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2023 Select Football Review: Highly Delayed But Still A Good Longterm Investment?

2023 Select Football brings 500 cards across 5 different tiers of scarcity just in time for the 2024 NFL season. Better late than never, I guess?

The product was released on August 30, 2024 and is preordering for $999.85.

Here’s everything you need to know about 2024 Select Football

Shop for boxes of 2023 Select Football on eBay

2023 Select Football product introduction 

Select is a fan favorite that started as hobby-only, but a retail edition helps it rank in the top-tier of mass-market optichrome sports card royalty along with Prizm and Optic. These three products all feature chromium cards and Prizm-based inserts and parallels, giving layers of scarcity and different eye appeals for collectors to enthusiastically pursue. 

Select, unlike the other two, is a bit more complicated to collect. Why? The product has five main unique tier cards that represent different levels of increasing scarcity: Concourse Level, Premier Level, Club Level, Suite Level, Field Level.

Since there are now five instead of the standard three, this probably means – much like the NBA – there will be a retail-exclusive level, too. 

The product is also known for its XRC cards, which are redeemable for a draft pick from the next rookie class (example: QB3 = the third quarterback drafted).

With this year’s untimely release, the XRCs will drop after the draft, thus losing some of their charm, but that doesn’t mean collectors won’t be excited to pull a QB1 redemption and swap it for a Caleb Williams card nonetheless.

Shop for boxes of 2023 Select Football on eBay

2023 Select Football is… big

While there won’t be autographs of CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Levis and possibly even Puka Nakua in 2023 Select football, that hasn’t stopped the price from swelling. This year is preordering at $999. Last year? $550. 

So what justifies the giant increase? Big changes?

Not exactly. 

The makeup of each box is the same as last year: hobby boxes consist of 12 packs with 5 cards per pack. Each box averages 2 autographs and a memorabilia card. Expect an average of 15 parallels per box, including 10 silvers. There are also 2 Field Levels guaranteed per box

The online-exclusive First of the Line (FOTL) format contains Neon Orange Rookie Patch Autograph and a limited base parallel that is either a Neon Orange Pulsar or Tiger Prizm. The FOTL autos have been numbered to /23 in the past, but this year’s numbering isn’t published yet.

The base set of 500 cards is divided among subsets that each have parallels (for example, each subset has gold /10). 

Shop for boxes of 2023 Select Football on eBay

2023 Select Football Checklist information 

The 2023 checklist looks a lot like previous years.

There is a deep list of parallels available at every level of base cards. For example, here is the “premier” level breakdown:

  • Silver
  • Zebra SSP
  • Tri-Color – #/199
  • Blue – #/149
  • Light Blue – #/99
  • Purple – #/75
  • Neon Green – #/49
  • White – #/35
  • Tie-Dye – #/25
  • Gold – #/10
  • Green – #/5
  • Green & Black Snakeskin – #/2
  • Black – 1/1

The already-rarer Field Level includes fewer parallels:

  • Silver
  • Zebra SSP
  • Tri-Color – #/75
  • Blue – #/49
  • White – #/35
  • Tie-Dye – #/25
  • Gold – #/10
  • Green – #/5
  • Black – 1/1

The XRCs are still something to get excited about, but they aren’t as “fun” since the draft is already in the rearview. 

These exchange cards, historically, are the first chance to truly get a licensed card that matters for the future rookie class.  These cards are valuable and provide a great way to stake an early claim of your favorite early draft pick.

In addition to the standard XRCs, which have the silver Prizm look, there are parallels: tie-dye /25, gold /10, and black 1/1s  add even more scarcity to the exciting rookie class. 

This year’s Select will bring a few more inserts.  Phenomenon, Snapshots, and Sensations are back, and new to 2023 is the “Neon Icons” 

Also look for new SSP Inserts Starcade, Color Wheel, Select Anniversary

Shop for boxes of 2023 Select Football on eBay

Investing in Select Football 

With an initial price of $999, Select Football 2023 is releasing nearly twice as much as last year.

So should you stay away, or is the number justified? 

One pro for the product is that each box has 60 cards, while many of the expensive recent releases have only 8 – 10 cards total, so at least with Select you have more chances of pulling nice cards and getting your money back.

But still, you’re paying almost $20/card with a new box of Select and it’s a big investment in something that might not pay off at all. Here’s our take on how to consider investing in Select. 

Investing in sealed boxes of Select Football

If you’re investing in sealed boxes intending to hold them, here are some numbers to consider.

ReleaseValue
2023 Select Football hobby$999
2022 Select Football$600
2021 Select Football$500
2020 Select Football$1,800
2019 Select Football$480
2018 Select Football$1,750

A couple of takeaways here.

For one, when I ran similar numbers last year, they were very close to what they are now. Most of the boxes have dropped less than 10%, if at all. 2020 and 2019 even went up. That’s a great sign for Select – it’s aging very well, even against a general decline in the market.

And, the other point: the rookie class matters. And, fortunately, the 2023 rookie class seems to be pretty strong. CJ Stroud, at least, looked awesome, and some other quarterbacks could emerge… to be determined. The receiving core is very talented too, with Puka setting rookie records. 

The big chink in its armor is the lack of rookie autographs from the top prospects, but fortunately, you can still hit big cards in Select that are non-autos. 

Shop for boxes of 2023 Select Football on eBay

Investing in Select Football rookies

Select rookie cards are one of the blue-chip investments of modern Panini rookies – perhaps second to only Prizm. If you’re going to invest in just one card of anybody, Select is a great way to go.

Your best bet for making a guaranteed profit on this product is finding a few silvers or field-level rookies of players you believe in, buying them raw (after asking for more pictures), and then getting them graded. 

If you can scoop up silvers of the rookies you like and grade, then you’ll be set for a long-term hold. Collectors go nuts for Select PSA 10s, especially if you can get cards in one of the two rarest tiers.

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

Bottom line: Rip, Hold or Pass?

Select is always a popular brand, and this year shows no signs of it slowing down.  And, for perhaps the first time for any of the 2023 products, I don’t think this one is a bad long-term investment. It seems to have a pretty high floor.

Select is a heavyweight in the industry and won’t slow down anytime soon. 

What do you think of this product? What will it be worth in 5 years? Let us know on Twitter @card_lines. 

Shop for boxes of 2023 Select Football on eBay

Other August 2024 releases

Jesse Haynes

Jesse Haynes

Jesse Haynes is the co-founder of Solaro Shades, an Amazon #1 Bestselling novelist, and a lifelong sports card collector. His nonfiction work has been featured in Forbes, Inc., MarketWatch and more. At CardLines, Jesse’s specialties are basketball and football cards, not to mention making informative video and Instagram content.
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