WWE Prizm: Unravelling The Value Ecosystem in Panini Products

As I have mentioned before, Prizm is a whole new world of craziness for most Wrestling collectors who have lived inside the hobby bubble. For many of them, the first major shock was the price of wax, followed quickly by the mind blowing prices for the top tier rare and desirable cards. With that consideration in play, it has led people to take some enormous risks on Wax, and in turn even more risks in trying to recoup costs.

Some of this has led to some quick softening of values from the lower end examples in the product, but also a borderline revolt from a contingent of people who feel like Panini has ruined Wrestling cards. Lets start by saying that there are still 4-5 more years of Prizm to come, and nothing that happens on the secondary market is really going to impact any of that fact’s truth. Panini is here to stay, and it serves everyone to better understand how to operate and still have fun, rather than complain constantly.

This leads to one of the larger questions that most collectors will struggle to work with – can you exist in this new world order without ripping wax? Let’s dive a bit deeper into the pros and cons, as well as the best ways to engage without losing your ass.

A Game of High Stakes Gambling?

Over and over, Ive said that Panini wax is usually very top heavy and those tentpoles hold up the enormous prices that the wax usually sells for. If you can pull five figure cards in the product, the wax price will be a reflection of that value, not the likelihood of actually pulling one of those cards. What this represents is the hobby equivalent of a lottery ticket. Sure, you can hit the jackpot, but it is FAAAAR more likely that you will lose what you put in. The good thing is that there are a number of ways to come out ahead outside of just hitting a big card, but that is outweighed by an overwhelming chance that you will get a fraction of value back within your box.

There are two ways that collectors mitigate this risk. The most common is by using groups to shoulder the gigantic cost of buying into a box or a case, rather than just an individual. Instead of one person forking over four figures to get a box, a group of people can all take their part in a number of ways. Whether that means buying access to serial number, a group of wrestlers, or even a letter corresponding to their names. Because more people are buying together, the cost of the ante is lower, thus reducing the recovery costs needed to break even. Problem is, it does make the odds significantly higher that you will hit that big card.

The second way is to rip a bunch at a time. Although the odds dont really shift box to box, opening cases and getting more chances versus hoping lightning strikes on a single box is a very common strategy. This does give the buyer more POTENTIAL opportunities, but the percentage of loss increases with each box or case added to the pile. This is the hobby’s equivalent of the gambler’s fallacy, and I can guarantee that too many people have found themselves in dire straits as a result.

Overall, wax is absolutely a gamble. In this case, its likely one of the biggest gamble in the history of wrestling cards. Although there are more four and five figure cards in this product than any other product that has ever been released, the price reflects that situation. If you are a wrestling collector looking for cheap thrills like before, there are a ton of ways to get that, but opening your own personal box of Prizm is likely the worst engagement opportunity there is.

Understanding the Record Prices and the Low End Bottoming Out

Prizm is a tale of two cities. One side is the record setting values that the rare and desirable cards have on the secondary market, and the other side is the drop in value for the lower tier cards that have significantly dropped in value since release. Let me say this, the prices will be a roller coaster across the entirety of the life of the product. It all has to do with the way investors and buyers engage across the spectrum of hits, the grading that will take place over the next 6-12 months, and the reduction of supply as people rip product and put cards into their PCs.

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Lets start with the super premium cards, because those examples are the sexy investment pieces that are responsible for the giant wax price. Even though hitting one of these cards is a once in a lifetime situation for many collectors, its the driving force of why Prizm has become what it is. I wrote a retrospective leading up to the release that explains how this product found itself at the front of the line for new investors, and its worth checking out if you are new to this game. To put it simply, shiny cards are an asset that many investors build their collections around. In the vein of rookie cards, these people all love firsts in the hobby, and being that Prizm is a debut edition, they want to have the first example of the premium cards for all the top tier subjects.

This means that cards from guys like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan will be more valuable this year than they will be any other year. Because comparative value for WWE versus investment pieces in the NBA and the NFL is tiny, these cards are low end for most. Looking into debut Prizm examples for people like Lebron James, Tom Brady, and others, a 15k price tag isnt even in the same zip code. The Rock is on that level for WWE, but his cards are chump change by comparison.

