BuzzMania4: Busting 2005 WWE Animotion (Hour 7)

The biggest weekend in pro wrestling is here with WrestleMania 37 set for Saturday and Sunday from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. We'll make today a big day for wrestling collectors right here on The Buzz with #BuzzMania4, a series of WWE wax box/pack breaks.

This is Hour 7 ... an import from the past that I really liked when I recently tried dabbling with some international releases.

The packs: 2005 WWE Smackdown!/Raw Animotion wrestling cards 
Where to buy: Will take some hunting ... Click for new WWE

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

Packs per lot: 40
Cards per pack: 4
Cards in this box: 160
Base set completion: 
45 of 192 (23 percent)
Extras: 35 (and many copies of some match cards)

Notables on base cards: Trish Stratus, Randy Orton, Jackie Gayda, Undertaker, Batista, Torrie Wilson, Dawn Marie, Victoria, Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, Booker T, Kane, Chris Jericho, Edge, Kurt Angle, Christian, JBL, Triple H, Big Show, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, Kane, Eugene, Rosey, Chavo Guerrero

Insert cards: 80 (all non-dups in gallery below with some base)
Checklists (80) – Just 27 of 32 found in set ... plenty of extras. (Six images per card -- all stars shown.)

Autographs/Memorabilia: None

Card That Stole The Show: I'll go with the first Trish Stratus card in the gallery or the Undertaker card where he's taking off his hat and revealing the famed eyeroll ... call it a tie. (These don't photograph anywhere near as well as they look.)

What's Buzz-worthy: These cards have more of a gaming release feel as they are printed on lenticular plastic stock and have minimalist backs that show one the photos on the front. What they are exactly? I'm not all that familiar with them ... but I dig them. Basically these are roughly 1975 Topps Mini sized Sportflics cards with main wrestler cards using a pair of pics and then some action shots having three or four. The collation here was awful -- but that may be the result of this being a bulk lot more than a box situation -- but I didn't have any control of that one as these cards were made for sale in Italy and I only found them from a dealer in Serbia. (Really.) The stars in this timeframe are still strong and the checklist is deep so I really only scratched the surface here. Some names appear several times in the set while others have just one or two cards but even with that approach I had multiple copies for some cards here ... I think there's probably some short-printing involved on some cards. About the only issues here are minor edge flaking on the top and bottom back edges but otherwise these are some nice cards that are very well-crafted.

Product Grade: A (this one is strong but the set is huge)
Lot Grade: C (collation was atrocious with this lot ... and two checklists and two cards per pack is odd)
Fun Grade: B- (see above)

What's next? Look for another one next hour.

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