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The literally larger-than-life André The Giant was a legend in the world of professional wrestling, and his legacy continues to live on to this day. Some people know him more as a pop culture figure from his turn in one of the greatest films of all time, The Princess Bride, where he played a literal giant or from his face being used as the basis for the “Obey” art label. Most wrestling fans just know him as the special attraction at so many early WWF WrestleMania events. Everyone got excited for the amazing André The Giant to get in the ring. As a lucky fan who had the pleasure of watching him perform at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles back in the early 80’s, André The Giant was a force of nature in the ring and it was so much fun to see him constantly battling with another wrestling legend, Hulk Hogan.
However you first heard of this kind-hearted icon, André the Giant (real name: André René Roussimoff) is one of the most memorable characters in the history of the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment). Thankfully, trading card companies have printed plenty of vintage and modern trading cards that celebrate this legendary brawler. Whether you're a seasoned collector or just getting started with a collection to celebrate André The Giant, there are plenty of card options out there to suit just about every budget.
In this article, I’ll show you some of the key cards that honor this famous giant in the world of wrestling with 13 André The Giant trading cards broken down by price point. Some of his classic cards are surprisingly affordable, especially if you monitor pricing through his dedicated page on Cardbase, which will show you Hot Deals and pricing trends to help you find the right cards for your collection.
André the Giant Cards Under $10
If you're on a tight budget, don't worry - there are still plenty of affordable André The Giant trading cards out there. Keep in mind that at this price level, you will be shopping for ungraded cards. Here are some options where adding an André the Giant card won't break the bank:
1985 Topps WWF Giants In Action! André The Giant #48
Rivalries were the name of the game in the early days of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and this card shows off a famous one. While André was the real giant, Big John Studd was another big man who the impresarios at the WWF paired with the legend sometimes. While the photography of 1980s Topps Wrestling cards isn’t the best, this is a great shot of André the Giant showing that his huge size didn’t mean he couldn’t use his legs and feet to fight, too. Plus, you have got to love the way these 1980s Topps WWF cards had ‘names’ and used exclamation points in their titles, reminding collectors that this was the tone of the day in the world of professional wrestling. Every match included lots of yelling and boisterous commentary from the ringside announcers. That was all part of the fun and these cards do a nice job of capturing that feel.
This fine card is still easy to find in ungraded condition for less than $10, although if it’s in mint condition, simply grading the card can drive up the price x10. Keep that in mind when you buy. If you find a card in excellent or better shape, grading it will increase its value considerably.
1985 Topps WWF Kick to the Face! André The Giant #45
If the last card didn’t impress you, this should do the trick. André the Giant was 7’4”tall and weighed in at over 400 pounds at this stage in his career, but he could still get his massive foot high enough to kick another wrestler in the face. The glory of this move is highlighted further by André’s outstretched arms, as if he’s about to take flight. Again, the quality of the image could be better but what an incredible moment to capture of this legend showing off his surprising agility in the ring. As with the last card, the bonus is the exclamation point in the title, “Kick to the Face!” screams at you as if you might not notice the action on the card.
While this 1985 Topps card can cost you around $50 for a graded copy, ungraded copies are still available online for under $10. I believe this card belongs in every André The Giant collection as a testament to André’s physicality and capabilities to shut down his opponents. Add to that the wacky 1980s feel to the design and you’ve got a real winner of a collectible.
1990 Classic WWF André the Giant #66
I can’t help but include this insane portrait card, where a clearly amused André is leaning into his role as a villain at that point in his rivalry with Hulk Hogan and others. While the fonts are all over the place, the image is so funny, so intense that you can see how André The Giant’s face would be used for a project by art student Shepard Fairey, which later morphed into the “Obey” image that became famous on shirts and street art. It’s hard to say André was actively reacting to this concept since it was quite new in 1990 and we didn’t have the Internet to spread memes the way we do today. Even so, this shows the intensity of André the Giant’s stare that clearly inspired Fairey’s work.
Regardless of its direct influence, 1990 Classic WWF André the Giant #66 is a classic card and a copy of it belongs in any true collection of the legendary giant’s wrestling career. While graded copies of this card can cost you $100 or more, you can find one ungraded for under $10 on many online marketplaces. A small price to pay for this legendary shot of this amazing wrestler.
