Hi All:

The following is information from Topps on their WWE 2009 release. Below is the press release:

WWE 2009
COMBINING THE INTENSE ACTION OF WRESTLING
WITH THE BEST-SELLING TOPPS 2009 BASEBALL CARDS


WWE 2009 takes a bold new direction by presenting Superstars and Divas in the designs, packaging and inserts of Topps’ flagship Baseball Card brand. Each premium foil-stamped base card features full stats on each card back with text written by fan favorite WWE announcer Jim Ross. In addition, a special subset features the thrilling highlights of Wrestlemania 25!


WWE 2009 is jam-packed with multiple levels of super-collectible inserts:
• AUTOGRAPHS (TBD) – Signed by the latest and greatest of the WWE
• EVENT WORN RELICS (TBD) – Shirts ripped off the backs of top Superstars
• SEQUENTIALLY-NUMBERED GOLD & 1/1 PLATINUM PARALLELS (TBD)
• LEGENDS OF THE RING (1/pack) – 20 greats throughout WWE’s history
• REIGN OF HONOR (1/6 packs) – Commemorating WWE Champions
• TOPPSTOWN CODE CARD (1/pack) – Unlock virtual cards to collect and trade

PLUS THESE HOBBY EXCLUSIVES:
• DUAL LEGACY AUTOGRAPHS (TBD) – From WWE’s growing family tree
• SIGNED MAT RELICS (TBD) – From Judgment Day 2009
• SKETCH CARDS (TBD) – Hand drawn by WWE Superstars and Divas
• SEQUENTIALLY-NUMBERED BLACK PARALLELS (1/box)


WWE is a powerhouse brand with an evergreen, multi-generational appeal:
• No off-season: year-round exposure!
• Top-rated TV programming on USA, myNetworkTV, Syfy and WGN America
• Record-breaking Pay-Per-View events
• Wrestlemania 25 was bigger than ever!
o Highest-grossing WWE live event of all time!
o Sell-out crowd of 73,000 broke attendance record!
o $43 million in Pay-Per-View revenue

Topps' past 10 WWE trading cards series and the Chipz collectible battle game have been top sellers. Now, combining forces with Topps 2009 Baseball designs and packaging, get ready to take sales to a whole new level of success.

I certainly hope Topps is buying advertising space in NSU in addition to the free announcement here.

What I find interesting in the list above is:

• SKETCH CARDS (TBD) – Hand drawn by WWE Superstars and Divas

Some of these people can draw? If not, these sketch cards should be rather...unique.

Here's the checklist, from Topps:

WWE 2009 Trading Cards (Hobby) Subject List

Card # Name
1 Gregory Helms
2 Carlito
3 CM Punk
4 Maria
5 Kofi Kingston
6 Primo
7 Rey Mysterio
8 Natalya
9 Tommy Dreamer
10 Michelle McCool
11 Undertaker
12 Big Show
13 Charlie Haas
14 Chris Jericho
15 Evan Bourne
16 Layla
17 Christian
18 Cody Rhodes
19 Dolph Ziggler
20 Randy Orton
21 Edge
22 Mickie James
23 Festus
24 Finlay
25 Ted DiBiase
26 Goldust
27 Melina
28 Hornswoggle
29 Jack Swagger
30 Jim Ross
31 Mark Henry
32 Katie Lea Burchill
33 Mike Knox
34 Kelly Kelly
35 Matt Hardy
36 MVP
37 R-Truth
38 John Cena
39 William Regal
40 Santino
41 Tyson Kidd
42 Maryse
43 Shelton Benjamin
44 The Brian Kendrick
45 The Great Khali
46 Eve
47 The Miz
48 Triple H
49 Vladimir Kozlov
50 Alicia Fox
51 Beth Phoenix
52 Gail Kim
53 Jerry "The King" Lawler
54 Theodore Long
55 Batista
56 Tiffany
57 Ranjin Singh
58 Tony Atlas
59 Kane
60 Shawn Michaels
61 Chavo Guerrero
62 John Morrison
63 Jamie Noble
64 Jimmy Wang Yang
65 Kung Fu Naki
66 Paul Burchill
67 Jillian Hall
68 David Hart Smith
69 Curt Hawkins
70 DJ Gabriel
71 Ezekiel Jackson
72 Jesse
73 Zack Ryder
74 JTG
75 Shad Gaspard
76 Ricky Ortiz
77 Brie Bella
78 Nikki Bella
79 CM Punk
80 Santina Marella
81 Chris Jericho
82 Matt Hardy
83 Rey Mysterio
84 Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
85 Edge
86 John Cena
87 Randy Orton
88 Triple H
89 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
90 CHECKLIST

