Big Bang Theory: The WWE Superfractor Market is Exploding Thanks to Some Big Sales (and Some Smaller Ones Too)

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If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know my affinity for Topps Chrome. Ive mentioned it multiple times that it is my favorite product and my go to set for acquiring my target PC subjects. The brand loyalty I have to Chrome is deep rooted in my childhood, with the set driving many trips to the local shop when I was growing up. Its also been one of the things that has driven some of the largest purchases I have made in sports cards.

Chrome is a legacy brand for a number of reasons, but most of it stems from the longevity of the product’s brand within the hobby, and its hulking values that have driven enormous sales volumes and secondary market values for decades. Collectors know what they are getting with Chrome, each and every time. Its a landmark product that has spanned multiple sports, non-sport, WWE, MMA, and everything in between.

The pinnacle of the brand has always been the refractor, but within the last 15 years, the true top of the mountain has been the 1/1 parallel of those, labeled a SUPERFRACTOR early on by Topps. Being that its the most important parallel in all of cards, it features a similar stock pattern that has spread to almost every trading card company on the planet. Yes, the superfractors are such a big deal, Panini, Leaf, and all the others have used the “Small Engine Turn” stock and made their own 1/1 parallels. That’s when its clear that everyone wants a piece of the magic.

In terms of WWE, the Superfractor has been around for a while, but its history is a bit more complicated. Because the products were built around the ideas of baseball sets, but configured in their own way, the Superfractors werent always the same as they were in other sports. In fact, some of the original examples had a print run of 25 from the first Heritage Chrome WWE sets, making them some of the highest numbered supers ever produced. Like many of the other older WWE cards, the bigger names in this set have skyrocketed in value over the last year.

All that being said, nothing has prepared the market for what happened to the Superfractors in the first standalone Topps Chrome branded set, first released in 2014. Ive mentioned in previous posts that 2014 Topps Chrome WWE had a minuscule print run. One of the smallest hobby configurations produced in the history of Topps Chrome as a mainstream brand. As part of that set, Superfractor parallels of the base cards, numbered 1/1, were included for the first time ever. The set featured two of the top tier WWE targets of 2022, with Roman Reigns and the Rock both having mega cards as part of the checklist. If I had to predict a six figure sale in WWE, I talked about one of the candidates yesterday in the Rock’s 1/1 Prizm black. The other candidate is the Rock’s 2014 Superfractor.

Back at the end of 2021, leading into 2022, a group of major sports collectors joined the WWE card niche ahead of the announcement of Panini obtaining the WWE license. Immediately, sets like 2014 and 2015 Topps Chrome became targets for them – more specifically the sister cards to the Prizm parallels that had dominated the hobby boom coming out of 2020. The gold refractors /50 and the Superfractor 1/1s exploded in value, with some $10 dollar pickups from months earlier becoming $1000 cards overnight. Remember, no supply and high demand kicks basic economics into high gear.

Within a few weeks, a 2014 Roman Reigns Superfractor Auto 1/1 had sold for $15,000, setting a record for modern WWE in the process. To that point, no public sale of a modern WWE card had ever broken the 5 figure mark, with only another Superfractor coming close. That card was from 2021 Transcendent WWE, which featured 1/1 autographed supers for the first time and last time in the product. Like others from previous Chrome sets, huge values were expected and received for the major 1 per box hits, leading to some of the largest sales in WWE card history.

To me, the Transcendent superfractor autos were the next step in the evolutionary process for the WWE market and remain my favorite wrestling cards Topps produced in their 20 year run with the license. They continue to be highly sought after by many WWE and non-WWE collectors, a chase that has been exacerbated by the increase in value for the 2014, 2015, 2020 and 2021 Chrome sets overall. Adding in 2020 and 2021 Finest, WWE has a treasure trove of shiny gold cards that have increased wax to dizzying heights on the products, with the older boxes capping out at 1200-1500 a box now. Collectors have seen this new market evolve into a monster, with most of the Chrome color reaching heights considered laughable only a few months ago.