As you can expect, if everyone is ripping and ripping, chasing the big hits along side group breakers who are going through case after case of product, there is a lot of bulk that will flood the market. For the wax addicts, the goal becomes to recoup cost as quickly as possible, and the best way to do that is to list the cards auction style and hope for the best. Because Prizm WWE is a brand new market, the collecting base isnt large enough to sustain a huge number of auctions that all end in rapid succession. There are a few reasons for this.

With Topps products, the run was likely 1/3 to 1/4 of what the Hobby run is for Prizm. This means that the big hits happen with a lot less bulk in the checklist to flood the auction listings for bottom feeders, set builders and flippers. This is a huge contributing factor, because Prizm has the largest checklist that has ever been run in a WWE product. We are talking a gigantic difference in set size, and the amount of cards produced for all those unnumbered parallels. Its like comparing a house cat with a tiger in terms of size.

Similarly, all those people who usually feed off the underbelly of a product, collecting lower tier wrestlers, building sets, and generally hunting for deals are ripe with contempt for this new license. They are spurred by vocal influencers who have a vested interest in the product’s drop in price. For most of these people, being unfamiliar with the market has bred a sense of apathy, even though they can likely buy singles at or even below where they would have in previous Topps sets. All they need to do is open their eyes.

Many of these people have seen their ability to rip boxes hobby format reduced, and though the singles are easily attainable, most seem to have chosen to check out instead. Funny enough – NONE of this is a new concept. This has plagued Panini products since day one, and it wont be different for a small niche like WWE. If anything it will be more exacerbated.

Prepare for the Roller Coaster

Its time for me to put on my psychic friends network hat and offer some potential outcomes that might happen over the next year – all leading up to the second edition of Prizm in 2023. Many of the nay-sayers will point to fluctuating values on the secondary market as a measure of viability, which I can assure you it is not. This product is already a success to a vast degree. More people are talking about WWE cards in the hobby than ever. WWE cards were trending on Twitter as a result of the release, and the record prices are well above expectations already. Even if everything tanks to an ocean trench level, this has already done more for WWE than even I expected.

In terms of the record setting prices, those will likely continue as people try to chase down the rare cards for the top tier superstars. The 1/1s of the Rock, Hulk Hogan and others will likely set all time records each time they are sold, and that could happen multiple times after they are pulled. As for the golds /10, there will be huge sales to start, and then a dip as they get into the third and fourth copies sold. As the months progress, those prices will creep back up as the opportunities to buy decrease. Five years from now, the prices from today will look laughable in how inexpensive they were.

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As more formats are put on shelves, the lower end of Prizm will drop to a very high degree. Panini has printed an absolute shit ton of this stuff already and retail is still on the way. There will be other options, including box sets, TMall, and any other formats Panini thinks the market can support. They dont make money on any of the secondary market sales, so they want to run the presses for as long as people will buy. Because the cards arent numbered, there is no available understanding of how many of each exist. Pop reports for grading companies can be an indicator of size comparisons to other products, but we will never know the actual number. This includes high value inserts like the Color Blasts.

From this point forward, I expect a few dips as each new format hits the scene, followed by a rise as more versions of the products come out in 2023 and beyond. Again, none of this is a surprise, as it happens every time Panini releases a debut edition.

I wholeheartedly encourage people to research before they buy, and see what the trajectory of these things looks like long term. Apps like CardLadder show a long chart of pricing trends for many of the bigger sets, and its easy to pick out the places to make money. Dont listen to the trolls, and definitely do your own homework. This is a landmark release regardless of what happens, and it wont be the last time either.

WWE Prizm: Welcome to the Mainstream of Misunderstandings

The last week has been a very interesting one for the people invested in WWE Prizm. There has been a ton of new eyes, commercials on WWE programming, and sales that most people in the WWE collecting bubble would never have expected to happen five years ago. As fun as it has been watching this all explode, it hasnt been as well received in the community, an expected side effect of what Prizm has done across a few new brands. As a result, we have seen trolls trying to pick off auctions with fraudulent bids, as well as constant bashing across the facebook groups and twitter communities populated by old school gatekeepers.

