NOVI, Mich. — Ethan Page may be gone from AEW, but he is not gone from the world of collectibles.
The 2024 spring edition of Motor City Comic Con took place at the Suburban Showplace in Novi, Michigan, on the weekend of May 17-19, and Page was there, signing autographs and taking pictures at the State of Comics booth.
In a way, nothing changed for Page, other than his AEW departure.
“You know, when most people exit a company, there’s like a feeling they’re getting a brand ripped off of them, and I don’t feel that that’s happened to me, because of the way my fans have always had my back. I don’t think that they care where I wrestle,” Page told SlamWrestling.net in an exclusive interview at MC3.
Rather than dwell on the past, Page was more than happy to talk collectibles.
Page first linked up with State of Comics, in Plymouth, Michigan, when he wanted to have some comic books submitted for grading, and he thought it would be cool to record the process.
“I like to play the idiot on my YouTube channel. So that way, while I’m learning, the people are also learning, because a lot of them are just wrestling fans, so they don’t know too much about the collector’s world, and I don’t know too much about it, so we can all learn together,” Page (Julian Micevski) said. Page brought his comics to State of Comics, they guessed what the grades would be, they sent them away for grading, and through that process, they built a bond.
“They’re great guys,” Page said. “It’s just a natural relationship.”
Anybody familiar with Page’s Toy Hunt vlog knows he likes to spend some time when he’s making convention appearances to find toys for his collection, and Page had already carved some time out for toy hunting at MC3, and while he didn’t want to give too many spoilers before he releases the video, he did hint that he purchased a Macho Man Randy Savage LJN figure, which he said was “really big” to him, “as a kid.”
And speaking of LJN’s, the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast just announced that Page is getting his very own Major Bendie “Big Rubber Guy,” with pre-orders opening on June 1.
Having his own Big Rubber Guy, which is styled in homage to LJN wrestling figures, strikes a sentimental chord with Page, because he said his father got him a Macho Man LJN, and his cousin gave him an Ultimate Warrior, so those were two big LJN figures for him.
“There’s a different level of nostalgia when I see those,” Page said. “Now my son is the same age as I was when I got Macho Man, and my son is going to have his dad fighting Macho Man, so yeah, it’s very cool. It means a lot.” Page said it’s his “most exciting figure” with his “favorite gear,” with the colors black and gold a tribute of sorts to the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and “there’s so many little things about it that make me love it.”
A couple weeks ago, Page released a video alluding to his “business” with AEW, and spoke about his new AEW Jazwares figure being a top seller on Ringside Collectibles, outselling Chris Jericho, MJF, Samoa Joe, and more.
— “All Ego” Ethan Page (@OfficialEGO) May 3, 2024
On X, the video currently has over 600,000 views, and nearly 400 comments, and Page said his favorite response, so far, is, “Oh, yeah, that’s classic Ethan, because they understand that no matter what I’m going through in my career, I’ll always make sure that I’m entertaining the people.”
“All Ego” took the time to elaborate.
“I’m going through a change right now, and I’ve never not leveled up. So I’m hoping that through this process I can find my way into something bigger, something better … but I pride myself on how professional I am, and how I conduct myself, especially publicly,” he said. “I try to handle everything as professionally as possible. So, in an entertaining way, I got to boast and be proud of the accomplishment of beating Chris Jericho, MJF, and Samoa Joe, in figure sales.”
Page doesn’t just have new wrestling figures, he has trading cards, as well, which he also collects, and his favorite card of himself is his 2023 Upper Deck AEW World Tour lenticular card, which features the Canadian flag on the card. Page appreciates that trading cards have represented different periods of his career, like cards with his tag team partner, Scorpio Sky, as well as The Firm, Page’s AEW stable with Stokely Hathaway, Big Bill, Lee Moriarty, and the Gunns.
“It’s cool the cards come out so much quicker than the toys. It’s cool that they get to commemorate moments in my career, and those things last forever,” he said.
But Page isn’t a fan of all of his wrestling cards. When asked about the trading cards made of him prior to those made by Upper Deck for AEW, Page said, with no hesitation, “I hate them.”
His independent wrestling cards, which he referred to as “bootlegs, are the target of his venom. “I hate them because no one asks the talent’s permission. The promotion’s the only one that profits off of them, and then we’re being asked to sign them.” Page said some organizations made and sold cards of him when he was on television for Impact, while Impact had the rights to his merch, and that’s why he hasn’t gone back to wrestle for those organizations. If you ask Page, his first real wrestling card, his rookie card, is in the 2021 Upper Deck AEW Spectrum set.
Page is currently the CLASH wrestling champion, here in his second home of Michigan, as well as the Heavyweight Champion of Xcite Wrestling, in New York. Page said CLASH “gave me an opportunity when I first started wrestling, very, very young, so to come back now at this stage of my career, become heavyweight champion, be ‘the guy’ in the company, I’m very happy.”
In addition to this, Page has his own promotion out of Hamilton, Ontario, Alpha-1 Wrestling, and on June 23rd, in Taylor, Michigan, they’re going to do a big CLASH versus Alpha-1 show, with scheduled appearances by Max Caster, Jerry Lynn, Oritz, and Eddie Kingston (who just recently broke his leg so won’t likely be wrestling), among many others. Page said it’s going to be a “huge” event, and tickets are on sale now.
TOP PHOTO: Ethan Page in Ring of Honor. AEW photo
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