Collectibles On SI

Why Is Panini Putting The Rookie Logo On Non-Rookie Cards?

Prizm is one of the biggest football releases of the year and a new concept has been added to the product.

Adam Palmer

Dec 22, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Tennessee Titans footballs sit near the end zone before the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
Dec 22, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Tennessee Titans footballs sit near the end zone before the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

A few weeks ago, images of Optic blasters began to emerge as people started placing their preorders. Collectors noticed something intriguing on the side of the box: the addition of a card called the Downtown Duos.

Presumably, this card will feature a Downtown design with two players on it. Over the past few years, Downtown has become one of Panini’s most popular inserts.

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Many Panini products include these types of chase cards. In Prizm Football, the standout chase card is the Color Blast. While we are still waiting to see what the Dual Downtowns will look like, collectors are already ripping Prizm boxes and sharing this year’s Color Blast cards.

The singular Color Blast checklist features 35 players, including top rookies like Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, and Marvin Harrison Jr. It also includes veterans like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Over the past few years these Color Blasts for rookies and verterns have become one of the most popular cards in the hobby. In Prizm they have a white back, they also have a version with a black background that can be found in Panini Obsidian.

Where things get interesting is with the Dual Color Blast checklist. This subset includes 15 dual-player cards featuring the same rookies, such as Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix, paired with their teammates, like Terry McLaurin and Courtland Sutton. These cards display the rookie logo, even though half of the featured players are not rookies.

Dual Color Blast
Dual Color Blast / Image courtesy of Panini America

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The Dual Color Blasts aren’t necessarily a new concept. Panini released similar cards last year, but they did not include the rookie logo.

We are now about a year into the implementation of these dual-player chase cards across Prizm and other Panini products. This approach allows Panini to expand the print run without significantly increasing prices. Based on these examples, it is likely that the Dual Downtowns will also feature the rookie logo, even though one of the players on the card may not be a rookie.

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Adam Palmer
ADAM PALMER

Adam has been a sports content creator since 2016, initially focusing on creating sports-related graphics for his Instagram page. In 2018, he transitioned to writing and podcasting about sports cards. Since then, he has worked both independently and with companies within the industry, producing podcasts, videos, and written content on sports cards.

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