Here is the thing, unlike previous brand releases for Prizm, WWE was really one of the first with a VIBRANT (yet very small, comparatively) community. Most of those community members exist outside of the mainstream hobby, and in a wholly different fashion than any other niche area. I know this personally because of how stark of an adjustment it was for me back in 2017 when I got into WWE cards. Its weird to see people actively root against the success of something that I had been hoping would happen for years, and to a degree potentially softening a market a bit earlier than expected.

I think its time to correct a few misunderstandings, because the more people understand what is going on, hopefully they can adjust their expectations and improve their attitude towards a burgeoning community of people who could make their experience better.

Misunderstanding #1 – All Prizm Cards Will Be Valuable!

Lets start here, and make sure people get an education on this situation first and foremost. There will be a lot of Prizm cards that are valuable, and will stay valuable beyond people’s wildest dreams. That being said, not all aspects of Prizm will be valuable to a point that is all that different than previous WWE products. The good thing here is that there is a ton of historical information to show how the tentpoles of the product will hold up wax prices above what would be reasonable for the readily available stuff.

More importantly, the WWE rules kind of apply across Prizm too. If something is rare, its going to have some good multipliers attached to it, even the less desirable stuff. We have already seen a lot of indicators of this with the rare low tier wrestler final values. If something is desirable to the general collector population, its going to carry some good value too. Cards of the top tier guys are more desirable, and their stuff will likely hold more long term. If something is RARE AND DESIRABLE, that’s where the records are set.

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If you think about the tiering of wrestlers, it will be much easier to see how all of the different aspects of the product will perform. Expecting guys like Cedric Alexander to carry the same potential as someone on the top tier was never a consideration, but because of the rarity factor, he could have some cards that will sell above where any of his other cards have ever sold for. Pointing to low tier readily available cards dropping in price isnt a good indicator of overall potential. Prizm has a GIGANTIC checklist, and the WWE hobby is still too small to support the huge prices that the trolls are using as fodder for their hatred.

Misunderstanding #2 – This is All a Pump and Dump!

Right now, WWE Prizm boxes and FOTL Prizm boxes are selling at release higher than any product has sold for in the history of WWE. Im not putting Transcendent on this list because the product was never designed to be released in a retail setting. For a flagship set, its insane to think that a box could sell for over 1000 dollars, let alone multiple thousands in the case of FOTL single boxes.

Automatically, there seems to be a lot of talk of a pump and dump because the prices are so foreign to the people who have been involved with WWE for a long time. Not only that, but pointing to singles and other high priced aspects of Prizm as a pump and dump is running rampant due to similar sentiments. I think its worth discussing how this is all playing out, because its hard to run a pump and dump upon release, especially in a market where things are still settling.

First, in regards to wax price, Prizm definitely has something that most WWE products dont usually have – VOLUME. There is a lot of Prizm Hobby, enough to satisfy demand, plus some. The difference here is the addressable market, because for the first time you have large volume breakers looking to dive in headfirst. Its a debut edition, and they know they can move slots. That means that unlike with other Topps products, retailers, dealers, and breakers are all battling for the same allocation of product. Hobby was originally priced at 700-850 at pre-order, and has climbed as high as 1300+ in some areas. Most of that is because there were so many people who wanted to get their hands on product, and reorders were getting tougher to fill at the original price. That isnt a pump and dump, its just demand vs market cap.

Similarly, for FOTL, the case volume is just nothing. There might be 100-200 cases total, and from what I understand, very few of them are actually going to be hitting the market. They will either be held as the demand vs supply continues to increase, or have already been ripped. For a pump and dump, there isnt close to the amount of volume that could be spread out to accomplish the goal.

As for the singles themselves, as mentioned above, the market has already started to soften – as it does with every Panini product. For other sports, the first week of a product always sells 10-25% above the settled market price. After a while, common cards settle as the major collectors get their goods and move on.

Because of this situation, the easy to find stuff of mid to low tier wrestlers were never going to hold value the way that they did out of the gate. Even less so for tested veterans who have long established their place on the card. There is no prospecting potential there, and WWE success is more determined by booking on the shows rather than the intrinsic talent of a player. The people in control of the outcomes determine the viability of a superstar rather than the superstar themselves. In other sports, the athletes have full control over their potential performance.

