Would you like to see a reduced number of parallels in Prizm?

[SharpysSports]

I asked this in another thread but thought I would raise the question in its own thread.

Currently Prizm (excluding the Monopoly Set) has just over 50 parallels.

Imagine if Prizm had the following parallel list:

Base
Silver Prizm
Red Prizm #/199
Blue Prizm #/49
Gold Prizm #/10
Green Prizm #/5
Black Prizm #/1

Is this something you wold like to see?

Would box prices remain high?

What do you think would be the effect on the secondary market?

 

[Coopz05]

Undoubtebly. The parralels is the number one reason (followed closely by box prices) my interest has severely waned for me.
Especially when the reason I pc a mid-low level NBA player was my thought that he wouldnt have many cards to chase

 

[kiwi_in_melb]

I think they really got it right first year. Silver, Gold in hobby and retail exclusive Green
Kept costs down and the variations were rare and had value

I think to keep up with the demand in qtys needed it made sense and was the easiest option to add more parallels but it really is out of control... 5 parallels is ample and adding in more well designed inserts would be a better solution if you need to fill out the packs more to give perceived value.

 

[SharpysSports]

Undoubtebly. The parralels is the number one reason (followed closely by box prices) my interest has severely waned for me.
Especially when the reason I pc a mid-low level NBA player was my thought that he wouldnt have many cards to chase

I agree with this. I used to be looking forward to Prizm release day so I could checkout the PG cards I was chasing. Now I just can't be bothered keeping up with it.

 

[SharpysSports]

I think they really got it right first year. Silver, Gold in hobby and retail exclusive Green
Kept costs down and the variations were rare and had value

I think to keep up with the demand in qtys needed it made sense and was the easiest option to add more parallels but it really is out of control... 5 parallels is ample and adding in more well designed inserts would be a better solution if you need to fill out the packs more to give perceived value.

I understand that demand has increased significantly but they have gone away from what attracted a lot of collectors to the hobby.

I agree that 5 parallels is plenty. Imagine if you only had to collect 5-6 parallels of your PC player. I'd see the value for PG's parallels somewhat along these lines (note I removed the Green #/5 because in Prizm I don't think it's required).

Base - $0.20
Silver Prizm - $2.00
Red Prizm #/199 - $15.00
Blue Prizm #/49 - $35.00
Gold Prizm #/10 - $200.00
Black Prizm #/1 - Doesn't matter

So if I was a true collector and wanted to collect the rainbow (excluding the Black), I would be able to achieve it for around $250 which to most people in this hobby is not a lot of cash. Even if my numbers were wrong and I was up for $500 to buy those 5 cards then I would still do what I can to find the cash so I could complete the chase.

Imagine the prestige of owning a Gold Prizm of your player out of a release with low parallel numbers like this. You'd attract so many more TRUE collectors.

Then look at the current Prizm Base Parallel list of 52 cards there are:

1/1's - 2
#/5 - 3
#/8 - 3
#/10 - 4
and many more numbered parallels that I can't be bothered writing down here but you can check the link if you want (https://merqary.com/browse_cards?search=2022-23+prizm+paul+george).

So I've gotta find 10 cards numbered to 10 or less each to have a chance at completing the rainbow. First challenge is to find them for sale/trade (and keep up with which ones I do and don't have), then I need to find a way to pay for them. Conservatively Gold's numbered to 10 are going to be around the $50 mark so times that by 4 I'm already at $200. Then I need to buy the #/8 and #/5 versions then start to fill out the other 40 parallels. I'd be up for $1000's!

I know why Panini has done it because they are a business and are here to make money but I can't see how this is good for the hobby long term. It just can't be!