Now that Prizm has entered the fold, more shiny goodness has brought huge prices to the market, and has fueled a continued spike for the shiny Topps products all around. Even the lowest tier superfractors available on the market cannot be had for less than a few hundred dollars, something that is driving many supercollectors insane. For those of us who were lucky enough to get our hands on some of the major examples early on in the Chrome lifecycle, those prices seem like we were paying for sticks of chewing gum by comparison.

I wholeheartedly believe there is no more safe harbor for anyone looking to add some of these gems to their PC. The secret of the WWE niche is out, and now that the dark corner has been illuminated, the major hits will start to climb to the values that are exemplified in the major sports. I fully believe a six figure WWE card is on the horizon, especially with insane auction results for people like Lewis Hamilton and other alternative cards. Hopefully we all get to flourish in the light of the flames, billowing from the market on fire with interest.

Is There a Six Figure Card in 2022 WWE Prizm?

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As we look at the last month since release, the first Panini WWE set is insanely top heavy. Much like most of the other versions of the product in the NBA and NFL, the major hits in WWE are getting values on the secondary market usually reserved for the four major sports. Multiple giant sales have broken modern records, and that should not be surprising.

When it comes to the Rock, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Roman Reigns, there are a number of superstars that have the potential to occupy the top tier of values for this product. The main question I have is around the top of the mountain. As people continue to rip, and more of the bigger product hits are found, will there eventually be a six figure card that comes from this set?

Before you laugh at my thinking here, lets walk through some of the points as to why its possible. First, the Rock’s Gold Prizm /10 cards (so far) have all sold over $20k. Shawn Michaels Prizm Black 1/1 has had a reported sale from the seller at $28k. Bret Hart’s Prizm 1/1 Black was reportedly sold at $20k. All of these cards were sold raw. Given these examples, there are a few cards already that should sell for more than these, especially if they are 1/1 copies of the top tier subjects.

Right now, in my opinion, the Rock’s 1/1 Prizm Black is the top modern wrestling card there is. I think it will go for more than the 2014 Topps Chrome Superfractor and the 2015 Topps Chrome Superfractor, but those two cards are close in value to make this an even more interesting comparison. We also know that the Rock’s Prizm card is likely still out there, I think its unlikely that the others arent in someone’s personal collection or lost to the ages.

Given the other sales, its definitely possible to me that with the right circumstances and the right buyer, the 1/1 Prizm Black is a six figure card. Here is how I get there. First, it has to be a PSA 10, which is a pretty big stretch considering quality issues with the product. There are a lot of blemishes, scratches and dents we have seen on Prizm cards, and this one could have all those too. Given that a Lewis Hamilton superfractor recently sold at 900k at PSA 7, a top grade isnt required, but its important.

Secondly, I think the buyer and seller need to go through very visible channels – likely outside of eBay. The Rock has already had record sales through major auction houses, and I think that if this card is graded and sent to a place like Goldin Auctions, PWCC or Heritage Auctions, there are more premium buyers that can see it and bid on it. There are also situations in the past where a buyer wants to set up the market with a sale that sets a precedent. We saw cards from both MLB and NBA set records because a buyer saw potential in the market. Right now, the WWE market is still one of the most inexpensive to change. I mentioned on a few podcasts that it wouldnt take much to tip a few dominoes. This card could do it all at once, and the right buyer might recognize that fact.

In terms of other factors, there are quite a few that could contribute to this card’s value skyrocketing in value. One is the Rock coming back to WWE to face Roman Reigns, which has been a rumored main event for Wrestlemania 39. Since 2019, the Rock has not been to a WWE event, after appearing at the first Smackdown on Fox. Because he is one of the most in demand movie stars in the world, his ability to work the required build to a match like that is pretty hard to manage. If he comes back and the match is on, both stars could see gigantic attention and even more increase in value across the board.