Misunderstanding #3 – These Base Parallels Shouldn’t Sell For More Than the Autographs!

Like we have seen with most of the misunderstandings, the lack of familiarity of the way Prizm parallels perform in the market is driving some really, really bad takes. Unlike WWE products of the past, Prizm investors and collectors dont chase the autographs. They chase rare parallels of the top stars and grade them for their PCs. That doesnt mean the autographs dont hold value, but they arent the focus. Im sure you have heard this for a long time, and Im sure its a foreign concept if you havent experienced it first hand. For people that have operated in the major sports for years, this is a standard expectation.

The good thing about this product is that Panini still loaded up the autograph checklist to satisfy the previous group of collectors as much as possible. For some of the NBA products, autographs lack so much chase, that Panini almost forgets about them. You really have to go to other configurations to find a focus on the content that hobby wasnt designed to drive.

Most people are looking for a reason for this phenomenon, and to be honest, its buried in years of the NBA market trending towards insane values. A lot of it speaks to how much people have become attracted to the color that tends to pop in all Chrome stock sets. Bottom line, this is the way it is, and the more you have experience in Panini’s universe, the more experience you will get around the new world order.

Misunderstanding #4 – None Of These Record Prices Are Actually Paid For!

This one is easy to debunk, especially as Card Ladder and other investment value tracking apps have started to verify sales. For a lot of the people out there, seeing this astronomical prices is a foreign thing to witness as frequently as we have over the last few days. For those who dont want to accept that the tide is turning in WWE becoming part of the periphery for the mainstream hobby, calls of “NO WAY THOSE BIDS ARE REAL!” will be their banner to fly.

In reality, there are bids that arent real, and those examples will pollute the real sales that are going down left and right. I have confirmed that the the top sales of Prizm so far – mainly the rare 1/1 blacks of some of the main second tier guys are completed and real. Similarly for some of the sales of main gold prizms for top tier guys like Austin and Undertaker. Unfortunately, trolls want to instill a sense of fear that no sales are real, and chuck fake bids to buy cards and back out post completion. We saw this with the five figure sale of a John Cena Color Blast, and a few others. Because misinformation is such a valuable tool for people rooting against this era of WWE cards, its clear they are looking to shake the foundation of perception as soon as they can.

The thing is, most of this isnt unique to WWE. This is part of what happens when a hobby niche goes mainstream. The difference is, will there be enough work by the gatekeepers to shake a small niche part the hobby? Its actually more possible because of the vocal nature that these people have. Their cadre of sycophants are more motivated to protect their interests than in other areas of the collecting universe, especially with a lack of understanding about how this rising tide will float all boats, rather than just some.

The long and short of this is that there seems to be more and more battles being fought over WWE than what we saw with F1, UFC, and Marvel, as the community of WWE collectors prior to the boom was more entrenched. That’s a problem. Not only that, but the major sources of WWE card information aren’t on board with Panini’s presence, save a select few. Having such a large vocal presence constantly undercutting any success with reckless speculation and misinformation does have an effect, and some of that comes with personal motives in tact. Hopefully the large community of Prizm investors and supporters provides a counterbalance.

Misunderstanding #5 – Prizm’s Success is Guaranteed!

In all my posts, I have said that the historical evidence of success is very much available for sets like Prizm, and it is solid enough to bank on at certain levels of the product. That doesnt mean that the market is primed for a rocket like F1 or even UFC, and it might be unfair to have expectations that the greater hobby community is ready to latch onto pre-determined sports entertainment the same way they will latch onto mainstream sports like MMA. There are too many differences between the worlds of entertainment and sports, although as I have mentioned – the star power in WWE far exceeds anything most other sports can provide.

Walking down the street, the super-majority of people you would stop would be able to tell you who the Rock is. A large majority have familiarity of who Stone Cold Steve Austin is. WWE is a household brand name, and guys like John Cena, Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker have transcended Wrestling as a whole. On the flip side, those that could tell you who was in the main event of Wrestlemania has dropped significantly since the early 2000s, and I would argue its not going to go up from here.

