2023 Prizm Football Review: Panini’s Best Product Despite Lack Of Big Names [CheckList Added)

2023 Prizm Football will not have autographs of C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young. It has too many colored parallels and the worst design in years.

And still, 2023 Prizm Football is still Panini’s best NFL product this year, where it sits as the best release of January. Or, at least, it will still be the hobby’s golden boy.

2023 Prizm is expected to be released on January 3rd, 2023, which is much better than the March of 2023 release for 2022 Prizm Football.

It seems Panini’s NFLPA scare from Fanatics has them releasing products before the season’s in the rearview… so we’re not going to complain.

And while last year’s product was released at $750 per box, this year’s Prizm release is asking for $900. But is that a good price?

Here’s our full breakdown of this year’s Prizm release. 

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Prizm Football product introduction

Since Prizm is the biggest annual release, it seems deserving of at least a quick introduction. Love it or hate it, it’s important to the hobby.

Prizm has been the king of basketball and football products since 2012. In many ways, Panini defined the hobby with this product for over a decade.

And make no mistake, we all have qualms with Prizm – the quality control has gone into free-fall over the last few years – but it’s still the best blend of high-end potential and affordable entry price on the market, combining mass appeal with a reasonable price point.

One key for Prizm to maintain its value is that it reaches the mass market with affordable retail offerings. You can find blasters, hangers, and mega boxes at your local Walmart or Target. 

The “everybody can get a taste” effect is what has made Prizm such a touchdown. Whether you’re looking to spend $35 on a blaster or $1,000 on a hobby, you can rip some Prizm.

Think of it this way: The new Marvel movie might not win any Oscars, but it’s crazy popular because it’s something everybody can enjoy.

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Why 2023 Panini Prizm Football is the biggest release of the year

Prizm’s history stretches back almost as far as Panini’s involvement in NBA and NFL cards, and to celebrate the release, let’s take a quick look back.

Prizm was released in 2012 as part of Panini’s promise to provide innovative improvements to the sports card hobby. As Panini put it, the hobby was long overdue for an upgrade, and Prizm could be the answer.

It was. The opti-chrome set introduced the “Prizm” card – the answer to Topps’ trademarked “refractor.” In the early years, the prizm cards came in simple color varieties: mainly silver, green, red, and aqua.

Since then, Panini’s added a few new color options every year and built out an extensive Prizm rainbow, although most are available only in hobby boxes.

Still, the silver Prizm cards are in all Prizm products and have since become the single most iconic rookie card of any modern player. A PSA 10 Silver Prizm is as good as it gets for a long-term investment of a non-numbered card. 

Over the years, the guarantees have changed a bit, as well as the rookie silver Prizms. For example, all the rookies were silver in 2016 and 2017. Then, in 2018, Panini overcorrected and started inserting silvers at one per box.

While Prizm has been in print for a decade now years now, more offshoots from Panini also include “prizm” cards: Select, Optic, Mosaic, and many more.

In this way, Prizm is the grandfather of all modern opti-chrome cards and the single most important sports card set for modern investing.

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The 2023 Prizm Football review

Historically, Prizm has done a good job of not changing the recipe too much over its decade-long run. 

Whether you’re ripping an old box of Prizm or the newest release, you can expect some common threads: 12 packs of 12 cards, a couple of autographs, and the big hit potential coming from those autographs or the colored parallels found within.

Over the years, though, Prizm has significantly expanded the lineup of colored prizms. It started with base, red, green, and light blue, basically, and now there are over 30 colors to chase. 

It can be argued, even, that there are too many numbered parallels. When you have so many cards that are rare… are any of them too rare? Think about it, at least.

This year, you’re guaranteed:

• 2 Autographs
• 10 #’d Prizms
• 3 Base Prizms
• 1 Rookie Prizm
• 24 Rookies
• 5 Inserts Or Parallels

At the time of writing this, we don’t know what exactly the “1 Rookie Prizm” is. Best guess? It’s a silver rookie. But with 10 #’d prizms guaranteed, it’s odd to see them distinguish the silver rookie from the three base prizms.

While the box contents are largely the same as we’ve come to expect, this year’s design is perhaps the worst we’ve ever seen from the set (and to be fair, I almost never comment on design. This one is so bad, though, that I made an exception.)

On the base design, Panini took the Prizm logo and drug it to the top of the card. No brand is more iconic in NFL cards than “Prizm”… so why not bury it at the bottom of the card right?

On top of that, the always minimalist colorblast cards just got more complicated with new Colorblast Duos, which add a second player (and giant team logo) to the card.

And, most noteworthy, remember that 2023 Prizm will not have autographs of Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud or Will Levis. They’re working exclusively with Fanatics, so three of the best autographs you could pull from the draft class will not be in the box.

2023 Prizm boxes guarantee 2 autographs, 10 #’d prizms, 3 base and 1 rookie silver prizm, 24 rookies, and 7 inserts/parallels. 

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The 2023 Prizm Football formats

Prizm will be released in several formats. Here’s a breakdown of everything we can expect.