2022 Panini Prizm WWE André the Giant #200
Even in 2022, the wrestling world still remembers and reveres André the Giant. Panini’s Prizm series of Global Icons featured André in a set that year, with a dizzying array of parallels in every color imaginable, all at different scarcity levels. Panini even got his only child, Robin Roussimoff, to sign some of the cards from this set since André himself isn’t available to bestow his signature on them. This has driven up some prices, but some collectors may prefer the card without the silver autograph of André’s descendent on it. This may be why the rarest of this Panini Prizm series do not have an autograph on them.
The picture itself is a good one, showing André in all his magnificent glory, with a mid-period shot with him suited up in his traditional single band wrestling gear. He looks noble and yet ready to rumble with anyone who’s in the ring.
The base version of 2022 Panini Prizm WWE #200 Andre the Giant is still available for a few dollars online, but when you get the card graded, pricing rises. If you opt to get anything from the Red, White, and Blue Prizm to the Purple or Orange Prizm, you can expect to pay in the hundreds or thousands of dollars. In fact, the most expensive Panini Prizm card is the 1 of 1 Black Prizm, which sold in May 2022 for over $15,000. Truly, you can find a Panini Prizm card of André the Giant for just about any budget.
André the Giant Cards Under $50
If you have a bit more money to spend, you can potentially get cards that are graded so you know they are of high quality. Others in this section are ungraded and will jump into the next tier of pricing if they are graded.
1987 Topps WWF “The Giant Is Slammed” André The Giant Hulk Hogan #54
This ‘named’ card from 1987 isn’t the only card on the list to celebrate the great rivalry between André the Giant and Hulk Hogan, but it’s one of the most exciting. The idea that André the Giant could even be lifted is surprising enough that it deserves those sometimes funny ‘named’ cards popular on those 1980s Topps cards. While we can only see the aftermath of this legendary move, it still tells a story that makes for a compelling trading card.
Aesthetically, this is another wrestling card that features two of the WWF’s most iconic wrestlers but their names are not on the front of the card. Instead, we get a WrestleMania III logo because, presumably, anyone looking at the card is such a big fan that they know who these guys are. The card is vividly colored, too, perfectly capturing the feel of 1987’s palette, bright and in-your-face colors from the Day-Glo Decade.
Copies of the card in PSA graded excellent plus condition can be found online for under $50. However, if you are seeking a PSA 9 or 10, this card will push into the next budget category. Keep an eye out, though, because pricing has been scattered in recent days so you might just find a Hot Deal if you add this card to your Cardbase Watchlist.
2023 Panini Select WWE Premier Level André The Giant Prizm #138
The Panini Prizm series has brought us a lot of wonderful memories from the past with new designs that paint these old photos anew. This 2023 Select WWE Premier Level André the Giant card is a prime example of how these cards breathe new life into imagery from classic bouts. While all the variants of the card feature the same main image of André the Giant. The image captures him in the ring with his signature single-band, black wrestling uniform on and looking both calm and fierce in a way only André can. The image looks like it was taken from the middle portion of his career when he was like a tower of muscle.
The pricing on these cards vary with the scarcity of the different colors. Thus, the Light Blue Prizm can be obtained for less than $50 because there are 199 of them. The Tie-Dyed version will cost you about double that price because they only created 25 of them.
There are plenty more levels of color-coded scarcity out there of this Prizm, like most of the Panini line. These limited editions are the norm these days, giving collectors a new way to personalize their collections by picking a color of their choice and the price point that goes with it. Notably, these cards are almost all being sold right now without a grading from PSA or BGS, so this is a real investment opportunity for a card series that should appreciate in value over time.
1990 Classic WWF History of WrestleMania Series 2 André the Giant #16
Another classic WWF card that focuses on the 1986 pay-per-view event for its copy because, of course, we all know who’s in this picture. This shot of a triumphant André the Giant commemorates his victory in the WWF Battle Royale, which pitted many wrestlers against one another until only one wrestler was left. For WrestleMania 2, André the Giant emerged as the victor. André is suited up in unusual gold wrestling gear to take the honor that year, as we even get a hint of a smile that you don’t get to see on many of his trading cards. Is the WWF’s logo oddly placed for the design? Sure, but that was also in line with the style of cards in the 1980s and 1990s, which could often look a bit haphazard versus modern cards and their sleek, clean design elements.
This classic André the Giant card is not too hard to acquire in the under $50 price range if you keep a close eye out. However, you will see PSA 9 and up cards going for a price that is out of this category’s range if you require cards in pristine condition.
André the Giant Cards Over $100
For the serious collector, there are some truly special André The Giant trading cards that will cost you a bit more. They may be notable historical cards, Gem Mint copies of key cards in the athlete’s career, or limited edition cards that are purposely rare to drive up their value.
