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Parallels, refractors and numbered cards

A parallel is the same card as the base card, with the same image and the same number in the set, but in a different colour, finish or treatment. Many parallels are numbered, and then the print run is printed on the card. Together with autographed cards and memorabilia cards, parallels are what carry the value in modern sports cards, and every manufacturer has its own names for them. Here is what the terms mean and how to read a card.

Quick facts

Parallel	Same card and same number, in a different colour, finish or treatment
Refractor	Topps' name for chrome cards that refract light in rainbow colours
Prizm	Panini's chrome set and its parallels
Numbering	Printed print run, such as 25/99. The number after the slash tells you how many exist
1/1	A single copy
Short print	Printed in smaller numbers, but usually without a number
Autographed card	Signed directly on the card or on an attached sticker
Memorabilia card	A piece of jersey or equipment inserted into the card

Base card and parallel

Every set has a base set, the base cards, numbered from one upwards. Parallels are the same cards in other versions: a different border colour, a shimmering finish, a pattern in the foil. They keep the base card's number, and it is the colour or finish that sets them apart. An insert card is something else, a card from its own subset with its own numbering. Which parallels a set has and how many of each were printed is stated in the manufacturer's checklist and on the cards themselves. The ladders change between products, between years and sometimes between different packagings of the same product, so the details for that particular edition are what apply.

The colour ladder

The parallels in a set form a ladder. At the bottom are the unnumbered ones, found in many boxes. Above them come the numbered ones, in ever smaller print runs, and at the top are cards that exist in only one copy. The colour tells you where on the ladder the card sits, but only within its own set: the same colour can have a different print run in two sets. Green Refractor, for example, was numbered to 99 copies in Topps Chrome Formula 1 2024 but to 75 in Topps Chrome UEFA Club Competitions 2023-24.

This is what the base card refractor ladder looked like in Topps Chrome Formula 1 2024, according to Topps' own checklist. In addition to these there were more patterned variants, some only in certain packagings.

Refractor	Unnumbered
Green	99 copies
Pink	75 copies
Gold	50 copies
Orange	25 copies
Black	10 copies
Red	5 copies
SuperFractor	1 copy
Printing plates	1 copy per printing colour

Parallels by set

Topps Chrome

Topps' chrome set, printed on chromium stock since 1996, and home of the refractor family. A refractor refracts light so the surface shimmers in rainbow colours. The regular refractor is unnumbered, and the coloured refractors each have their own print run, most of them numbered. On top of that there are patterned types such as Prism, Wave and X-Fractor. At the top is the SuperFractor, in a single copy. The same system is used in Topps Chrome for football, Formula 1, UFC, basketball and baseball, and in entertainment sets such as Topps Chrome Star Wars, Marvel and Disney.

Topps Chrome Sapphire

An edition of Topps Chrome where the whole set is printed with blue sapphire details on refractor stock, since 2016 and often sold only directly by Topps. Every card is therefore already a kind of parallel, and the set has its own colours on top. At the top is Padparadscha, in a single copy.

Topps Finest

The premium set with fewer cards per box and guaranteed autographed cards in the hobby boxes. The very first refractor appeared in Topps Finest 1993, and the set has refractors in the same way as Chrome.

Panini Prizm

Panini's chrome set, which arrived with basketball in the 2012-13 season. The unnumbered base parallel is called Silver Prizm and is the best known. Above it come coloured Prizms in numbered print runs, and at the top cards in a single copy.

Panini Select

Select divides the base set into tiers with different designs, in basketball Concourse, Premier Level and Courtside, and each tier has its own parallels. The higher tiers turn up less often in the boxes than the lowest.

Panini Mosaic

Mosaic has a patterned finish and its own parallel ladder.

Donruss Optic

Chrome-treated version of Panini's base set Donruss, with its own parallels such as Holo and coloured, numbered versions.

Upper Deck Series 1 and 2

Hockey's big manufacturer. The base sets Series 1 and 2 have parallels both for the base cards and for Young Guns, the rookie cards in the base set. Series 1 in the 2024-25 season included Exclusives numbered to 100 and High Gloss to 10, and unnumbered versions such as Clear Cut, printed on transparent plastic.

