2018-19 Panini Prizms Basketball: Can you youngbloods help an old guy with this shiny stuff?
detroitfan2
Posts: 3,337 ✭✭✭✭
Hi All,
It's been a LOOONG time since I've collected anything modern, and even then it was only Topps Heritage. However, my son and I are now addicted to completing as many of the 2018 Panini Prizm variations possible of former MSU rookies Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Junior.
I am struggling mightily with identifying some of the variations via ebay scans, most notably the difference between the base card, the "silver prizm" variation, and the "hyper prizm" variation, as none of these are numbered.
For example, here is a link to a base card auction:
And here is a link to a presumed silver version:
Now clearly you can see a rainbow effect on the silver version, but even the base card can have so many different "reflections", it is hard to know for sure.
The other thing I am struggling with is the "rarity" of the non-numbered cards. Here is a list of the available non-numbered variations:
Base
Base Prizms Green
Base Prizms Hyper
Base Prizms Pink Ice
Base Prizms Purple Wave
Base Prizms Red Ice
Base Prizms Red White and Blue
Base Prizms Ruby Wave
Base Prizms Silver
Base Prizms Choice Blue Yellow and Green
Base Prizms Choice Tiger Stripe
Base Prizms Fast Break
Emergent
Emergent Prizms Green
Emergent Prizms Silver
Freshman Phenoms
Freshman Phenoms Prizms Green
Freshman Phenoms Prizms Silver
Luck of the Lottery
Luck of the Lottery Fast Break
Luck of the Lottery Prizms Hyper
Luck of the Lottery Prizms Silver
The prices on these are all over the place, and some of them I never even see. Others, are readily available.
I will say this, I can't fathom how hard it is for PSA to identify and correctly label the variations on modern cards!
Any feedback is welcome.
Comments
Thanks for the feedback, I believe I have an accurate checklist now, and I am able to identify the numbered cards by the "serial" number on the back. However, those that are not numbered, I am struggling with the base version and the "silver" version, as the base version is also silver
.
I know what you mean. There's a 2017 select Mahomes with a base and a silver and when I hold the base card
to the light it looks silver to me.LOL.
The Silver Prizm is basically a refractor
Technically, yes, they’re both silver.
But the base version reflects like a mirror
Silver Prizms refract and have the rainbow prism effect
Erroneous eBay listings can add to the confusion though.
Calling on slum22!! Mr. Modern Basketball PhD
This for sure.
Kris
My 1971 Topps adventure - Davis Men in Black
You rang? Haha, Bill. Thanks for the introduction. Let me start out by saying Bill's description above about the difference between a base Prizm card and a Silver Refractor is spot on. While a base card can be shiny and reflective, the Silver Prizm has a rainbow effect and you will be able to see various colors refracting from the surface. Once you train your eyes to look for this distinctive rainbow effect it will become easy to spot. In the meantime, when in doubt, look at the back of the card! The Silver Prizm (as well as any colored Prizm) will have the word Prizm marked on the back of the card. Look at the back of this Silver Prizm. At the top left, is the card number "280", in the equivalent spot on the right is the word "Prizm". All of the Silver (and colored) Prizms in the the 2018 set will have the word "Prizm" in this top right area. The regular base versions will not have the "Prizm" designation there.
Now look at the back of a base Prizm Luka Doncic and notice the empty space to the top right.
Now that you have the basics of identification between Silver Prizms and base Prizms, lets take a more advanced look at the difference between the two. Sometimes sellers don't show the back of the card, so how to tell the difference between the two? Well a Silver Prizm will show color right? Yes, but a base Prizm can too. Just look at this base Prizm. It sure looks like it is displaying a Silver-like color refracting effect right? Well no, notice the picture shows only one color being reflected (the seller appears to have been wearing a pink shirt while snapping this photo.)
Now compare that to this Silver Prizm where you can see multiple colors in each light reflection. This multi-color effect is what to look for to distinguish a Silver Prizm.
Here is another example of a Silver. Again, notice multiple colors being reflected in a rainbow-like effect.
Hyper Prizms are easy to differentiate because they are the ugly step sibling to the more attractive Silver Prizm. Kidding aside, the Hyper Prizm is indeed also silver in color, like the base and Silver Prizms. But the Hyper Prizms have a geometric shape design that gives the card a pixelated look.
Guys thank you! This is exactly the kind of information that I was looking for!
Alright, for tonight's "Modern Basketball Story Time With Steve" we will break down Prizm Parallels. As Huckleberry has pointed out, Cardboard Connection is an excellent resource to be able to find checklists for most modern releases. Since detroitfan2 asked about the non numbered parallels we can break those down here. Using the list from the original post it helps to understand where all the Prizm cards come from. Then we can understand where the parallels come from. Then we can decide what is common, rare, popular, cheap, valuable, etc.
First the different Prizms:
Prizm -- The original flagship Prizm has been around since 2012. It comes in Hobby and Retail forms. Hobby comes in one package 12 packs/12 cards. Retail Prizm comes in 6 different Retail skus: Gravity Feed, Cello Pack, Mega Box (Target Exclusive), Mega Box (Walmart Exclusive), 24 pack retail box, Blaster Box.
Prizm Fast Break -- Came out in 2017 and comes in one form only. It comes with 18 packs/5 cards. It is called a Retail product by Panini, but I have never seen it in a retail store so seems de facto Hobby to me.