WWE recently published that social media engagement for Wrestlemania was larger than the Super Bowl, but I dont think anyone would be naive enough to believe that the implications of the biggest Sunday of the year outweighs that of Wrestlemania by a significant amount. Right now, Wrestling seems to be in a limbo area of social consciousness, and that means that the long term success of a set like Prizm might be more limited than that of a UFC equivalent.

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Clearly, everyone needs an exit strategy, and no one should be playing with money they dont have. However, I think the performance out of the gate has already exceeded expectations to a point that the early adopters are already sitting on a nice war chest of money to play with. There are also some lower profile whales who are sitting in prime position for a long haul of hoarding product.

On the flip side, the lower portion of the product does need the support of the existing collector base in a way that I dont think is there. So many of the people assumed they would be priced out that they havent even bothered to try to engage. As long as that happens, the champagne room VIP area will do fine, but the rest of the product will suffer.

As someone who has been one of Panini’s most vocal detractors over the years, it should be telling that I want this to be successful. I want Wrestling cards to get their time in the sun. Even though I have had to be creative to participate to date, I have also come to terms with the fact that the success of this market will have a positive impact on my own PC. I hope people can see through the bullshit that is being spewed from both sides of the argument to find a place where they can have fun too.

Major Takeaways From the WWE Prizm Hype Bomb

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The last few days have been a whirlwind for WWE collectors, seeing the shift in WWE with the biggest Wrestlemania in a long time, followed by the release of one of the biggest WWE products of all time. Prizm (as expected) has taken the collecting public by storm, and its performance is showcasing the power of Panini’s juggernaut for a lot of people who have never seen it in action. The reactions are split between “OH HELL YEAH!” and “I got two words for you!” but many of the people are seeing just how crazy this can get in a very short period of time.

The Hype is Real

Yesterday afternoon, if you looked under trending topics for Sports on Twitter, WWE Prizm was among them. That doesnt happen often. Not only did the trends on twitter reflect the massive hobby dialogue, but the prices on eBay were going absolutely ape shit. Base cards selling above 100 dollars, new hobby superstar Bron Breakker getting close to $5k for a gold RC, and multiple cards RIGHTFULLY listed above the threshold for the most expensive modern WWE card ever sold.

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Black Finites, despite the stupid name, have been popping up and selling high all over the place as well. Even low tier superstars who have never had a card sell above 50-100 bucks are getting 500-600 off the bat. We knew that there would be impact across the spectrum, but the craziness around ALL the cards is pretty shocking. If its rare in this set, its expensive. If its desirable in this set, its even more expensive. If its rare AND desirable – records will be set.

Wax Costs Exploding

When this dropped for pre-order at $700 a box, people thought it was absurd, despite my warnings. Upon crossing $1000 a box, there was a lot of hemming and hawing about how you could end up with a dud at a price usually reserved for multiple cases of WWE products. Right now, boxes have jumped to almost $1500, and if you are reading this post a few days from now, that could be left in the dust.

First off the line cases are selling at a price that is more than a case of Transcendent, with one selling at $20k yesterday. Because the FOTL run is so much smaller and guarantees so much extra content, this happens with every Prizm brand they release. To see it happen so quickly with WWE is awesome to see, because it shows the big fish are here to feed.

With re-orders likely coming in waves, the price will continue to spike and hard. The FOMO has started to kick in and those that bought in early and sat on their boxes for no less than 48 hours have already doubled their money. Remember, there is a TON of this product. They printed enough to satisfy demand, but the market can support the prices, so dealers keep raising costs. That’s business, folks.

Things Yet To Come

There are still a few things we havent seen yet, events that will shape the core of this landmark event. Even though we got our first major gold sale with Andre the Giant at $8k, there are MANY more to come. So far, we have not even seen a Rock or Roman Reigns Gold, and a Hulk Hogan has sold, but only in a private sale. When those cards come up for auction, there will be fireworks and explosions. The Ultimate Warrior 1/1 Black has been posted for sale and SOLD on eBay at $15k, making it tied for the most expensive wrestling card ever sold. Considering Warrior isnt even on the top tier of guys, this is going to be broken a few times over by the time we get through some of the major cards.

