Fedor's Early Cards: A Collector's Guide

Fedor Emelianenko never fought in the UFC, so the Topps UFC sets that hold most early-era rookies have nothing for him. His early cards come from two places: a Japanese PRIDE set issued in 2006, and a Leaf MMA release in 2010 that the Western hobby press presented as his first cards. Which of those holds his rookie depends on which sources you follow.

2006 PRIDE FC: the Japanese set

2006 PRIDE FC was released on 11 January 2006 with 140 cards, per TCDB, which calls it "the first ever full MMA set released" and notes that MMA cards before it were scattered among BBM Japanese wrestling sets and unlicensed issues. The cards are branded Pride Card Collection with a GP Edition logo, and the back of #014 carries a DSE copyright.

Fedor has eight base cards in the set and TCDB flags all eight RC. Two are solo cards, #014 and #127. The other six (#71, #73, #74, #77, #113 and #120) are head-to-head cards with opponents including Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop. The set also gave Anderson Silva his first card.

#014 or #127?

Both solo cards carry the same flag, so the preference for #014 is a market convention, not a manufacturer designation. #014 is the card Sports Card Investor tracks and the one sold in PSA 10 as "Rookie Card" in eBay listings and at Fanatics Collect, where PSA's label reads "2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix".

#127 has the stronger story. It comes in silver and gold foil facsimile-signature versions, and TCDB's trivia notes that it "was the only card of the 8 fighters to have an error. Both the silver and the gold signatures were printed upside down." A collector who wants the rookie tied to the autograph can reasonably pick #127.

The #127EX autograph

#127EX is the signed version of #127: one of nine cards in the 2006 PRIDE FC Autographs checklist, serial-numbered to 10, per TCDB. It is his earliest catalogued certified autograph card. It carries no RC flag, so it is a rookie-year autograph rather than a rookie card.

Signed during his PRIDE reign and numbered to 10: the earliest Fedor autograph card TCDB catalogues.

2010 Leaf MMA: the Western debut

Leaf released 2010 Leaf MMA on 22 September 2010, per Cardboard Connection, while Fedor was fighting in Strikeforce. The product has no UFC licence or marks. Fedor is card #1 of 100 (TCDB), and TCDB flags it RC. Cardboard Connection calls Leaf MMA the "first MMA product featuring Fedor Emelianenko", and a Beckett News headline recorded in our research called the Leaf cards "Fedor's First Cards". Neither mentions the 2006 set.

Leaf promised an autograph in every pack, and Fedor was the centrepiece. His #AU-FE1 comes in Red, Purple /25 and Gold /5 (numbering per TCDB). The Showdowns dual autograph #FE1/BL1 pairs him with Brock Lesnar, then UFC heavyweight champion, for a fight that never happened. TCDB lists its Red version as /10. A /5 figure in an eBay title is unconfirmed. A quad autograph adds Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva to the pair.

The rookie dispute, plainly

TCDB flags both the 2006 PRIDE cards and 2010 Leaf #1 as RC. Cardboard Connection and Beckett treat Leaf as his first. FightCardboard's rule is to start with the earliest RC-flagged card, and the PRIDE set predates Leaf by more than four years. If you collect only cards distributed in the US, Leaf #1 is the card you will call his rookie, and that's a defensible view rather than an error.

Traps and what's still unknown

• The same PRIDE card appears as "2006 Pride FC" (TCDB), "2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix" (PSA) and "DSE Pride FC" (eBay sellers). One card, three names.
• eBay titles attach #71 to both Coleman and Randleman. TCDB has #71 as Fedor / Coleman and #73 as Fedor / Randleman.
• Leaf also issued a 2010 National convention promo, #P-1, numbered to 299. It is a separate card from Leaf #1.

Print runs for the PRIDE base cards and foil versions are unknown. The Leaf Purple and Gold numbering rests on TCDB alone, and the Purple and Gold Showdowns duals have no confirmed serials. We found no evidence of a pre-2006 Fedor card, but TCDB notes earlier MMA appearances in Japanese wrestling and unlicensed sets, so one can't be ruled out.

Sources

• Trading Card Database2006 Pride FC set
• Trading Card Database2006 Pride FC #014 Fedor Emelianenko
• Trading Card Database2006 Pride FC #127 Fedor Emelianenko
• Trading Card Database2006 Pride FC - Autographs #127EX Fedor Emelianenko
• Trading Card Database2010 Leaf MMA #1 Fedor Emelianenko
• Trading Card Database2010 Leaf MMA - Showdowns Dual Autographs Red #FE1/BL1
• Trading Card Database2010 Leaf MMA - Autographs Purple #AU-FE1
• Trading Card Database2010 Leaf MMA - Autographs Gold #AU-FE1
• Cardboard Connection2010 Leaf MMA
• Beckett NewsFirst Look: Leaf MMA Fedor Emelianenko & Brock Lesnar Autos
• Sports Card InvestorFedor Emelianenko 2006 Pride FC #14 Base
• Fanatics Collect2006 Pride Card Collection Grand Prix Fedor Emelianenko #14 PSA 10