Another factor is time. This might be the most important part of all of this post, because time will do two things. It will get people wondering where the card is, and it will give the market time to mature a bit. Right now, we are seeing hobby box prices fall, and bulk singles trying to climb above a low floor. With the typical Prizm bounce back already starting, its possible that time could give more opportunity for a larger price as people see more public sales increasing.

Lastly, is the other big cards having big public sales. Hulk Hogan and Roman Reigns both have 1/1 Black Base cards I expect to sell for record prices. We have already seen the Stone Cold Steve Austin Black 1/1 Surface. If those cards are pulled and sold in a public setting with gigantic numbers, it will help prop up the sale of the Rock’s big card. If his card is pulled and sold ahead of other product hits, it might take a resale or two for it to get to six figures.

When reviewing the outline here, there are a lot of things that need to go right for the Rock and wrestling cards to achieve the heights that I am hoping it reaches. It might take more than time to get this card to its highest potential value. With the hobby on a downturn leading into the NFL season, still hampered by product delays, grading backlogs and scandals across the nation, non-WWE related things might prevent long term growth in Prizm’s biggest hits. I want to see it get there, especially with the buzz that was generated when his Bumblebee Tuna Miami Hurricanes card sold in the high five figures back 2020 and 2021. The Rock is the biggest star to come out of WWE, and one of the most recognizable names in the world. I hope this is the starting line for a marathon of fun with wrestling cards, and we all know marathons take a long time to finish. This finish could be a big one.

‘Influencer’ and ‘Investor’ Have Become the Two Dirtiest Words in the Hobby

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Ive been around this hobby since I was 6 years old, buying some of my favorite Twins players as a kid, biking to my local card shop and opening cards with my brother and dad. Im now a month away from 40, and Im still here, with some breaks in between, trying to figure out my place in an ecosystem that is enjoying a boom that I could have only dreamed about. In addition to participating in the hobby, Ive written enough about sports cards since 2007 to fill multiple books. Since 2007, multiple things I have done have required public responses from card manufacturers and entities, including my extensive work on fakes and forgeries. Although my reach was small in the grand scheme of the hobby, I was featured on ESPN, Deadspin, and other sites multiple times. In the most marginal sense of the word, you could say I was one of the original card influencers – before that was a thing, and before it was important.

SCU’s original look from 2008!

Today, my influence is small enough to fit on the tip of a needle, as my work and multiple kids has forced me into a place where my love of writing was trumped by a need to live my life. All the fun we used to have on twitter and youtube has been replaced with mega influencers and investors changing the conversation to a focus on money and what they are buying and selling. My focus in the hobby media was always talking about the cards and how they were presented. The new dialogue is all about the deals – buying and selling cards that have become the hottest investment piece since Beanie Babies in the 90s. With the gigantic trajectory of value and interest, a new culture of content and business has been created to match the demand of the population. As people have seen this take place, a divide amongst the previous inhabitants has also risen.

You know what’s interesting though? I enjoy a lot of the content. I love economics, I love cards, and putting them together strikes a chord with me that I never expected. The problem is, most of the biggest voices in the hobby have seen their content explode in popularity to a similar degree as the cards themselves. Tens of thousands of people are hungry to consume sports card content, especially well produced content. As expected, with that attention comes two very specific elements that have made this newfound landscape so problematic in nature.

The first is power. If you have reach and an audience, you have power. Power to change people’s minds, power to move a population, and the power to form an agenda. The thing about agendas, is that they are rarely done for the good of the audience you are influencing. Most of the time, its to further the growth of power one has over their audience, or demean and belittle those who disagree with it. Most influencers will need a steady growth of audience to maintain their production and revenue, and without creating a cult like response to their content, its hard to do that. Therefore, the agenda becomes the content, and its clear that most collectors will have a very dynamic reaction to that – either they love it or they hate it. There are very few indifferent people. Oddly enough, this is the goal, as people who love the agenda will surround themselves with it, and people who hate the agenda will similarly consume the content just to trigger their own emotional responses of hatred. Its a vicious circle that leads to a culture shift, one that has taken over the lexicon we use every day.

