Its been around two years since a box of WWE cards sold for 1000 a box. The last time it happened, the collective mainstream and wrestling hobby absolutely lost their shit. We are talking full meltdown mode, bickering in the community that has lasted to this day, and a market crash that continues to be one of the most controversial topics in the entire history of wrestling cards. There are a lot of reasons why Prizm WWE, which debuted at 1200 a box should have been 1200 a box, as well as many reasons why it shouldnt have been.
Despite these reasons, we are back there again with WWE Impeccable, a product that hit the streets last week, and has been making waves on breaking platforms and eBay. I want to break down some of my thoughts on the product and what to expect now that the market has heated up again.
Recreating the Lessons of 2022 Prizm WWE Pricing
Since its release, Prizm has been responsible for more five figure sales than any modern WWE product ever produced. It is also the only product in wrestling card history to deliver a six figure sale. This tells me that at some level, a 1200 dollar price tag was warranted. Impeccable WWE has none of those things and will never have them, but yet we see a four figure price tag was still pushed by secondary market wax dealers as the market heats up for WWE thanks to a historic run for their TV product and a slew of whatnot breakers who have made WWE wax a focus of their channel.
Even more so, for the first time ever, the WWE equivalent product was originally priced higher than its sister football product. Yes – 2023 Impeccable WWE started at a higher box price than 2023 Impeccable NFL. That is a fucking scary proposition, because at this point in the market, no WWE product should ever cost more than the NFL version. Although there is less of the wrestling version, the value spectrum of hits resides in two different pricing universes. Pricing them on similar levels is just insanity.
As if that wasnt scary enough, Immaculate WWE should continue the trend, given that its a better product, with more valuable hits, and aspects of the product that will be immensely popular among collectors. 2023 Immaculate NFL currently sits at $1249 per box, and I fully expect WWE to be more than that. Absolutely horrifying.
This begs the question – why is the price so high?
There are a few main reasons, and also the same reasons why this price wont hold. First, the allocation of Impeccable WWE seems to be down, even though it really doesnt look like Panini is giving us any information that confirms it. Per the discovery document from the WWE/Panini lawsuit, the case allotments are actually higher than 2022.
Ive also heard blame thrown Panini’s way as the catalyst for the pricing increase, with many posts speculating that Panini had made the product exceptionally more expensive to acquire from them. That also is not true, with dealer cost at $391, very similar to last year’s cost. This would drive expectations that box price should end up around $450-550 per box, almost spot on with last year at a 20-30% markup.
So that brings us to the real reasons why this price is up. The first is online dealers like Blowout, Steel City and Dave and Adam’s. At solicitation, they seemingly drew a price out of their ass and posted it on the site without true reasoning other than they felt the WWE market could support it. For the most part, they were correct. Because of the suffocation of WWE wax due to the lawsuit, many breakers and collectors were starving for product, and like Elite, they knew they could easily squeeze a few extra dollars out of their first pre-sales of the product because of that reason. I dont think any of them expected that price to hold, but when you see the sell sheets delivering gorgeous looking cards, its not shocking that there are breakers and collectors who wanted a piece.
This reason leads into the next reason which Ive explained on a few videos now – online breakers are buying the absolute shit out of Impeccable. Back when 2022 Prizm was released, there were no channels on Whatnot delivering breaks like we see today. As of last count, I saw 18 different channels offering Impeccable WWE breaks on their page. Because they can move slots at a much lower cost per collector, they can support a huge case price. Also, with many of them buying product directly from Blowout and DA, its no shock why the online retailers put the price where it was.
Lets be 100% honest. If Blowout put Impeccable out there at last year’s box cost off the bat, it would have been gone in the blink of an eye. The market is hot again. They are a business and their goal is to make as much money as the market can support.
A Gorgeous Set All Around
There is one aspect of Impeccable that has made me a fan since its inception in the NFL back in 2017 – its one of the best looking products Panini makes. Every card in the set looks great with the artistic approach to designing a set that stands apart from the other sets. Its motif is gallery art, and it delivers in spades. Canvas like stock, painted strokes in the background, and themes around watercolor and the beauty of the work.
If anything, there is not much to complain about here, because Panini absolutely has found their path in creating high end products long ago. The addition of jumbo patch autographs and legend focused signature subsets add to the allure of the design, but the cloud of high box price continues to loom over the set since day one.
Last year’s set was absolutely stunning as well, and I think its a big deal when you see how the product has evolved year over year. Even the base cards look tremendous, which is saying something, considering how incredible they looked last year. The base set might have been the best of 2022, and in 2023, it might be again.
The one thing that Panini has never had issues with is photography, and I think that is actually a gigantic improvement this year, as they have designed the cards with more differentiated approaches on the photos included across the many subsets. Just looking at the Indelible Ink subset Kane and Undertaker cards should be a defining example of how a photo can make a card that much better. Base card photos of Zelina Vega, Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley and others all have amazing shots. This brings eye appeal to an already fun design.
