Wooooooooooooooooo!

WWE Heritage III Allen & Ginter “Superstars”
Topps, 2007
11. Ric Flair

It’s the Super Bowl of professional wrestling tonight – Wrestlemania. After entering the WWE Hall of Fame last night, this could be the last time we see the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair wrestling in the ring. Granted, I grew up in Canada where pro wrestling revolved around the likes of the Hulkster, Andre the Giant, the Ultimate Warrior and whoever Booby Heenan was going to take under his wing to lose in the championship match. But down south it’s Ric Flair country. He did more for the sport sports entertainment than anyone of his era. If tonight is indeed the night where Shawn Michaels’ arm is raised in victory, expect a half-hour ovation for the Nature Boy as he goes out with as much style as he brought to wrestling.

This card is from my favourite part of Topps’ WWE Heritage III set – the Allen & Ginter minis. There’s the 12-card Legends set in hobby packs, which is mainly guys from the 1980s. They’re readily available and a set was pretty easy for me to put together at a decent price. Flair is part of the retail-only Superstars set, which has some of today’s biggest names and Mark Henry. I’ve found them noticeably tougher to find and putting the set together is more costly, with cards averaging me about $5 a piece.

Topps, if you’re listening, enough with the all-encompassing sets. Let’s break things down a little with the WWE line. Give us an Allen & Ginter set. Even better – a Legends or Hall of Fame set without John Cena, Triple H or Batista. The WWE has a rich history that has been tapped into as far as trading cards go. I know I’d be ready spend a little more on such a themed set rather than another generic set with an action-y name.