Modern Monday - Carolina Blue and a hallowed number of parallels

Breaking up the goodies that were in the parcel from France, Gawain messaged me the other day with a photo of a card he had picked up in a joblot and asked me if I had one of them yet. The answer was no, so he sent it to me. (Thank you, Gawain!)

Card Number 726: Panini Carolina Blue Prizm, 2021; #225

This card is insanely shiny and scans like an insanely shiny card does.

The base version of this card is a normal shiny silver colour. But Prizm cards are all about the parallels. I thought this was a Blue Prizm, but those are just one shade of blue. Then I found the Carolina Blue Prizms and there was the match!

Not only are there multiple different versions of blue Prizm cards, there are multiple different versions of lots of other colours too. There are a grand total of 42 parallels listed for this card, which is simply ridiculous, even though 42 is a pretty special number in baseball. And, of course, it's also the meaning to life, the universe and everything!

On the back there is a little write-up comparing Tony to other luminaries of the game and describes his "contact numbers" as "intriguing".

Panini's future in the card industry looks a bit shaky because they produce these cards on a license with the Player's Association, which has now signed an exclusive deal with another company starting in a couple of seasons. In the meantime, I'm sure Panini will be producing a plethora of parallels with every set.

Total: 726 cards

Unlicensed doesn't mean unloved

Today's post is partly prompted by seeing some graded cards for sale and wondering who is sending cards that are routinely ignored off for grading.

Card Number 643: Panini Prizm, 2013; #176

Panini produce Prizm cards across a number of sports. In baseball where they don't have a licence, the cards end up looking like this, with every hint of a team logo airbrushed off the picture. 

This is the plain base version of these cards. Every base card is shiny, but the main attraction of packs of Prizm cards are multiple colour parallels and refractor-style "prizms" that are often numbered. These silver base cards are used to pad out the packs inbetween the rarer cards. They are basically filler. The sets all look very samey as well - compare this one with the cards from 2014 and 2015.

The back reuses the same airbrushed photo as the front.

The factoid on the back is about Tony's stand-out season in 1987, when he picked up his second batting title and stole lots of bases. 

Apart from the lack of licensing, there's nothing particularly objectionable about this card. But recently I saw a graded version of this base card on a popular auction site with a start price of $50. It was only graded a 9/10 as well. 

I've seen a few discussions about the backlog at the grading houses, and collectors blaming people submitting all kinds of low value cards for grading. I think that happens because the grading houses accept batches of cards for grading so people chuck in extra ones to round out the batch - which, ironically, would make a card like this "filler" twice over. Otherwise, I'm not sure what the thought process is behind sending this card in for grading. 

Although, if you are going to encase your cards in plastic, you may as well pick cards that nobody else will bother getting graded. One of the big measures in graded cards is the 'population', that is, the number of cards graded at a particular level. In the long run maybe this card will be "rarer" than some of the higher value licensed base rookie cards that are getting "slabbed" by lots of people as they come straight out of packs.

Of course, whether anyone will want this card in a graded sleeve so much that they would pay $50 for it is another question. I rather doubt they would. My (ungraded) copy was in a job lot of Tony Gwynn cards, padding out the lot. The previous ones I have acquired have also been part of lots. 

I don't know anybody who collects Panini Prizm baseball cards or is trying to put together a set. There doesn't seem to be much value attached to this filler card - until it's graded, at which point, a collector is essentially paying $50 for a plastic sleeve.

As for my collection, this card sits in a shiny row of three Prizm base cards from consective years in the Panini section of my binder. I won't be sending it off for grading any time soon.

Total: 643 cards