Football Card Products Guide: Prizm vs. Select vs. Optic

If you collect football cards, three product lines come up again and again: Prizm, Select, and Optic. They share a similar chrome look but each has its own feel, parallels and price point. Here is how they compare.

Prizm

Prizm is the flagship chrome product and a hobby favorite. It is known for its huge range of colorful Prizm parallels xE2x80x94 silver, color-matched team parallels, numbered refractors and rare one-of-ones. Clean design and strong rookie cards make Prizm one of the most liquid, collected products in the hobby.

Select

Select is a premium, tiered product. Cards are split into levels xE2x80x94 typically Concourse, Premier and Field Level xE2x80x94 with higher tiers being rarer and more valuable. Select uses a chrome stock with eye-catching parallels and is popular with collectors who like a more premium feel than base Prizm.

Optic

Optic (Donruss Optic) is the chrome version of the classic Donruss set. It brings the famous Rated Rookie cards onto a chrome stock with Holo and colored prizms. Optic often sits at a friendlier price point than Prizm while still offering exciting parallels and rookies.

Which should you buy?

• Most popular & liquid: Prizm
• Premium, tiered chase: Select
• Great value with Rated Rookies: Optic

New to sealed products? Read our hobby box vs. blaster guide first. Then browse the latest football hobby boxes or the full shop.