Print runs explained: /5, /10, /25, /99 and the rest

Flip over a parallel and you'll often find a number like 07/25 stamped on it. The second number is the print run: how many copies of that card exist in that finish. The first is which copy you're holding. So 07/25 is the seventh of twenty-five.

The usual ladder

Sets vary, but most modern products climb in steps like these, from most copies to fewest:

• /499, /299, /199, /150, /99: numbered, but you'll see them for sale most weeks.
• /75, /50: scarce enough that a star player's copy gets noticed.
• /25, /10: the point where most people start calling it a big pull.
• /5, /3, /2: a handful exist. Some of them may never sell publicly.
• 1/1: one copy. See what is a 1/1.

Every card in that ladder is the same card in a different finish, and together they're called the rainbow. Collecting the full rainbow of one player means finding every copy at every level, including the 1/1. Most rainbows never get finished.

Numbered vs unnumbered

A stamped number tells you exactly how many exist. Unnumbered parallels (a plain Refractor or a Silver Prizm, for example) have a print run too, but the maker doesn't publish it. They can be common or hard to find, and you only learn which by watching how often they show up.

A few parallels sit in between: limited to a known number but not stamped. When that happens, the only way to tell copies apart is by their photos.

Jersey numbers and first copies

Two serials get a premium: the copy that matches the player's jersey number (a /99 numbered 12/99 for a player who wears 12) and the 1 of the run (01/25). Neither changes how many exist. Collectors just like them more, and they tend to sell higher.

What a print run doesn't tell you

The number tells you how many were printed, not how many have been found. A /10 from a set released last week might have two copies out in the open and eight still sealed in boxes. How many have surfaced is a separate question, and it's the one this site is built to answer.