Item of the Day (11.10.09)

We admittedly keep the eBay store packed with a lot of items. And though we try to make browsing it easier through the specific categories, it's still possible for items to go under your radar. That's what Item of the Day is for. Each day, we'll spotlight an item from our store and let you know why we think it should be in your home.

And with that, our inaugural Item of the Day...Hulkamania 3.


The year was 1988. Reagan was holding down the fort in the White House. Hair bands were not yet irrelevant. And Hulkamania was running wild for non-nostalgic reasons. The WWF and Coliseum Video had already cashed in on the Hulkamania craze with two installments of the Hulkamania series.

But with Hogan's recent feud with long-time buddy Andre the Giant, it was time to cash in once more. And so, Coliseum Video pumped out Hulkamania 3 for video distributors in early 1988. Subtitled "The Giant Betrayal," this installment of Hulkamania focused on his program with Andre the Giant. Everything from the initial betrayal on Piper's Pit to the infamous twin referee angle on The Main Event.

There's a lot more to this two-hour video than just Hogan and Andre, though. We've got Bam Bam Bigelow, Ted DiBiase, Randy Savage, and several more rounding out the cast. If you're only vaguely familiar with this epic feud, this is the video you must add to your collection now. The video contains a whopping 15 segments to fill in the pieces between the actual matches.

So why wait? You'll get the original VHS, coupled with its original, unaltered slipcase. Moreover, you get this bad boy shipped your way for FREE. There simply aren't cheaper, more reliable ways to get this video into your VCR. Check it out here.

Coming Soon: Blog-Exclusive Products

There's an old saying that suggests you not keep all of your eggs in one basket. While eBay has allowed The Retropolis to interact with thousands of people over the years, the increased fees each year make it tougher to keep pricing on our items attractive to all of you.

So starting this week, we're going to try something different. We're going to start posting some items here and on our Facebook page. These items will not be on eBay, meaning the only way you can get them is by coming to the blog or our Facebook page.

Without the eBay fees to worry about, we'll be able to reduce item costs even further, meaning YOU reap the benefits. We have some neat items coming in soon, so we'll get the ball rolling with those. Stay tuned.

Just In: Classic Summerslam Videos

Let's start with the year's hottest annual event: Summerslam. We got our grubby little paws on the earliest of these now legendary events. Click the link of the event name to get a direct route to the actual video for sale.

• Summerslam '88: The beginning of something special. The first Summerslam features a blockbuster main event of Hulk Hogan teaming up with Macho Man Randy Savage to battle Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant. Of note elsewhere is the Ultimate Warrior's surprising and convincing win over the Honky Tonk Man to capture his first WWF gold. This video is from a private collection, which means it was never a rental. Fantastic.

• Summerslam '89: This one's priced to move. As you can see, the case has seen better days. But you can't always judge a book by its cover. The video contains a collection of great matches including the Ultimate Warrior versus Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect against the Red Rooster, The Hart Foundation versus The Brainbusters, and much more. This is perfect for the fan who just wants the event.

• Summerslam '90: The heat returns with some more great summer matches. Kerry Von Erich makes his WWF PPV debut in great fashion, Demolition's final Summerslam is an up and down affair, and Rick Rude's only PPV shot at the WWF title is confined to a steel cage.
  

Just In: Over 30 Wrestling Videos

Time flies. We're sorry the blog has become something of a red-headed stepchild the last couple of months. That's about to change, because there's a ton of new stuff rolling in. We've added over 30 vintage wrestling videos to the shop in the past week. There's so much new stuff, it's tough to decide where to start.

We're going to pace ourselves and break this up into several entries. This way, all the videos get the spotlight and not just a couple. Stay tuned.

Just In: WWF Spotlight Magazines

The WWF Spotlight series from WWF Magazine was always a personal favorite of mine. Even if you didn't particularly like the wrestler, the in-depth series of articles and historic photos made for an interesting package.

I just added five of these to the store. These are all in fantastic shape, and include their often-missing giant pull-out poster. I've seen these posters go for $20+ each if they're in good enough shape. This is a good chance to snag both the poster and the companion magazine.

• Spotlight Vol. 8 (Ted DiBiase)
• Spotlight Vol. 9 (The Rockers)
• Spotlight Vol. 10 (Big Boss Man)
• Spotlight Vol. 11 (The Hart Foundation)
• Spotlight Vol. 12 (Roddy Piper)
  

Some Announcements

Hope everyone is enjoying their day off. There's been little rest with us, as we've been burning the midnight oil to make some big changes for The Retropolis. So let's get our hands dirty and delve into these announcements.

• You can now visit our store by going to theretropolis.com. We hope to get a Web store independent of eBay by November. Until then, this will make it easier to access our eBay store.
• Check out our newly designed store front. After four years of the same store front, the time had come to retool it. Gone are several categories. In their place, you'll see more specific categories for our wrestling videos and magazines. Aaron and I worked diligently all weekend to get this finished by this morning, so have a look. We think you'll like it.
• We are now a sponsor of The History of WWE. For those of you who don't know, this is the definitive Web site for wrestling history. Need to know a match result from a PPV 20 years back? How about a house show result from 1992? Need a recap of TV show or an interview with a wrestling legend? This is your place for those needs and so much more. If you haven't already, check out the fantastic Web site, along with the message board. And don't forget to join the Facebook group. Speaking of Facebook...
• We're on there, too, now. Become a fan of ours by joining the group.

Check back this week for some new inventory, including WWF LJN figures.

Just In: OOP WWF DVDs

Long time, no update. We've been plugging away at keeping fresh stock coming into our eBay store. We recently added a number of out-of-print WWF, ECW, and WWE DVDs. Here are some of the highlights.

• Undertaker Two-Shot: Here's a chance to pick up a pair of Undertaker DVDs for one price. Included is his 2001 release This Is My Yard, a great set that includes a career retrospective program plus several classic Undertaker matches. Included are such memorable encounters as the first Hell in a Cell Match against Shawn Michaels, his icon showdown with HHH at Wrestlemania X-7, and his battles with brother Kane in 1998. Then there's He Buries Them Alive, which you Coliseum Video fanatics will recognize as a release from CV during the mid-90s. You'll get previously unseen battles with the likes of Jim Neidhart and Jerry Lawler there.

• Summerslam '99: The recent anthology releases of the big WWF PPVs has some viewers deeming the original video and DVD releases obsolete. Not true. These original releases feature no music or blurring edits, which is unfortunately not the case with the anthology sets. But there's good news. You can score Summerslam '99, one of these events hampered with edits in the new release, here with no edits at a great price. There's the triple-threat main event between HHH, Mankind and Steve Austin featuring the return of Jesse Ventura. There's also a forgotten classic in Test vs. Shane McMahon. And don't miss other old favorites such as DX, The Undertaker, Big Show, Chris Jericho, The Rock, and more.

• Hardy Boyz- Leap of Faith: It's hard to believe the Hardy Boyz have effectively been entertaining fans for over a decade. Get back to their roots, with this OOP DVD that recaps the cream of the crop from the duo's first two years in the WWF. Classic encounters with Edge & Christian, The Acolytes, and The Dudleyz are chronicled for your viewing pleasure.

We've got some more WWE and WWF DVDs coming this week, so stay tuned. Follow us on Twitter (user name: TheRetropolis) for up-to-the-minute updates about new inventory.