1987 O-Pee-Chee WWF André the Giant #2
While Topps had the rights to US production of World Wrestling Federation cards in the mid-1980s, their collaborators from Canada, O-Pee-Chee, took care of card production in the Great White North. This is an example of a card that appears in both the Topps and O-Pee-Chee lines in each country with nearly identical design and text, usually except adding French text required for Canadian products.
This card shows a late-period André the Giant fresh off his work in The Princess Bride movie and perhaps less ready to rumble than in the past. While filming, André had put on more weight and was losing his agility by this point, largely due to his terminal illness known as acromegaly. This is a syndrome resulting from an excessive amount of a growth hormone that drove his large size.
That led to fewer high kicks and other theatrics in the ring. Instead, André would use his size to control his opponents and put his weight into the matches. The picture on the card shows confidence with his arms folded against a background of red, white, and blue color scheme.
In graded condition, this card usually costs a few hundred dollars. In July 2022, one of these cards in PSA 9 Mint condition sold for nearly $500. If you shop around, you can find this item for less than that if it’s graded by someone other than PSA or BGS.
Of course, if you need to have PSA 10 Gem Mint collectibles in your collection, this will increase what you need to spend exponentially. A copy with that highest of PSA grades was sold in December 2021 for $3,300. Considering that André the Giant’s cards have been escalating consistently since that time, we can expect this stellar card will only rise in value as time progresses.
1993 Coliseum Video WWF WrestleMania #3 André the Giant/Hulk Hogan
One of the great rivalries in wrestling history is that of André the Giant and Hulk Hogan. Sure, André the Giant was the good guy at first, and Hulk Hogan was the bad guy - but that switched quickly as their ‘feud’ developed. Even though both of them would get into rivalries with others, their competition was legendary, keeping their legacies forever entwined.
The photo of [1993 Coliseum Video WWF WrestleMania #3 André the Giant/Hulk Hogan](https://getcardbase.com/1993-coliseum-video-wwf-wrestlemania-3-hulk-hogan-andre-the-giant) is so much fun that it defies comment on its design or commitment to the aesthetics of wrestling cards at the time. This was a promotional card for a WrestleMania III video, after all. That said, how can you deny the appeal of this epic staredown from two of the WWF’s greatest stars? They are really close there and I can only imagine them busting up laughing right after the shot was taken. That’s another detail of amazing photographs - they put you in the moment. The rest of the choices on the card don’t matter - this is a classic.Despite being a key trading card in the career of both of these legends, this card in mint-fresh condition will set you back only about $350-$500. Some copies of this card in premium condition have gone for a bit more than this, but if you track the Hot Deals on Cardbase, you’ll increase your chances of spotting when copies of a card with a great price are posted online.
2023 Panini Revolution WWE Kaboom André The Giant #9
Panini’s Kaboom series has given us a lot of amazing sports cards over the years. The design is more whimsical than any of their other sub-brands, and adding some flashes of color and the line’s signature word make can turn lackluster photos into something special. The design of this series definitely elevates this photo of André the Giant about to ‘kaboom’ the head of some poor wrestler who looks like a sad-sack version of André’s famous rival, Hulk Hogan. It’s a good laugh and a fun memory of those early days of the WWE.
The 2023 Panini Revolution WWE Kaboom André The Giant #9 card was offered as an insert into the Revolution series and it has a ton of parallels that have proven popular. Copies in excellent plus condition can still be obtained for less than $500, but, as always, the top graded card categories will tack on some additional cost. PSA 10 Gem Mint copies are tracking at about double that price. These are only going to grow in value so now is the time to pick one up if an Andre the Giant Kaboom card will nicely round out your collection.
André the Giant Cards Over $500
If your love of André the Giant means you will spend thousands of dollars on his trading cards, keep reading for some of the most valuable cards that have ever featured this mighty wrestler. Everything in this part of the list is priced on graded cards that have had their quality verified by a third party company, so the prices tend to be much higher than if you had just bought them ungraded.
1972 Gong Magazine “Monster Roussimoff” André The Giant Rookie Card
Is this the true rookie card of André the Giant? Maybe so because it dates back a decade before his first official wrestling card from Wrestling All Stars. Only available through the Japanese magazine, Gong, this card features André in his earlier days when he was touring in Japan. He is also listed in the set as “Monster Roussimoff,” because that’s how promoters billed him during his time in Japan. This matched his real surname with another term that set him aside as not quite human due to his size. He wouldn’t switch to André the Giant until a bit later. Google Translate tells us that the other text on the card is simply his billed name in Japanese. The set of cards were set in the magazine and had to be cut out, so if you find it loose, be sure to take a look at the cut on it before buying.