SportZoo SHL

The SHL cards from SportZoo follow the same structure. In Series 1 of the 2025/26 season the base set had colour parallels numbered to 30, 20 and 10 copies and a black card in a single copy.

The numbering

A numbered card has its print run printed or stamped on the front or back: 25/99 means it is copy 25 of 99. The first number tells you which copy you have, the second how many exist. It is the second number that decides how rare the card is, and it applies to that specific card, not the whole set. The number is usually applied by machine, but there are cards that were numbered by hand.

1/1. The card exists in a single copy. The first came in 1997, and many sets have such cards.
Jersey number. The term means two things. Either the copy's number matches the player's jersey number, for example 10/99 on a player wearing number ten, or the print run equals the jersey number.
Printing plates. The plates the cards were printed with, one per printing colour: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Each plate is unique, so they are 1/1 per colour.

Short prints and case hits

Not all rare cards are numbered. A short print, SP, is printed in smaller numbers than the rest of the set, and a super short print, SSP, in even fewer, but the print run is usually not on the card and is rarely published. Often it is a variant of the base card with a different image, an image variation. At Topps they could long be recognised by a code on the back that differs from the base card's, and some SSPs are openly marked. A case hit is a card so rare that on average one comes per full case of boxes. The odds are in the manufacturer's odds information and on the packaging, and they apply to the whole print run, not an individual box.

Autographed cards

An autographed card, an autograph or auto, has the player's signature, and the manufacturer certifies that it is genuine. The signature is applied in one of two ways, and collectors usually prefer the first.

On-card	The player has signed directly on the card.
Sticker auto	The player has signed a transparent sticker that was attached to the card afterwards.
Cut signature	A signature cut from another document, for example a cheque or a letter, and inserted into the card.
Redemption	A redemption card included in the pack when the autographed card was not ready in time. It is redeemed with the manufacturer and may have a deadline.
Inscription	The player has written something more than their name, for example a nickname or a year.
Buyback	An older original card that the manufacturer bought back and had the player sign.

An autographed card from a pack carries the manufacturer's certification. A signature someone obtained themselves on a regular card does not.

Memorabilia cards

A memorabilia card, called a relic or memorabilia, has a piece of something the player used inserted into the card, usually a piece of fabric from a jersey. They appeared in the mid-1990s. The back says what the piece is and where it comes from, and those words matter.

Game-used	The material has been used in a match.
Event-worn	The garment was worn at an event, for example a signing session.
Player-worn	The player wore the garment, without it saying it was in a match.
Patch	A piece of the jersey's markings, such as a number, name or crest. Multicoloured patches are rarer than single-coloured ones.
Logoman	The patch with the league's logo from the jersey, often in a single copy.
Manufactured patch	A patch made for the card, not a piece of a garment.

A sought-after combination in several sports is a rookie card with both a patch and an autograph, often called an RPA, rookie patch auto.

What makes a parallel sought after

The print run. The lower the second number, the fewer cards and the more people competing for them.
The player. A low print run on a player nobody collects is still a cheap card.
The rookie card. The same parallel is worth most on the player's rookie card. See the guide to rookie cards.
The combination. Numbered, autographed and rookie on the same card is the top in most sets.
The condition. Chrome cards show scratches and edge wear clearly, and condition weighs heavily even on rare cards.

Common misconceptions

That 3/99 is rarer than 87/99. Both exist in 99 copies.
That a colour means the same print run in all sets. Every set has its own ladder.
That a parallel is an insert card. The parallel has the base card's number.
That unnumbered means common. Short prints and some parallels are unnumbered but printed in small runs.
That a sticker autograph is fake. Both kinds are certified by the manufacturer.
That all fabric in a card is game-used. Read the back.
That Young Guns is a parallel. They are rookie cards in Upper Deck's base set.

Frequently asked questions

What does 25/99 on a card mean? That it is copy 25 of the 99 that were printed.
What is the difference between refractor and Prizm? Refractor is Topps' name and Prizm is Panini's, but both are chrome cards with parallels.
Is a SuperFractor always 1/1? Yes, it is the top of Topps' refractor family.
Where can I see which parallels a set has? In the manufacturer's checklist and odds information for that particular edition.
What happens if a redemption card has expired? It depends on the manufacturer. Read the card and the manufacturer's terms in good time.