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The box: 2017 Leaf Originals Wrestling
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 1
Cards per box: 5
Base set completion:
3 of 41 (7 percent)
Duplicates: 0
Autographs/Memorabilia: 5
2014 Autographs (2) – Danny Hodge, Kevin Sullivan
2014 Yellow Autographs (1) – Bobby Eaton (/25)
2017 Autographs (1) – Jim Ross
2017 Blue Autographs (1) – Leilani Kai (/25)
What’s Buzz-worthy: This release is nothing but autographs — on-card autographs — and the only drawback on this product is that the checklist is relatively small with 41 signers across two basic sets (some cards are marked 2014 and some 2017 — 24 2014s and 17 2017s — but they essentially look the same with just the width of the font on the front) and then parallels atop of that along with alternative artwork cards also in the mix. At first glance, this isn’t the flashiest box, but it includes a modern-day announcing legend (a key for wrestling on TV) in Jim Ross and one of his heroes, Danny Hodge, who was a three-time national champ at Oklahoma in the 1950s where he never suffered a takedown in his college career. That landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated back in 1957 before he embarked on a career in pro wrestling. The rest of this box included one of the creepier performers of the 1980s in Kevin Sullivan, one half of The Midnight Express in Bobby Eaton and Leilani Kai, a notable 1980s women’s star for the WWE. … Since this is a product not limited to just the WWE wrestling landscape, you get a good mix of names from the past and present and some are first-time signers. Also in the mix here are redemption cards for the original artwork used to create these cards as well as printing plates and rarer colors in the rainbow, Red and Black. If you can find these boxes reasonably priced, they’re worth the rip to build a wrestling autograph collection quickly and with some variety. If you buy several boxes, you may see the small checklist strike, but there is ink from Torrie Wilson, Bret Hart, Chyna, Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, Rob Van Dam and Hulk Hogan in the mix, too.
Product Grade: B+ (small release)
Box Grade: B
Fun Grade: A
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