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We also have seen that the Color Blasts continue to be a huge success for Panini, with Cena and Reigns getting prices that are entering territory usually reserved for the NBA and NFL. As Lesnar and others get posted, I have a feeling these cards will be among the top prices we see over the run. The cards are simple in concept and distribution – ultra rare inserts that have a loyal fan base. Many people believe the print run to be under 50 per card, which will only fuel more FOMO as people see them posted and sold at huge values.

Lastly, this is one of many configurations with things like retail still to come. Retail will flood the market on the low end a bit, so I dont expect the high price for base to hold. Once the exclusive box set comes to the market, that will also have impact on the way the cards are valued. The configs drive a ton of extra revenue for Panini without much consideration for the rarity of unnumbered parallels. In other words, they will print this stuff until the machine breaks, and it will still sell regardless.

The Exit Strategy

One cannot look at this level of insanity and think it will be permanent. Everything you do in this hobby should have an exit strategy. If you are lucky enough to pull something huge, how much are you willing to risk that the value continues to increase. Finding the peak of the value and capitalizing on it with a key sale is a unicorn. Most will sell too early on the way up the mountain, or too late on the way down. This is something that every collector needs to consider as things go more and more crazy.

Honestly, its all a level of comfort – either buying and holding or ripping and flipping. No one should be playing around with money they dont have and expecting anything but a loss. If you do end up with something nice, my philosophy is always bird in hand is better than two in the bush. In other words, dont go chasing riches that might not come when you already have riches in your possession. There are other more calculated individuals who know how to operate in the market more appropriately, carefully weighing profits and losses against a ton of data from many sources. Many collectors dont have that level of scrutiny and can be left in the dust on both sides of the peak. Just be careful.

This is a fun time to be a wrestling collector, and an even more fun time to be an observer of the feeding frenzy. Dont get lost trying to figure out how you will stay afloat, just enjoy the show. Wrestling was always meant to be an attraction, and I dont see why the cards in this set should be any different. You dont need to sit ringside with Taylor Swift and the Dallas Cowboys players to have a good time. There is a lot of intrigue and fun to be had in the cheap seats as well.

An “I Told You So!” moment: WWE Prizm Blows the Doors Off the Joint

Man, this feels good. It feels good that the part of the hobby that you have been a major part of for 5 years is finally getting its time in the sun. There are others whose time around WWE cards has been much longer, and likely much more profitable at this point, but this still feels like a huge win. With the release of WWE Prizm on Wednesday, the hype beasts and the FOMOers have invaded, and all those things I have been trumpeting for 9 months are finally coming to fruition.

Day one, we already saw cards hitting five figures plus, and other cards selling for close to that. Andre the Giant, Rey Mysterio, and other golds have been selling so fast that people cant even click the BIN with enough speed to get their payment in before others scoop up the cards. No buts about it, April 6th 2022 was a red letter day for Wrestling Cards.

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If people wonder why this is such a big deal considering they likely hadnt even known WWE cards existed to this point, it says right across the front of the box. PRIZM Debut Edition in big giant letters. The hobby loves firsts and even more than that, the hobby loves Prizm. During the boom it was the one entry point for an entirely new generation of investors and collectors, leading to astronomical prices and never before seen records set on final values. Apps like CardLadder and others made their impact charting sets like Prizm for investors to grasp and digest, and it spurred a boom unlike anything we have seen in the history of the hobby.

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It also created a migrating group of people who only deal in shiny Panini cards, leading to the initial moonshot trajectory that has been a reality for WWE collectors since the beginning of the year. Panini could have literally printed this set as names on chrome cards and it would still sell because its Prizm. Ive said this on numerous podcasts and numerous vlogs, and have been called everything from an idiot to other terrible names, and I can promise you that this was not me being psychic. This was always going to happen.

The cards themselves look great, as all Prizm cards usually do. People will point to the sticker autos as a detriment, but I can assure you that the autograph cards are not the focus here. The tearing down of this set is something that people will do in the name of their own survival, because most existing wrestling collectors are going to find themselves priced out and on the outside looking in.

Fortunately for those people, most of the previous WWE wax is climbing steadily but still NOWHERE near what Prizm hobby boxes are going to be selling for this time next week. Take this from me, the first few waves of reorders for most dealers will be so insanely expensive that buying boxes at current prices will look like a steal.