Prizm Choice -- Came out in 2018 and comes in one form only. This is an Asia/Australia exclusive product, where boxes originally were only for sale in those international countries. Comes as 1 pack of 8 cards. There are no base cards in the product, only autos and Prizms.
Prizm Mosaic -- Came out in 2016. These cards have the Prizm name but I don't consider them to be part of the flagship Prizm family because they don't use the same pictures or use the same numbering as the flagship set. I will not discuss Mosaic further in this thread as I consider it a separate product altogether.
So that gets us to the different parallels:
Base -- Can be found in all Prizm and Prizm Fast Break products.
Base Prizms Green -- Can be found in all Prizm retail skus besides the Megas (Target or Walmart)
Base Prizms Hyper -- Prizm Hobby exclusive
Base Prizms Pink Ice -- Mega (Walmart Exclusive)
Base Prizms Purple Wave -- Blaster Only
Base Prizms Red Ice -- Mega (Target Exclusive)
Base Prizms Red White and Blue -- Cello Pack Only
Base Prizms Ruby Wave -- Hobby and 24 count Retail only
Base Prizms Silver -- All Prizm Hobby and Retail as well as Prizm Choice
Base Prizms Choice Blue Yellow and Green -- Prizm Choice only
Base Prizms Choice Tiger Stripe -- Prizm Choice only
Base Prizms Fast Break -- Fast Break only
Inserts
Emergent -- Retail All Skus
Emergent Prizms Green -- Retail All Skus
Emergent Prizms Silver -- Retail All Skus
Freshman Phenoms -- Retail All Skus
Freshman Phenoms Prizms Green -- Retail All Skus
Freshman Phenoms Prizms Silver -- Retail All Skus
Luck of the Lottery -- Prizm Hobby Only
Luck of the Lottery Fast Break -- Fast Break Prizm Only
Luck of the Lottery Prizms Hyper -- Prizm Hobby Only
Luck of the Lottery Prizms Silver -- Prizm Hobby Only
I am actually not sure about the inserts info above, but I believe this is right. If you want to get an idea of print run, there is a website where the author analyzes different parts of the sports card industry. This year he estimated the print runs of the various Prizm parallels. That article can be found here:
https://www.sportscardanalytics.com/home/2018/12/17/2018-19-prizm-basketball-and-the-1
He did this article early in the process, so he may have underestimated Silvers slightly since I don't believe the article took into account Prizm Choice having Silvers in them.
Based on the information given, the estimated print runs for the Flagship Prizm breaks down as such:
Base Prizms Purple Wave -- 300
Base Prizms Hyper -- 1045
Base Prizms Ruby Wave -- 1350
Base Prizms Red Ice -- 1400
Base Prizms Pink Ice -- 1500
Base Prizms Red White and Blue -- 1800
Base Prizms Green -- 1800
Base Prizms Silver -- 5240
Base -- a million (my estimate, lol)
There weren't numbers on the Choice or Fast Break, but there are lots of Fast Break. I would guess similar in run to the Green or RWB. Both Tiger Stripe and Blue Yellow Green are rarer than just about any other Prizm parallel. The Tiger Stripes are rarer than the BYG.
Base Prizms Fast Break
Base Prizms Choice Blue Yellow and Green
Base Prizms Choice Tiger Stripe
It's getting late so that's it for me tonight. I will get into popularity and value in a later edition.
I was a loyal Topps Chrome guy......I got into Panini Prizm set in 2012 because it seemed like the one that was most like Topps Chrome. I've bought them every year since, but I think they've gone overboard with all the different prizms.......enough already!
This info is great, I think I am down to one question:
WTH is FOTL, as in "Blue Shimmer FOTL"?
There must be a camera hidden in my office. Box knife. Box full of old toploaders with tape I will never peel off. Sounds familiar!
Kris
My 1971 Topps adventure - Davis Men in Black
FOTL is in fact an acronym for First Off The Line. FOTL is a program that Panini came up with about a year and a half ago that offers collectors the opportunity to purchase select boxes of product before their actual release date. Hence, the name "First off the line" as people who buy these boxes get the first boxes that are released to the public.
With this program, Panini actually sells the product directly to the consumer and they do so usually at a significant discount to the usual mark up from resalers. For instance this year's Prizm FOTL boxes were sold for $120 each directly to the customer. At the same time, places like Blowout and DA Cardworld were pre-selling regular Prizm hobby boxes for around $250-280. Beyond getting the box at a huge discount (or less a huge markup if you want to think of it that way) there is an added benefit to FOTL: the FOTL Shimmer Prizm.
The content of each FOTL box is identical to a regular hobby box except that Panini adds in each box one special FOTL exclusive card. This year, that special card was numbered to /7 and took form in one of three colored Prizms: red shimmer, blue shimmer, light blue shimmer. So those FOTL Shimmer Prizms you are referring to come from these FOTL boxes. There is a very limited print run of these boxes. Typically the sale of these boxes breaks Panini's servers and the limited amount of product released sells out in minutes. For most players I would guess that the actual popularity/value of the Shimmer Prizms is probably slightly less than a regular Gold Prizm that is numbered to /10.
Slum thank you for the earlier post using the doncic pics to show and explain the differences.
That really helped a lot. It can be daunting when your not that familiar with the prizm variations
Have you really lived then?
Paper towel? Thats a new one. Why not just stick that bad boy in some toilet paper.😂