{"id":23839,"date":"2016-06-23T16:54:57","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T21:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=23839"},"modified":"2016-06-23T16:54:57","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T21:54:57","slug":"collectibles-column-roman-reignss-trading-cards-held-value-since-shield-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/06\/23\/collectibles-column-roman-reignss-trading-cards-held-value-since-shield-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Collectibles Column &#8211; Have Roman Reigns\u2019s Trading Cards Held Their Value since The Shield Era?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3575289096\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Two years ago, Roman Reigns\u2019s 2013 Topps Best of WWE Autograph was the hottest wrestling card in years. It spiked in value from December 2013, when most sales hovered around $15, to March 2014, when sales sometimes topped $100.<\/p>\n<p>Savvy collectors knew that WWE saw Reigns as the heir apparent to John Cena, and his ascension was fast-tracked when the Shield split up in June of 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Collectors had different opinions of Reigns\u2019s 2013 autograph card. Some thought that, since it was Reigns\u2019s first certified autographed trading card, it could be viewed as a rookie card, of sorts, and may retain some of its value if Reigns grew into the star WWE wanted him to be. Others speculated that once Topps released more autographs \u2013 including his 2014 Topps WWE Chrome Autograph, released in the summer of 2014 \u2013 the value of his 2013 card would drop.<\/p>\n<p>What no one\u00a0knew in 2014 was just how strongly the WWE audience would reject Roman Reigns.<\/p>\n<p>Reigns was quickly pushed as WWE\u2019s top star, but he never had the audience support that usually goes along with that spot. Crowds weren\u2019t anti-Reigns for most of 2014, but the reactions he got were pretty tepid. By the time Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble, those lukewarm reactions turned to all out mutiny, as WWE crowds flat out rejected Reigns.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last two years, secondary market sales of Reigns\u2019 trading cards have plummeted. Like Reigns\u2019s career path over that time, there are a multitude of reasons for waning interest in Reigns\u2019s trading cards \u2013 some of which were Reigns\u2019 doing, others of which were out of his control.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sale Prices Fall<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As previously mentioned, Reigns\u2019s 2013 Topps WWE autograph sold in excess of $100 at times in 2014. When Topps included Reigns\u2019s signature in its 2014 WWE Chrome product, prices of the 2013 card understandably softened. Chrome is a premium Topps product that a rich history in other sports.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1308897592\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Plus, the 2014 Chrome set featured on-card signatures, while Reigns\u2019 2013 card had a signed sticker attached to it; on-card autographs almost always fetch higher prices than sticker autographs.<\/p>\n<p>That summer, sales of Reigns\u2019s 2013 card leveled off at around $50 \u2013 down considerably from the $100-plus a few months before, but still very respectable sales prices for a wrestling card. Throughout the year, Reigns\u2019 Chrome signature regularly sold in the $75-100 range, with highly graded copies often selling for $150 to $200.<\/p>\n<p>However, since then,\u00a0secondary market prices of these two cards have plummeted. The two most recent completed eBay listings for Reigns\u2019s 2013 card ended at $25 and $28, respectively. Reigns\u2019 2014 Chrome signature can usually be found for less than $40, and a gem mint copy with a Beckett Grading Services (BGS) grade of 9.5 with a grade of 10 on the autograph recently sold for just $51.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Enough Autographs for an Empire<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The single biggest resign for the decline in sale prices is over-saturation of the market. During most years from 2005 to 2013, Topps released just one or two wrestling products per year. In addition, Topps usually changed up the signers from one year to the next; if top stars like Randy Orton and John Cena signed one year, they likely wouldn\u2019t sign the next.<\/p>\n<p>Topps has changed its approach to wrestling cards since then. In 2014, Topps released three WWE products: the basic 2014 Topps WWE product, 2014 Topps WWE Chrome and 2014 Topps WWE Road to WrestleMania. In 2015, Topps cranked out five WWE products, and will produce at least four in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>But the bigger concern for collectors in the long run is the abundance of each wrestler\u2019s signature. Topps usually adds a few new signers with each product (usually legends or new NXT talent), but doesn\u2019t cut back on the existing stars. By the end of 2014, Reigns\u2019 signature appeared in just three products: 2013 Topps Best of WWE, 2014 Topps WWE Chrome and 2014 Topps WWE Road to WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p>By June 2016, Reigns\u2019s autograph appeared in eight more sets \u2013 11 altogether. In addition, Reigns\u2019s autograph often appears in multiple subsets in one product, such as basic autographs and autographed relics from 2015 Topps WWE Undisputed \u2013 each of which also had multiple serial numbered parallels.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1983932867\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>If you\u2019re in the market for a Reigns autograph today, you can find one on eBay for $8 or less; that\u2019s almost unheard of for a top wrestling star. From 2010 to 2013, TRISTAR unleashed a plethora of Jeff Hardy autographs in its TNA products, and those never sold anywhere near that low.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/06\/Reigns_Collage.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23840\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/06\/Reigns_Collage.png\" alt=\"Reigns_Collage\" width=\"750\" height=\"677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/06\/Reigns_Collage.png 750w, https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/06\/Reigns_Collage-300x271.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Infamous \u201cRR\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Next to the abundance of cards available, the thing that hurts sales of Reigns\u2019s autographed trading cards the most is his horrible signature. The Philadelphia crowd bombarded Reigns with chants of \u201cRoman\u2019s sleeping\u201d during his 2015 Royal Rumble win, and Reigns\u2019s signature usually looks like he\u2019s signed it in his sleep.<\/p>\n<p>Reigns&#8217;s \u201cRR\u201d signature doesn\u2019t exactly inspire fans to spend money. Reigns may not have any control over how many cards Topps produces, but he could certainly help his cause by putting some effort into his signature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Signs of Things to Come<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Fans have been clamoring for a Roman Reigns heel turn for more than a year. A role as an arrogant bad guy seems like a natural fit for Reigns, but will it really make a difference? Many fans may be calling for a heel turn when what they really want is for Roman to go away. A heel Roman Reigns may be pushed even harder than the babyface version.<\/p>\n<p>As far as Reigns\u2019 cards go, it\u2019s difficult to imagine a scenario where they really increase much in value. The sheer quantity of cards \u2013 combined with Reigns\u2019s sloppy signature \u2013 will probably keep prices down. There\u2019s a good chance that they may recover from the $8 lows fans are paying today, but the days of $100 sales of Roman Reigns cards for all but the scarcest cards are gone.<\/p>\n<p><em>PWTorch Collectibles specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/MMooreWriter\" target=\"_blank\">@MMooreWriter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1680722600\"><div id=\"pwtor-3921704734\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Two years ago, Roman Reigns\u2019s 2013 Topps Best of WWE Autograph was the hottest wrestling card in years. It spiked in value from December 2013, when most sales hovered around $15, to March 2014, when <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/06\/23\/collectibles-column-roman-reignss-trading-cards-held-value-since-shield-era\/\" title=\"Collectibles Column &#8211; Have Roman Reigns\u2019s Trading Cards Held Their Value since The Shield Era?\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,27],"tags":[391,987,74,1376,820],"class_list":["post-23839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-specialists_collectibles","category-specialists","tag-collectibles-column","tag-michael-moore","tag-roman-reigns","tag-the-shield","tag-topps"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Reigns_PegJarret.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23841,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23839\/revisions\/23841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}