There has also been a ton of criticism that this will be short lived, despite no evidence that this is only about the initial hype. Not only did Prizm get a live read on WWE RAW this past week (Smackdown on Friday likely as well), they also had a lower third graphic that was shown to millions. In the two decades that Topps owned WWE cards, I have never seen anything like that. Additionally, the ramp leading into the release was already at a fever pitch leading into last weekend’s Wrestlemania 38 in Dallas, and I dont see much of that changing. This curve is not an unexpected spike, this graph has been travelling up and to the right at breakneck speed since January.

Im not going to sit here and say this will live forever, because there are a lot of contributing factors that can adversely impact this whole situation. More importantly, Topps’ didnt do a bad job with their cards the last two years. Chrome and Finest, among other sets were gorgeous looking products, and it goes without saying that they have a huge fanbase for those cards as well.

To everyone who is saying that this is just another high stakes game of hot potato, I dont think you are 100% wrong, however its not a consideration while the FOMO is still running at a narcotic level. Until the hobby settles even further than it has in other years, its likely that these Prizm debuts will continue to rock the landscape of the brands they happen in. This isnt the time where people are looking for an out, most people around this part of the hobby are now looking for a way to join the fun. That wont be permanent, but it will be sustainable long enough to appreciate the nuclear bomb that just went off.

WWE Prizm Launch Primer: Breaking Down the Checklist

Nothing is more exciting for wrestling card fans over the last few years than checklist release day, mainly because it means a product is actually coming versus being delayed. It also gives us a place to see what is included in the different aspects of the set, with so many people scrambling to see if their targets made the cut.

Yesterday, in a likely attempt to change the narrative of the big announcement earlier on in the day, Panini lit off a Wrestlemania sized pyro display with a Prizm checklist even I wasnt expecting.

View the checklist here.

For a lot of reasons, this set will end up being a landmark product that we likely havent seen since 1998 WCW, and that’s coming from one of the biggest Panini haters on the planet. I mentioned Lucas Kinser’s appearance on a podcast earlier this week, and he mentioned that this was coming. He is no Don King, because this checklist looks better than his hype job led us to believe.

Base Set

Unlike almost every WWE product of the past, Prizm depends more on the rare parallels of the base set than anything. The rare parallels of these cards will likely end up being some of the most valuable WWE cards of all time, and that includes the vintage stuff that people have been spending huge money on since the boom began.

We see here that there is just about every single name on the list that needed to be there. The Rock, Stone Cold, Roman Reigns, Andre, Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Undertaker, etc. All the names from my ranking list, plus a few I didnt expect. The only person that I was shocked not to see was Randy Savage, who isnt included for some reason.

There is also only one McMahon in the entire product, and its not Vince or Stephanie. Vince had a shot to be another top tier name in the product, but was not included to my surprise. Other than that, there really isnt a big miss, which is great to see. From a base standpoint, this might be the most complete WWE checklist ever produced.

One of the other big aspects of Prizm is the Rookies, and holy shit they went fucking nuts with them. That is not only a great sign, but also a source of underrated value that I didnt expect. Wrestlers that only recently debuted on NXT 2.0 are included to my absolute shock, including the big names that are already driving the show. Bron Breakker will be the gem, but guys like Carmelo Hayes, Meiko Satomura, Cora Jade, Tiffany Stratton, Gigi Dolan, Jacy Jane and Grayson Waller are all targets. Even guys like Harland and Joe Gacy have a card, which will be their first.

Then there is Gable Steveson. Not only is Gable Steveson an absolute mind blowing name to have included here, he is one that could skyrocket into the top tiers of the checklist. Steveson is a gold medal winner, an NCAA champion and a guy that WWE is banking on as the next Kurt Angle / Brock Lesnar type. Seeing that they have access to Angle as well, there are some fun things that be expected. Steveson is about to debut on RAW, and I would not be surprised to hear that his cards end up as some of the most valuable.

Another surprise comes in the inclusion of Chyna, who is a beloved WWE superstar despite long term struggles with her life outside the ring prior to her death. Because of her controversial nature, Chyna hasnt been featured on many official WWE cards. She has a card in Prizm, and Im guessing that will be one to chase.