The second thing is money. From what I can tell, many of the biggest influencers also have big portfolios of cards, something that in other markets is a required disclosure. Trading cards have only recently entered the national consciousness in terms of investment potential, and other investment assets have tons of content built around them as well. The difference is, the government regulates how those influencers are able to showcase assets they have a position in. If someone on TV is talking about a stock they own, they must disclose that publicly. For cards, the asset group hasnt reached a maturity level where that is required, despite some of them being seven figures in value. As a result, influencers in cards can pump up their owned assets without punitive responses about disclosure. This power has led to resentment from the base of audience they hope to target, but also that love / hate response they use to build new viewership.

Honestly, this is where the influencers and investors have become the new targets for hobby trolling, as people start to revolt against the way they have changed the market overall. The funny thing is, this happens in every market, and the response is not only expected, its the goal. Americans are some of the most emotion driven people on the planet. They want things to be so black and white, as to fuel the tribalism we see when there is a major point of view. The question is, for a hobby ive been around for 30 plus years, is this what I want to happen? That’s where Im not so sure.

This is where the second population of people, the investors, come in. If you ask some of the people that have joined the hobby over the last 2 years, many of them will likely believe that investors are a recent phenomenon within the market. This could not be further from the truth. Going back to the 1950s, people have placed value on trading cards, and if you have gone to a national convention before 2015, you saw the people who have invested in that value setting up year after year. Investors have always seen trading cards as an asset, to a point where we had a similar boom in the 1990s on the back of big sales of collectibles across the country. My dad bought boxes of junk wax that sit in our garage to this day, thinking they would be as valuable as the cards he collected as a kid.

The difference between the 1990s and today is clear, mainly due to the scale in which cards are invested in, but also the scale in which people have made and derived products and services around that part of the market. Today’s hobby has entire business models built around tools for investors, and beyond that, a dedicated community on social media to communicate with like minded individuals. For the first time in the history of hobby investing, the people who are the main players arent huddling in back rooms at big card shows, they are out in the open, sharing what they are doing. Not only that, but the content they create is really fucking interesting. There are even documentary films in the works that talk about how this all came to be.

I remember living in Los Angeles around the time I started writing about cards, and talking with some of the dealers who made a living investing in cards. I thought they were crazy, because the dialogue around cards was so small. I remember getting 2,000 hits a day on my blog posts and being proud of my accomplishments. Now, most of the content creators are driving 200 times that without putting in much effort to furthering any new conversation. For them, as mentioned, the conversation isnt about the cards, where there are limited topics to cover. The deals and money are center stage, where there is an unlimited amount of content to deliver. They have integrated sports commentary as well, given that production on the fields of play contribute so much to potential value.

With such a giant shift in the way people talk about cards, it shouldnt be a surprise that there is a negative reaction from people who hate that this is what the hobby has become. Even though most of the people who revolt against the new world order are very vocal about their feelings, most still operate with the assumptions in value that these influencers and investors have brought to their benefit. Because almost every collectors trades, buys and sells cards, the market value derived from the growth in the hobby does exist to the benefit of all collectors. The so called ‘haters’ will still sell, trade and buy their collection pieces the same way the investors due, while taking pot shots at their methods. Its very odd to witness.

Similarly, these individuals label themselves with a gatekeeping term that gives them a pass to do so. Because they are a ‘true collector’ they feel that their actions are justified to operate in the same manner as the people that they despise. Personally, nothing triggers an emotional response in me more than hearing someone volley ‘true collector’ status around like its actually a thing. Gatekeeping sucks, and as much as investors have drawn ire from the hobby, some of them have actually figured out how fun collecting can really be. Like there is no real way to classify what makes someone a ‘true collector’ versus any other type of hobby participant, there is no reason to make this a derogatory accusation either. I dont understand the desire to keep people out, especially when card value has become the primary thread in this hobby for almost 100 years. More people bringing demand to a market is a good thing, overall. Period.

