Hulk Hogan Rookie Cards

There’s a hell of a lot of wrestling fans who can trace their fandom back to Hulk Hogan.

I know I was a huge fan of his growing up. I had the toys, watched the cartoon, and “Hulked” out of a few t-shirts in my time too.

In this article, we’re going to look at rookie cards and some other early cards for Hulk Hogan.

The Best Hulk Hogan Rookie and Early Year Cards

Here are some of my favorite early Hulk Hogan cards out there.


1982 Wrestling All Stars #2

The 1982 Wrestling All-Star set is a special one in the wrestling card hobby.

Back in the day, there were a bunch of different wrestling territories around America.

Eventually, the WWF took over most of these territories and consolidated into fewer, large promotions, as opposed to a lot of smaller ones.

This means that back in the early 80s, and before then, individual territories released their own card sets. However, this Wrestling All-Star set includes wrestlers from various promotions, meaning there was a far more complete collection of wrestlers featured.

Hogan features in this set, and it’s become the main chase card of the set for collectors. In fact, it’s one of the main chase cards in the hobby full-stop.

1985 Topps and O-PEE-CEE WWF #1 and #16

The 1985 Topps (or O Pee Chee, depending on where you’re from) WWF set is a classic in the hobby and it features an absolute classic Hogan card.

The O Pee Chee and Topps sets are incredibly similar when it comes to the Hogan card, but the O Pee Chee set did expand with a series two, that included some of the first Macho Man Randy Savage cards.

I think this set is one of the absolute classics out there, and will be valued forever into the future.

1981 Wrestling Superstars

The Wrestling Superstars set is the first that has Hulk Hogan in it to my knowledge, and was a part of a 44-card set released in the summer of 1981 by the G.C. London Publishing Corporation,

The card set was a part of the Sports Review Series – 1981 Wrestling SuperStars which was a magazine that was released 4 times a year.

The cards measure approximately 4 x 5 1/2″ and are of paper stock. The cards aren’t numbered, but they do have a short bio of each wrestler on the back.

Again, this set has wrestlers from various promotions.

1986 Monte Gum Set

One thing I love about wrestling sets from the 80s is just the random sets that were produced. There’s some real eclectic sets of cards out there and this is one of them.

This set was only produced in Holland and came with two cards perforated together at the top or bottom. That means that every card has a small tear or cut to separate the cards.

This set is recognizable as all cards have that yellow boarder with the wrestler’s name printed on it. There’s no bio text printed on the back or anything like that.

There are nine different Hulk Hogan cards in this set. A lot of wrestling sets from the 80s have match cards that capture classic moments from that year’s matches.

Other Hulk Hogan Cards

It isn’t just the rookie cards listed above that are good buys though. There are plenty of cool Hulk Hogan cards you can collect.

FAQs

Are Hulk Hogan Cards a Good Investment?

Yes, Hulk Hogan cards are about as popular as you get when it comes to wrestling cards. Hulk Hogan is the biggest name in the sport’s history. The Hulkster’s reputation with wrestling fans is a bit hit an miss throughout the years. Some love him, some hate the decisions that he (and others) made about his career, and don’t see his in-ring action as anything special. Still, even the biggest hater respects the role Hogan has played in professional wrestlign.

What is Hulk Hogan’s Rookie Card?

A lot of what a ‘true rookie’ is, is a little in the eye of the beholder. It’s the hobby that decides what a rookie card is. Even though there are some cards that were released before it, the 1982 Wrestling All Stars card is seen by most as the iconic Hulk Hogan rookie card. It’s the set that is held in the highest esteem, and one that wrestling collectors everywhere hold a fondness for. Other than that, the 1985 Topps card is seen as a good rookie option.

What is the Best Hulk Hogan Card?

A lot depends on what you mean by “best”. However, the 1982 Wrestling All Stars Hulk Hogan is seen by a lot of collectors as the best Hulk Hogan card because it’s seen as his rookie card by most..

Final Thoughts

Get beaten up….. Start a comeback…. Hulk up…. Leg drop….. Pin….. Keep the title.

But let’s be honest here… for the vast majority of wrestling fans that started in the 80s and early 90s, Hulk Hogan was wrestling. He’s arguably the GOAT when it comes to the entire package of what makes a wrestler.

He’s also the most well-known wrestler of all time. And I don’t think it’s particularly close for second place.

Sure, guys like Rick Flair were big at the time, and more modern guys like the Rock, and John Cena are popular outside of the ring – Hulk is still the most famous wrestler of all time. 

Author

  • Vince

    I'm a big time sports nerd, with soccer being my first true love. I've been collecting sports cards since I was a little kid, and now... well, not much has changed, but I write about it... and I have facial hair.

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