Going back to 2022, there was no bigger attraction than the Impeccable number cards celebrating returns, championships and Wrestlemania appearances. This year, Panini has done a good job on a follow up to these absolutely stunning cards, and they remain some of the most beautiful WWE cards there are. Adding in some additional 1/1s and low numbered examples will hurt set collector approaches, but add huge value to the overall market.
Content Improvements Over Last Year
If you are going to expect people to pay the increased box price, content needs to be adjusted to make sure that the ask doesnt fail. There are elements of this set that are different than 2022, and for the most part, they are absolutely awesome.
I already talked about the addition of Jumbo Patch autos, which were a big plus seeing the way box breaks can shake out. Huge spaces to display the colorful relics that adorn many of the WWE shirts sold on their online shop, and much like Topps Dynasty in Baseball, its fun to watch box breaks online just to see what pops out.
Panini also made it a point to include WWE logos on the 1/1 elegance relic autos, which feature a smaller swatch, but a great design that should make the better ones some of the most valuable cards in the product. This new approach to creating memorable 1/1s for the product is a key development in Panini coming to WWE, and one I am excited to see go further as we get to products like Immaculate. I think using the WWE logo as a chase is something that has created the most valuable cards in the NFL and NBA spaces, as well as all other sports, so its good to have that carry over to WWE.
Major Drawbacks Besides Price Still Exist With the Product
As good as I think Impeccable is from a look and feel perspective, there are major issues with the release, all likely stemming from challenges over the summer with the lawsuit. The most impact comes in the form of checklist and autograph signings, which by all accounts seem to have gone exceptionally well over the last week at Wrestlemania. Outside of that, it seems like a good portion of the checklist was built a long time ago prior to the delays that were put in place, so outside of the addition of CM Punk to the base set, some major names are just not present.
There is no hotter name in WWE than Tiffany Stratton, and she is basically absent from this entire product. Other names from NXT, some key legends like Trish Stratus, and others are missing from the auto checklist as well. Couple that with other issues, and I can see where collectors would be upset.
As with every Wrestling product, redemptions can be a hairy situation. Topps struggled tremendously with them in the last year of their deal, and Panini has not had much of a different experience. When a product is built on hard signed cards, its inevitable that any delay in the signings will result in redemptions. It happened with Elite, and it has happened again with this product too. Here is the thing – Panini has done a pretty good job in filling what they can. Immaculate redemptions seem to be coming back on a really nice return rate, and previous sets have had good performance outside of a few repeat offenders.
If you are holding a 2022 Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Triple H, or Charlotte Flair redemption, your wait times have become basically unmanageable. They arent the only ones either, but they are big enough names that its a problem. Now, would you rather have no cards of those people vs having a redemption? Personally, the answer for me is always “Im patient enough to wait as long as it takes.” For others, that might not be the case, especially given the value of these cards. The good thing is, the redemptions do hold a high enough value that you are able to sell them and buy live cards if you so desire.
The bottom line is that people overreact to redemptions in this hobby as a whole. Its just the nature of the beast. Ive been around long enough to understand what is going to happen anytime the subject is brought up. There are hard line individuals who want rid the products of redemptions, and I think that is just as laughable as any take that is out there, especially if you are part of the anti-sticker crowd as well. Card manufacturers have budget timelines to hit, signing timelines to hit, and revenue targets to hit – their product calendars are designed to support those things because they are a business. As CM Punk famously said on his return, “Im not here to make friends, Im here to make money.”
Given that is the situation, their primary target they work towards is that minimum guaranteed licensing cost that all card manufacturers owe to their licensors. More importantly, the hobby seems to have zero issue with the things going down right now. We all still sell out the boxes, and we pay for the singles. As long as that is the case, there is no incentive to change.
Its also not as simple as the childish call to action “PEOPLE JUST NEED TO STOP BUYING.” Mainly because that is such a fucking stupid way to look at it – we have a better chance of the Eclipse causing the apocalypse than people stop buying. In my experience there are two things that need to be better from the companies, education and information.
The average collector still thinks they are getting actual news from customer service when they call in to ask about their card instead of script to handle the hundreds of people they deal with. Providing real information about signings and autographs will help to inform collectors and deflect calls from an overwhelming customer service agent staff. The second is providing more understanding of how cards get signed, and some of the reasons why redemptions are required.
Lastly, the replacement process needs to improve, and I have said this since 2004. Twenty years later and fucking points and worthless sparkle packs are still the best Panini has to offer. Topps just switches out cards without true understanding of market value. Both are terrible approaches. Until this aspect changes, nothing else matters.
The Verdict
If I have to boil down my thoughts on Impeccable to a final paragraph, I think its harder for this product than any other wrestling product Ive usually taken to here to review. The cost is such a deterrent in terms of the perceived joy of ripping this product. Remptions are an issue, checklist is an issue, but the cards look absolutely awesome, and the content is improved. Pros and cons considered, I think Impeccable is a solid product, but will be blown out of the water by Immaculate. Because we wont see Immaculate until later in the year, I think its something that can easily hold our attention as long as the cost comes down to earth. Wrestling on TV is on fucking fire, and I cant see that as anything but a positive towards the card market. I hope we see as much growth here as anything.