Does this mean that we should not shine a flashlight on the misdeeds of people who seek to exploit the new found glory? Absolutely not, but the bitterness and resentment seems empty. Americans love celebrity culture, but loathe the way celebrities can spend their money in insane ways. I feel the same thing is true for celebrity card culture – a fascination with their hobby lives, while loathing the impact that investor spending has changed the market. Its so weird to see in action.

Overall, people seem to hate what they cant understand, and for a lot of reasons, there seems to be a general lack of understanding across the hobby that has perpetuated a negative view towards influencers and investors. Some of them absolutely deserve it for a lot of the reasons described above. They are either obviously pushing an agenda, furthering their own investment portfolio, or both. Others seem to be genuinely passionate about their hobby love. I think the discussion around both in the hobby is far from over, but its riveting to see people try to formulate a narrative that fits their own personalities. Some are very successful, others not as much. For me, the hobby is changed forever, and still as fun as it was back when I started writing in 2007. I dont think that will change anytime soon, either.

Quality Issues with WWE Prizm Continue to Be a Major Problem

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When Panini announced that they had acquired the WWE license, many collectors were excited at the potential massive growth that was going to come to wrestling cards. Others were not thrilled that prices for wax and certain singles would be jumping in price. Some collectors were concerned that Panini’s history of problems with customer service and QC would be a detriment to the brand. I want to focus on the problems today, because there are some big ones with Prizm that are hurting values and brand perception within the product.

Centering Issues

We all know the way that cards are made and how challenging it is for the manufacturers to avoid issues with collation, condition and overall quality. Prizm’s rush to the press and into packs seems to have caused some issues with a few aspects of the release.

Even though I have a horrifically negative view of the grading business and their intrinsic conflicts of interest, grading potential has a huge impact on the way the Prizm market functions. No matter how many times I stomp my feet over how much of a problem grading is for the hobby in general, it wont change the impact it has on the value of any given product.

One of the most easily identifiable challenges with Prizm is the centering on entire runs of the product, including the expensive White Sparkle variants that were offered in packs through dutch auctions. For almost every vertically oriented card, massive centering problems have drawn the ire of collectors all over social media. Panini has had problems with this in the past, and the ongoing issues with responses from customer service to everyday collectors makes getting compensation for factory defects even more of a problem.

The General Customer Service Problem

One could say that grading potential is not a part of the manufacturer’s commitment to delivering quality in their product, but when entire print runs have issues, Im not sure that argument has water. The rush job of Prizm WWE likely had huge impact on these things, and with other sets still pending from mid 2021, it could be impossible to reprint or correct without throwing a wrench in the rest of the calendar. Being that Panini sees that millions of dollars is on the line with delivering their backlog, certain aspects of the business are facing a “damned if you do and damned if you dont” scenario.

With that scenario in place, there remains a bunch of questions about how Panini could let it get to this point with so much growth in the market over the last few years. The answer likely hinges on a few levers, and one of them is profit margin, or the fact that these things sell out despite the issues. The second is that this has been their business model since the beginning. I have said a ton of horrible things about Panini over the years, and many of them are echoed by many other collectors who feel the same way. The fact of the matter is that to the customer – it seems as though the corporate policy is to only spend money on things that make money, instead of providing a better overall experience for their customer across all aspects of their engagement.

Given the resources that Panini has acquired through the boom, hiring more people to make the ship run should have been a huge focus in a very public way. If the business wants to keep that planning private, then the actions should speak for the plan. I have seen no indication on social media that any positive impact has been achieved, and because of the sales volume, they might not see a need to address it.

Many corporations use this model to success, but they are also the businesses with the lowest brand loyalty numbers, and lowest net promoter scores around. Comcast should come to mind immediately, as should EA games, and things like airlines. Businesses that only try to add profit by adding to sales, rather than loyalty and experience driving more sales per customer.

