of these cards as well as German, but I'd never ripped any of them until now. (I was out of WWE as a fan as a kid after roughly WrestleMania VI, which was before this release.) The Undertaker card was the first one I saw when ripping this pack and since it was on the top it does have some surface issues as the aged adhesive spray to seal the pack also is slightly on the card. (At a glance you can't see it, but it wouldn't be grading-worthy.) For the price (about $10), this one is a one-and-done for me -- essentially ripped so you could see it here -- but there are a number of stars in these packs that are memorable in WWE history. Meanwhile, we should see Undertaker in the ring on Sunday ... right? Let that sink in -- he's still around and cards have changed a lot since this one. It's a simple 150-card set with some strong photos (see the British Bulldog card) and some potentially decent card backs (for a wrestling set) ... as long as you can read Italian.

Product Grade: A
Pack Grade: A
Fun Grade: B+

What's next? Be back in an hour ...

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