While this magazine card is very rare, it is often sold with the full magazine and set of cards. Even so, the valuation is high for such a rare item. Good condition and ungraded copies of the magazine can be found online for $700 to $1,000, but if you get a copy of just André’s Monster Roussimoff card and have it graded, that can increase the value further.
A SGC 3.5 Very Good copy of the card sold in February 2022 for $3,120. Amusing, the cards in this set were printed to include a different wrestler on the back of each card. Thus, when you get this amazing keepsake of the early days of André the Giant, you also get a card of the more typical wrestler Don Leo Jonathan as a ‘bonus’. It’s almost like a curse, being stuck on the back of the card of one of the most popular wrestlers ever, destined to have the reverse side of your card being the one people want to display. Sorry about that, Don Leo.
1973 Wrestling Annual #6 André The Giant Rookie Card
Okay, maybe this is André the Giant’s rookie card. It’s a year later than the Gong card above and, while it’s also a card that needed to be cut out, at least it provided some of the details we’re used to seeing on trading cards. The card also refers to him as “Jean Ferre,” yet another moniker that he used for a time, but it also has “André the Giant” on the card, showing the transition happening even before he joined the WWF as one of their marquee names.
While the image is in black and white, it shows André showing off the grandeur of his physique in the early days of his wrestling career. Still a young guy, he had yet to put on the most of the bulk that made him so famously huge. He knew that spreading his arms out wide added to these images and he commonly did that in the ring, too. It’s a great shot of a virile young guy ready to dominate the world of wrestling.
Finding this black and white card for a few hundred dollars is still quite possible if you watch for deals. But keep in mind that, in April 2022, someone paid $9,500 for a PSA 9 Mint copy of the card. So, if you’re okay with a bit of wear and tear on your 50-year-old card, you can get this on a budget of just a few hundred bucks. If you require the best of the best, a pristine or gem mint copy is going to see you back a lot more.
1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A André the Giant #1
Here it is, the most expensive André the Giant card you will find on the market. Not that it started out that way. When this card was printed in 1982, André the Giant was a rising star but he wasn’t yet the legendary wrestler and pop culture icon he would become in the US. That said, he’d already toured the world and won a variety of tournaments. So, this has the pricing and keep of the feel of a rookie card since it’s a formal card that was printed separately and not part of a magazine or other promotional item. Topps had also not started printing wrestling cards yet so the publisher was actually part of the Pro Wrestling Enterprises, who printed this Series A of 36 cards, with André obviously earning the #1 card slot even among the many early stars of the WWF. Sorry, Hulk, but you did get the #2 slot.
Despite being relatively early in his career, the photo of 1982 Wrestling All Stars Series A André the Giant #1 already captures his signature look with the wild swath of hair, the intense yet friendly face, and the massive stats on the back. This is the most sought-after card featuring André and if you can find a copy ungraded, you can expect to pay a few hundred to perhaps $1,000 dollars. However, if you manage to get a BGS 9 Gem Mint copy graded, you may be able to sell it for as much as a lucky seller did in January 2021, where a copy in this exceptional condition sold for a staggering $47,970.
André’s cards have been on an upward trend in recent years and this is just one example of how there’s a renewed interest in the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, as he was often billed in those early days of his career.
A Giant in his Field
André the Giant was simply one of the most entertaining wrestlers of all time. While his size and sheer power distinguish him, so does the character he showed for years. He may have gone back and forth between being a hero and a villain, but he was always a likable guy you wanted to root for. His aforementioned appearance in The Princess Bride movie, which is widely acclaimed to be one of the favorite family movies of all time, certainly broadened how his fans looked at him. He showed real comic timing and the ability to pull the emotional heartstrings in the performance. Perhaps that makes sense, with WrestleMania always having been as much a show as it was a sporting event. André kept on wrestling after his break for the movie and an international tour, even as it became harder and harder for him as he aged. His appearances were fewer as he got older and he sadly passed at the age of 46 in 1993. His legend lives on in both the classic cards on this list and the newly-minted Panini series that are celebrating his historical run in the WWE.
Like most wrestling fans who remember that time, André the Giant was one of the wrestlers I looked forward to seeing each time I watched WrestleMania. I don’t think I’m alone in that recollection so I hope other André the Giant fans have found the perfect card from our list to add to their collection in honor of our favorite ‘giant.’
