Christmas shopping 1993 led me to Toys R us and being absolutely floored by what I discovered: THE YELLOW CARDS. Only having the ad to go by, and no internet to use, I had no idea that the cards would be changing colors, as all before had looked the same. I grabbed all that I could find and ran around the store, and pleaded to get them. My parents agreed, and left me with the ultimate decision: you can only open one before Christmas. I struggled with that decision and ended up choosing Razor Ramon. Or Owen Hart. I’m not positive.
On to 1994.
This ad appeared in a program at a live WWF show and I stared at it for hours. The Red Card wave hit the local Hart’s store, with a very strong lineup with updates on Bret Hart, Undertaker, and Mr. Perfect. My priorities here were the debuting Lex Luger, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Yokozuna. I skipped Undertaker but was able to pick up the rest in short order.
The Purple Card series hit in late spring of 1994, at Toys R Us locally. A school friend told me about them with a lot of exaggeration like various people who weren’t really in the wave, but getting The Steiners, Dibiase, and Doink the Clown were a top priority.
The Blue Card series was a mystery to me until they hit, and I spent a lot of time trying to get to Hart’s to pick them up. The store nearest to me was out of them so it took a lot of convincing to get to a store where they were available. The bonus on this set was out of nowhere finding the Purple Razor Ramon and Black attire Shawn Michaels on Blue cards. I was only able to choose one and I ended up with Razor. I never saw the Shawn again until I collected the line as an adult. I never saw the Yellow Card rereleases of Shawn and Razor on Blue cards.
I desperately wanted the mail aways to complete my collection and I wasn’t able to get them ordered. It’s tough on an 11 year old with no money.
After the Blue cards, there was no information on what was coming next. With no internet or way for me to find out anything so The Gap had begun.
Some time later, In a WWF magazine, there was a profile of a collectibles shop that featured a lot of Wrestling items. On the top shelf was something that made my mind completely blow: GREEN CARD HASBROS. Visible in the picture was Billy Gunn, 123 Kid, and Ludvig Borga, I believe. It wasn’t until I gained internet access that I discovered the Green card lineup and how it was only available in the US in Hills department stores. Hills had already left Columbus, but had a store in nearby Lancaster. However, I was never able to get down there to try and find the green cards. Essentially, the green cards were a myth.
After the line wrapped up with the Green Cards, it was about a year before Jakks Pacific picked up the WWF line. In the meantime I was able to find some of the missing figures to fill in my set. I remember finding Kamala on yellow card at Kay Bee Toys, he was hard to come by at first. Schottensteins was a Columbus institution in retail, and they came through for me as I was able to get Ultimate Warrior #2 and Honky Tonk Man at one time, and the Demolition Crush and Smash two pack at another time.
By the end, the only figures I didn’t have before collecting as an adult were: Ultimate Warrior #1, Hulk Hogan #1 and #2, Macho Man #1, Akeem, Dusty Rhodes, Brutus Beefcake #1, Ted Dibiase #2, and the Green Card set. As of today, I have the full line (except mail aways) loose and on display.
