BuzzMania: Busting two 1985 Topps WWF wax packs (Hour 1)

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 packs: 1985 Topps WWF
The cost: Varies by location

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

The view inside after ripping.

Cards per pack: 10 (nine cards, one sticker -- see them all in the gallery below)
Cards in this lot: 20
Base set completion: 
18 of 66 (27 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Hulk Hogan, Iron Sheik, Junkyard Dog, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Andre The Giant, George "The Animal" Steele, Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Inserts: 2 
Stickers (2) – Hulk Hogan, Iron Sheik

Autographs/Memorabilia: Not for a couple more decades

Card That Stole The Show: The Hulk Hogan base card.

What's Buzz-worthy: This one is the first officially licensed set for what is now the WWE and it's one that came just before the mainstream explosion of wrestling as part of 1980s pop culture in the mainstream. Because of that, you don't get as many stylized shots of Hogan in his red and yellow gear or other merchandise appearances, but what you do get is a solid look at the stars of the time. Most "Rookie Cards" of stars from this time come in the 1982 and 1983 Wrestling All-Stars sets that were available via mail order but these are the first officially licensed pack-pulled semi-Rookie Cards for many. ... These two packs delivered very well with cleanly centered copies of the main wrestler cards -- not a guarantee for the era and a big deal since this set is popular when graded -- and only two gum-damaged and two wax-stained cards, which are also common for these. For two packs, the results here are a win. Hogan has two cards in the set -- one with a yellow background and the one found here which has been colorized to be more aqua. Why? Who knows ... maybe somebody else had been planned to be found on that card and they had to make a late change. The set consists of 21 wrestler cards, 35 Ringside Action highlights cards that showcase other stars not in the first part of the set, 10 cheesy "The SuperStars Speak" cards and then the set of 22 stickers -- and that's it. ... These packs aren't as easy (or cheap) to find as they used to be and their simple wax paper format means that they can be tampered with. Roughly a decade ago, this collector landed about 75 packs for $50 -- now packs will cost you between $5 and $10 apiece if you can find them. This one was followed by a pair of O-Pee-Chee sets with some notable stars' first cards using this same design and then a well-crafted 1987 Topps set that includes WrestleMania III highlights. This set was the first for the WWE, so it's our launching pad for today's marathon -- and you'll see that cards have come a long way since this time just like the WWE.

Product Grade: A
Lot Grade: A
Fun Grade: A-

What's next? Be back in an hour ...

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