Saturday September 26th I was in Parsippany, New Jersey for the 2026 Atlantic APCO Conference, which runs from the 27th to 30th, however my team and I drove won to the conference from Maine, and with the approaching Nor'easter we headed down on Friday to avoid the storm.
That left me with all day Saturday to do some exploring, and that I did. My team member Jessica and I first went to New Jersey Horror Con because Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly, two of the 3 ladies of the Evil Dead movie were supposed to be there, however after paying admission, found out one was sick so they both cancelled. As we already paid we spent some time taking in the vendors and I picked up a couple small things. There were a lot of celebrities there, but no one I wanted the meet that I hadn't met before.
We then headed north to Stockholm, New Jersey and The Wrestling Collector! I had first learned about it on Facebook, and a couple months back Matt Cardona and Brian Meyers of the Major Figures Podcast filmed a vlog at the store for their YouTube page.
It's not a huge store but it is jammed with wrestling collectibles and memorabilia. The owner of the store, Tommy Ferrero, is also the promoter for the ISPW: Independent Superstars of Pro Wrestling promotion, which has been running shows in 1998. He was not there as his mother was running the shop.
There is stuff stacked all over the place, when you walk in on the right side he has a small museum display of ring worm memorabilia. This is also where everything that is signed if located. Figures, posters, 8 x 10's and anything else with a signature.
To the left of the entrance is a side room with magazine, programs, VHS, DVD's, wrestling figures, books and more. I would say 75% of what was in the shop was WWF / WWE, which makes sense as we are right in the heart of the WWF's territory.
I was in there for almost an hour and a half looking through everything. I did picked out a few things that I bought, I tried to be reasonable because there was so much stuff I would have liked to pick up, but it would be just buying stuff to buy stuff.
I felt some of the prices were reasonable and others not so much, but that's just my opinion. All VHS were $15, all DVD's were $10, Magazines and Programs were $10 or as marked, all books were $20, and loose figures were anything from $5 to $20 depending on the figure. In package were as marked, and then there was a bunch of stuff not marked and she had to call him to ask what he wanted.
This right here I was extremely tempted to buy, it was The Wrestling Album, and when I was 6 years old my Dad got me this exact thing for Christmas. It was unique because the packaging was record album size but for a cassette tape. They were asking $60, and I almost pulled the trigger on it.
What I think is unique about the program was the paper insert inside. WWF used to print a generic program to use at multiple venues and shows, and they would include a paper insert with the date, location, and card for the night. This particular insert was for Madison Square Garden the night Bob Backlund lost the WWF Championship to Diesel.
There was so many programs and posters for Madison Square Garden and the New York and New Jersey area. I looked as all the MSG programs and I decided if they had one with someone on the cover that I could get signed I would pick it up, sadly everyone featured had passed away.
After much deliberation this is what I decided to pick up:
My favorite wrestling to go back and watch is Jim Crockett Promotions 1983 - 1988, to me it's just the best! This VHS is the 1988 Great American Bash PPV from July 10, 1988 in Baltimore. This would be the last PPV under the Jim Crockett Promotions banner and the next PPV Starrcade was after the sale to Ted Turner. I also have the program to this event signed by Ric Flair and Lex Luger.
First is a WWF program from featuring Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda that I feel confident that I can get signed. The second is a special look at "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, as he lives in Maine and I see him several times a year I know I will get this signed. The Tony Atlas program had the paper insert for September 21, 1981 at Madison Square Garden.
Along with the Tony Atlas program was this Poster, which is in rough shape, but is pretty cool. I'll get Tony to sign this as well. The last photo is for size reference on the poster.
I had a pretty awesome time at The Wrestling Collector store. I coupe things I do which I had picked up, and I just might have time to scoot back up before I head home on Wednesday.
You can read all about my trip to New Jersey for the 2026 Atlantic APCO Conference here.
Here is the video from Major Figures Podcast of their tour of the shop.
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Until next time!