To close out this section, if they are on a WWE contract right now, they are in the set. The entire roster of RAW, Smackdown, NXT and NXT UK are all there. This has never happened in this way before. Legends and current stars in a list fashion rather than a selected few.

Autographs

Here is where I expect to have a lot of fun, even though Prizm isnt about the autographs. Usually, its the autographs that draw the house, but in this product they are secondary. That doesnt mean they didnt go balls to the walls with the names on this list, because they absolutely did. Everyone that needed to have autographs here are included with reckless frequency, including a few that could bring some scary huge money.

There was a hope among wrestling collectors that the Rock would be included for the first time in over 20 years, something I thought would be a mistake for a product like this. Panini wasnt able to make that happen, but other legends like Austin, Undertaker, Hogan, Bret Hart, Triple H and Michaels are all included. John Cena, Goldberg, Lesnar and other current legends are there too.

Then there are two names we absolutely need to discuss. The first is Batista. If you go back to my original post about who Panini needs to chase, he was on that list. For a number of rumored reasons, Batista doesnt sign cards for WWE. He never has in the history of his tenure there. Somehow, some way, Panini got him in this product.

The second is Gable Steveson again, who will have his debut autograph card in this product to match his base card. Again, this is a gigantic addition to the checklist, and I was floored by his inclusion along side the other stars.

Other rare signers like Paige and Rob Van Dam are here too, people who rarely sign for sets like this. Paige hasnt had a readily available card since 2015, and her last autograph card was 2019 Transcendent. Paul Heyman is signing here for the first time since Undisputed a few years ago, which I know a few of my buddies will be excited about.

Lastly, we were warned about the dual autograph cards being ridiculous, but I dont think anyone expected to see what we are getting. Pairings in this set are unlike anything we have ever gotten before. Stone Cold and Bret Hart, Undertaker and Roman Reigns, Austin and Michaels, Lesnar and Angle, it goes on and on. For a product that rarely focuses on autograph content, they didnt hold back.

The main differentiator here is availability, because the autograph checklist is humongous. If they are part of WWE, they are signing cards. That means along with the chance to pull Bron Breakker, you have the chance to pull Corbin or Shinsuke Nakamura, who are prolific signers that no one wants to get in their box. Like I said, this isnt a product to rip like a previous WWE product, so expectations of value delivered need to be widely adjusted.

Configurations of Product

Just from seeing the listed parallels, we can also glean that there are a number of configurations for this product that suggest a widely printed run. This run might be more than UFC, which is something that I definitely didnt expect. Base cards will be plentiful, and there is no doubt in my mind that set collectors need not worry about picking one up.

We see that there will be a Panini Direct White Sparkle config for packs bought through the app, as well as a TMall exclusive Lucky Envelope, which I had as an unlikely addition. There is a huge Asian market for Wrestling, and this option could be big for a retailer that specifically services it.

There is also a premium box set, which has become a favorite of collectors for a few years now. This product will include a Champion autograph, and a 7/10 chance of pulling someone really freaking great. Im going to try to get my hands on one for sure.

We also see retail specific Prizm parallels are back, and I think that for many collectors out there, the retail configs might be the ones most accessible. I think its important to figure out a way to engage if you are looking to do so, and retail is a great option.

Color Blast

In the other Prizm products for the major sports, Color Blasts are huge money rare inserts that might drop one every few cases (dont quote me on this). There are rumors usually of print runs below 50, but they are not serially numbered. For this set, the focus is entirely on current guys, which is hugely disappointing, but I guess not surprising. Cena and Goldberg are interesting additions, and with Roman should be the most expensive.

Maybe next year we will see the Rock and Hogan, which might be high four figure cards. Panini does need to save some for the sequel, and that’s where I think there were some calculated situations that are in play here. Nothing to sink the set, but some intrigue to further the attraction for year two.

Conclusions

When I got this in my hands for the first time yesterday, I audibly gasped a few times. I was not expecting to see the depth we are seeing here, and its clear that Panini is investing a lot up front in Prizm to make this set worth people’s time. We have yet to see if that will continue, but hopefully it will. If they were looking to make a splash in light of the news yesterday, they succeeded to a higher degree than even I thought they could.