C.J. Stroud has More Graded Prizm Parallels than Graded Base Cards!
Spend any time at all on sports card social media and you will see someone ranting against the overproduction of base cards (there are a lot of those to be fair) and advising fellow collectors to seek shelter in the warm and comforting embrace of parallels. It seems sound advice, but it ignores the fact that for one company at least, it is worth asking if we’ve arrived at a point where there are more parallels than base cards. While both Topps and Panini have ramped up parallel production, Panini looks like they’ve gotten to the point where the parallels outnumber the “overproduced” base cards.
CJ Stroud stepped up yesterday and showed everyone what all the hype is about! 🏈🔥
— CGC Cards (@CGCCards) September 9, 2024
This 2023 Panini Prizm Silver C.J. Stroud Rookie Card was #JustSlabbed a CGC Gem Mint 10! 🌟
You can have your football card collection slabbed by #CGCCards by going to https://t.co/HvcKPlJ6ym!… pic.twitter.com/Narnz3VDBV
It's difficult to calculate print runs, but graded population reports are useful in helping determine the proportion of a card’s print run relative to others. There is the problem that collectors send in parallels more frequently than base cards, but if we restrict ourselves to looking at players like C.J. Stroud and other formerly hyped rookie quarterbacks that problem is lessened as their base cards are highly desirable in graded form and sent in at similar rates judging by eBay sold listings. The table below uses data taken in late July.
Player | Graded Prizm Base | Graded Parallels |
|---|---|---|
2018 Josh Allen | 6123 | 2478 |
2019 Daniel Jones | 5035 | 2652 |
2020 Justin Herbert | 15496 | 14382 |
2021 Trevor Lawrence | 4392 | 11802 |
2022 Brock Purdy | 6742 | 5792 |
2023 C.J. Stroud | 12718 | 18185 |
Shockingly, C.J. Stroud has WAY more graded Prizm parallels than he does graded Prizm base cards! The proliferation of parallels is clear. It is tempting to blame the increase on Panini losing their licenses and not caring about the long-term health of the hobby, but the major increase happened in 2020 meaning that Panini cranked the presses up before the Fanatics coup.
If base cards are considered undesirable due to their print runs, it is worth asking if parallels from Panini provide a strong alternative. It is also worth asking if the advice against parallels is overblown as the print runs for the quarterbacks look more palatable next to the parallel numbers.