Reign of Honor
1 John Cena
2 Triple H
3 Jack Swagger
4 Rey Mysterio
5 MVP
6 Melina
7 Maryse
8 Primo/Carlito
9 Shawn Michaels
10 Undertaker

WWE Legends of the Ring
1 Bam Bam Bigelow
2 British Bulldog
3 Chief Jay Strongbow
4 Dean Malenko
5 Don Muraco
6 Dusty Rhodes
7 Iron Shiek
8 Jake Roberts
9 Jimmy Snuka
10 JYD
11 Mr. Perfect
12 Nikolai Volkoff
13 Rick Rude
14 Sgt. Slaughter
15 Superstar Billy Graham
16 Terry Funk
17 Vader
18 Wild Samoans
19 Gorilla Monsoon
20 Paul Orndorff

ToppsTown
1 Batista
2 Beth Phoenix
3 Chris Jericho
4 Christian
5 CM Punk
6 Cody Rhodes
7 Dolph Ziggler
8 Edge
9 Evan Bourne
10 Gail Kim
11 Jack Swagger
12 John Cena
13 John Morrison
14 Kofi Kingston
15 Maria
16 Maryse
17 Matt Hardy
18 Melina
19 Michelle McCool
20 Mickie James
21 Montel Vontavious Porter
22 Randy Orton
23 Rey Mysterio
24 R-Truth
25 Santino Marella
26 Shawn Michaels
27 Ted DiBiase
28 The Miz
29 Triple H
30 Undertaker

Shirt Relics (Hobby)
Shirt Relics
1 The Miz
2 Triple H
3 Santino (v2)
4 Christian
5 The Miz


Dual Legacy Autographs (Hobby Only)
1 Bob Orton / Randy Orton
2 Ted Dibiase Sr / Ted Dibiase Jr
3 Dusty Rhodes / Cody Rhodes
4 Carlito / Primo

Judgement Day Signed Mat Relics (Hobby Only)
1 Edge
2 Randy Orton
3 Christian
4 Rey Mysterio

Autograpghs (Hobby)
1 Michelle McCool
2 Gail Kim
3 Ricky Steamboat
4 Beth Phoenix
5 John Cena
6 Jim Ross
7 Arn Anderson
8 Tiffany
9 Evan Bourne

Here are samples of some of the cards:


Autograph Card


Dual Autograph Card


Base Card


Jerry Lawler Sketch Card


Legends of the Rink Card


Raw Base Card


Reign of Honor Card


Event Worn Relic Card


Signed Mat Relic Card


Smackdown Base Card


ToppsTown Card


Wrestlemania 25 Base Card

quote:

Originally posted by Kennywood:
What I find interesting in the list above is:

• SKETCH CARDS (TBD) – Hand drawn by WWE Superstars and Divas

Some of these people can draw? If not, these sketch cards should be rather...unique.

As Harris posted in the scan just above, Jerry Lawler is a VERY good artist. You should check out his website some time, some of his fine art is stunning!

Indeed, The "King" has many layers, and I'll look to add one of his sketch cards to my collection, for sure. I'll always have a fondness for him for the work he did with Andy Kaufman, and it was great to see him in the movie "The Man in the Moon" which dramatized those events.

Despite not being an ardent fan of wrestling for almost 30 years now (I'm 38), I've really enjoyed the Topps Heritage Wrestling sets and I actually got a Lawler autograph card in the first box of those I bought. It's one of my favorite cards.

Thank you Harris for posting the info on this set I'm glad we're finally getting some new autographs and am very excited to see Steamboat on the list

I recall seeing a sample Batista autograph on the sell sheet, but I guess it didn't make it into the final product line up.

Here's the image,

Topps has put up a WWE 2009 page with some additional info here:

Topps WWE 2009 page

quote:

Originally posted by H_Toser:
Topps has put up a WWE 2009 page with some additional info here:

Topps WWE 2009 page

And here are some more pictures that Topps has sent over to be posted.

BASE CARDS

LEGENDS OF THE RINGS INSERTS

SKETCH CARD

by Jerry Lawler



PACKAGING

Looks like this set is now live on ebay.

Any reports on what is coming out of the Hobby boxes. Do you get and Autograph per box? How often for the materials cards?

quote:

Originally posted by Victory_is_Mine!!:
Any reports on what is coming out of the Hobby boxes. Do you get and Autograph per box? How often for the materials cards?

Hi

AUTO 1:54
DUAL AUTO 1:55
Material 1:24

Box1: only 1 material
Box2: 1 material and 1 AUTO

it seems some boxes would only have 1 material, good luck

I haven't seen any of the sketch cards pop up yet. I wonder how rare these are?

quote:

Originally posted by Darth Vader Fan:
I haven't seen any of the sketch cards pop up yet. I wonder how rare these are?

There are only 31 total!