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!