We have already seen heavy indicators that the hobby market trajectory has started to trend downwards, and Panini also knows that come 2026, everything goes away. Thanks to Fanatics, Panini has seen a bleak license-less future in the major sports, and could be doing everything in their power to build as much of a war chest as they can before they are forced to the curb. However, with downturns in process, they might see this approach come back to bite them.

Factory Blemishes

Usually when someone buys a couch and it has a tear in the fabric, the company will do something to help the customer get full value for their purchase. Here, that isnt and hasnt been the case. I have already heard of major pulls from the product not being able to make even a raw equivalent grade due to problems with dents, scratches, and other defects to the cards, and that is a huge problem.

Imagine pulling a five figure card, only to see it cant achieve its full value potential because it isnt able to hit the stupid grading standards set by the hobby’s secondary market. Its like buying a luxury car and seeing that there are paint defects all around it as you leave the lot.

This goes back to customer service, which I know many people have tried to engage with as they find these issues in the wild. It has caused a huge amount of anger and frustration, and so far nothing has come of it, because as described above, what can come of it with no ability to reprint or fix a card? Similarly, there is no guarantee of condition out of the pack, so no real responsibility to address the issue.

The funny thing is, Panini has offered graded cards in a packed out product before, and their relationship with the grading companies is deep rooted. Every person in their product development is quite aware of the importance here, but might be powerless to fix it. That situation, in itself, is a gigantic problem for their employees and their company.

Upside Down Stickers

I love autographs, and over the last 15 years, I have come to tolerate the need for stickers to make autographed trading cards. Production timelines are tight, flexibility is needed, and subjects are notoriously hard to deal with. If I have an opportunity to choose hard signed autographs over stickers, I always choose hard signed. Most people do.

Prizm was subject to a license that began 4 months before release, and a history of sticker autographs across its run. Similarly, Prizm has never been about the autos, so Panini rarely saw it as a focus area for improvement. What they didnt understand was how dependent on autograph cards the WWE market remains to be, and the lack of hard signed cards has been a problem for a landmark set like this.

Even more problematic is multiple examples of upside down stickers on cards, or autographs signed in a foreign language that requires a vertical reading path. If the autographs were truly meant to be a focus, these things wouldnt be a problem.

Examples include Asuka, Sheamus and Xia Li, all of whose stickers arent applied correctly, or cant be applied correctly. This takes away from the value of the card, and highlights the success Topps had building WWE products for decades. Since 2018, Topps has switched from a sticker focused autograph presentation to almost entirely on card, and the market has reacted kindly. We will have to see how this plays out in future WWE products, but right now, its a big question mark.

Impact of the Problem

Right now, Prizm WWE has shown to be one of the most top heavy products ever made. The biggest hits in the product are breaking sales records left and right, while the rest of the checklist holds onto its value with a flimsy disposition. Unfortunately, with challenges adding fuel to the fire around condition and other controllable mistakes, values have continued to come up short on cards that should be more expensive.

The impact is huge, because comp related dominoes fall differently according to sales done on the tentpole cards holding up a set, and these issues documented above can have long lasting impact for many cards that should be more valuable.

When wax is as expensive as it is, customers expect a certain delivery of value. Instead they are treated with factory problems, no customer service presence, and many mistakes that could have been avoided. Its not a good foot to start on.

My Sleeper Picks for WWE Prizm Deal Hunting

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Like I have done over the last few months, I have started building stashes of some superstars that I feel are flying under the radar a bit. Because of the top heavy nature of the product, there are an absolute shit ton of great deals that can be had for very affordable prices regardless of your budget. I want to spend a bit of time walking through the people I have been targeting, as well as some I am planning on going after. We all want to get the Rock and Bron Breakker, but there are so many other people who deserve the love.

Trish Stratus and Lita

As important as the women have become to WWE’s success, it wouldnt have been possible without both Trish and Lita’s contribution during the end of the attitude era and throughout the reality era. I have picked up some of the higher numbered parallels of both, with Blue, Purple and Orange still being very inexpensive compared to similar stars on the same level. Both have autographs in the product, but picking up a blue for 10-20 bucks seems like a no-brainer.