2023 Prizm Football Hobby box

• 12 cards per pack.
• 12 packs per box.
• 2 Autographs
• 24 rookies
• 10 #’d prizms
• 4 silver prizms (1 rookie guaranteed)
• 5 inserts

2023 Prizm Football Hanger box

• 20 cards per box
• 4 cracked ice inserts

2023 Prizm Football Blaster Box

• 4 cards per pack
• 6 packs per box
• 1 blaster exclusive rookie memorabilia card or autograph*

2023 Prizm Football Mega Box

• 4 cards per pack
• 10 Packs Per Box
• 1 autograph, on average

TMall Box

• 6 cards per box
• 1 exclusive base or rookie prizm red and yellow numbered to 49 or less*

No Huddle Box (H2)

• 5 cards per pack
• 18 Packs Per Box
• 18 rookies
• 1 No Huddle Rookie Auto Prizm
• 10 Exclusive base or rookie prizm No Huddle parallels
• 1 Rookie variation card

*Noted because this is not confirmed, just based on previous years.

2023 Prizm Football checklist

At the time of writing, we don’t have colors guaranteed yet besides Panini’s note that “This season’s hobby-exclusive Prizm parallels include Silver, Hyper, Orange, Blue Wave, Purple Ice, Red Wave, Purple, Blue Ice, Green Scope, Orange Wave, Purple Power, Navy Camo, Forest Camo, Gold, Gold Vinyl, White Knight, Black Finite and Snakeskin.”

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With that said, here is the parallel lineup from last year:

• Snakeskin Prizms
• Orange Prizms – #/249
• Purple Ice Prizms – #/225
• Blue Wave Prizms – #/199
• Hyper Prizms – #/175
• Red Wave Prizms – #/149
• Purple Prizms – #/125
• Blue Ice Prizms – #/99
• Green Scope Prizms – #/75
• Orange Wave Prizms – #/60
• Purple Power Prizms – #/49
• Navy Camo Prizms – #/25
• Forest Camo Prizms – #/15
• Gold Prizms – #/10
• Gold Vinyl Prizms – #/5
• Black Finite Prizms – 1/1

“No Huddle” Prizm colors:

• Base No Huddle Prizms
• Blue No Huddle Prizms – #/79
• Red No Huddle Prizms – #/50
• Purple No Huddle Prizms – #/35
• Pink No Huddle Prizms – #/15
• Neon Green No Huddle Prizms – #/5

The snakeskins are one per case. As they are exceptionally rare, snakeskins demand big bucks.

Hobby box exclusive, there will also be rookie patch autographs numbered to /99, /49, and /10, plus a black finite /1. 

There are three significant inserts to seek. As described by Panini, they are:

• Manga: Manga utilizes Anime-style illustration to create a truly unique card of the top vets and rookies in the NFL.
• Color Blast: This super short-printed insert falls one in every 10 cases, on average.
• Stained Glass: A stained-glass art-inspired rendition on NFL cards.

2023 Prizm Football investment advice

If you’re hoping to invest in Prizm 2023, the first question to answer is if you should buy singles or wax.

Hobby box value

This year’s Prizm boxes are selling for $900 pre-order. Let’s look at the last few years of Prizm and recent sales (as of 11/21/23):

When the product itself doesn’t change much, the value is driven by the rookie class. This is very well demonstrated above. 2019 is the weakest rookie class on this list, while 2020 is by far the best of the years I listed. The difference is reflected in the price.

That said, age and print runs should both be considered. The older the product is, the more valuable it should become since it’s harder to find sealed. And recent releases (2020 and later, I’d say), have a higher print run when Panini really kicked it into overdrive. This lowers value over time. 

From what we’ve seen of Stroud through the first 10 weeks of his career, he looks like he can be considered in the same area as Burrow, Herbert or Hurts someday… maybe even sooner than later.

That alone makes me think this $900 box could be worth $1500 before too long, but without Stroud’s autographs, it’s really hard to say how this product will age. We’ve never seen anything like this. Still, my guy tells me: good investment as a sealed box.

Prizm Football 2023 singles value

Prizm rookie cards are the blue-chip investment of modern Panini rookies. So, if you’re going to invest in just one card of anybody, Prizm is the way to go.

The silver rookies are slightly overvalued, considering they’re the most common Prizm insert. That said, your best bet of making a guaranteed profit is finding a few silver rookies of players you believe in. Then, buy them raw (after asking for more pictures) before grading them.

But caution: don’t buy the first Prizm cards that appear on eBay for this year. The price will inevitably drop as the supply meets the demand.

Final thoughts on 2023 Prizm Football review

While the Prizm 2023 has its flaws it’s still the most exciting product from an underwhelming rookie class. 

With 2023 Prizm Football, you’ll want to get a piece of the action, whether that’s buying for a long-term hold or simply ripping some retail for fun.

What do you plan on doing with 2023 Prizm? Let us know on Twitter @card_lines, and be sure to sign up for our free newsletter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel, which posts content daily.

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A full 2023 Prizm Football checklist

2023 Panini Prizm Football