Carmelo Hayes

Right now, Bron Breakker is the rookie of choice for this product, but I am loving Carmelo Hayes on NXT 2.0. His first cards are right here, and as he always says, Melo dont miss. Unlike some of the other people on this list who have already carved out their legacy, he has yet to really get established in any real form to understand what his long term trajectory will be like. As with every member of the developmental roster, risk is heavily assumed. I think this guy has the tools to be successful anywhere.

Walter/Gunther

When it comes to the black and gold era of NXT and NXT UK, I literally made an appointment to watch every Walter match. He is a monster of a man, and he wrestles with such a style that really isnt present in the WWE system, outside of some of what Drew McIntyre and Sheamus are doing right now. I have bought a few of his cards just because I love his character and presentation, but I seriously think he has some potential to be a long time top of the card heel in the near future. His cards are cheap still, but in terms of a long term hold, Im in. The name change sucks, but it wont even be a thought long term.

Asuka

What is not to love about her? Not only has she accomplished everything there is to accomplish in WWE, but her colorful personality and impeccable work in the ring should have gotten her a lot more. After being injured at Money in the Bank last year, she is finally back, and I cannot be more happy. Her cards have already jumped since the return, but her Prizm stuff is still pretty easy to come by. I wish there was a color blast for her, but maybe we can get it year two. The only drawback to Asuka is that she is already an older star at 40 years old, but as we have seen, age is just a number with her. She hasnt shown it at all.

Rhea Ripley

For someone that has had as much success so early in her career, Rhea Ripley has cooled off a bit with collectors mainly due to the amount of cards she has had in recent products. She is under 25 and already working like a top star, about to open up a new persona as a top heel under Becky Lynch on RAW. While prepping for this run, Rhea has been stuck in tag division obscurity, but I feel like she is about to explode. Ive been picking up her stuff for a while, and her Prizm stuff is no exception. Mark my words, she will be an all timer when it is all said and done.

Seth Rollins

Its hard to put the drip god on this list, because he has been creeping up in value since the beginning of the modern boom. That being said, his cards are still dirt fucking cheap for someone who has been setting the tone for WWE success since 2013. They have purposefully kept him away from a title reign of any sort to ensure he had time to redefine his presence, but I fully expect the story is there for him to take one of the belts off Roman if they want to build to that. Even without another title run, Rollins has already done more on the biggest stage than most of the major prospects driving value in this set. Invest in the visionary!

Austin Theory

Lets lay out the last few months of what Austin Theory has accomplished. Featured with Vince McMahon on TV? Check. Won a US Title? Check. Stunned by Steve Austin at WM after a featured match? Check. This kid is getting the treatment, and I am excited for his future. Although he might actually be the most expensive star on this list, its worth a look to see if you can get some deals on his Prizm parallels. He is as young as Rhea Ripley is, and just set the record for the youngest US title holder in WWE history. If you arent paying attention to him yet, you should be.

Drew McIntyre

Like Rollins, I feel like McIntyre has gotten lost in the shuffle with collectors. He has accomplished a lot, and is still young enough to really make a huge push towards a stint in the main event again. Like Asuka, McIntyre did what he could to carry things through the thunderdome era, but once in front of crowds again, he has been tangled up lower down the card with people not on his level. A rumored push to work with Roman has been everywhere, and I feel as soon as this week we could see him get a shot. His cards are affordable for any collector, and he deserves a lot more value across the board.

If you are one of those collectors that is still ringing the bell around Prizm not being something that everyone can participate in, you are not seeing the massive opportunity to get involved with some of the people on this list, plus others. Sure, Roman Reigns is expensive as hell, but the investment potential in other superstars dwarfs the fun factor of wheeling and dealing with this level of stuff. Just keeping your ear to the ground and following the dirt sheets can give some key indicators on who is next to get the rocket strapped to their back. Prizm provides so many new ways to engage with Wrestling cards, and I have had an absolute blast working in a new environment. Hopefully others have as well.