Select Football 2022 is bigger than ever, with an expanded 500-card base set, but does bigger mean better? We’ll find out in this article.
The product is slated to release on June 9, 2023 and is preordering for $575.
Here’s everything you need to know about 2022 Select Football.
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Select is a fan favorite that started as hobby-only, but a retail edition helps it rank in the top-tier of mass-market opti-chrome sports card royalty along with Prizm and Optic.
These three products all feature chromium cards and Prizm-based inserts and parallels, giving layers of scarcity and different eye appeals for collectors to enthusiastically pursue.
Select, unlike the other two, is a bit more complicated to collect. Why? The product has three unique tiers cards that represent different levels of increasing scarcity: premier level, suite level, and field level.
The product is also known for its XRC, which are redeemable for a draft pick from the next rookie class (example: QB3 = the third quarterback drafted). With this year’s untimely release, the XRCs will drop after the draft, thus losing some of its charm, but that doesn’t mean collectors won’t be excited to pull a QB1 redemption nonetheless.
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What to expect from Select Football 2022
The product has 2 big changes for 2022.
For one, Select has an expanded checklist, which has swelled to 500 cards across the three different tiers (last years was 400).
Additionally, the three tiers have changed names. Historically, they’ve been called concourse, premier, and field level. This year, they’re premier level, suite level, and field level. While field level is the rarest type of card either way, it’s annoying that the “premier level,” which has always been second-most-rare, is now the name of the common base.
That’s going to confuse and mislead buyers down the road and, in my opinion, is a bad move. In 2030, collectors aren’t going to want to pull out their “Select handbook” to make sure they’re buying the right tier.
The makeup of each box is the same as last year: hobby boxes consist of 12 packs with 5 cards per pack. Each box averages 2 autographs and a memorabilia card. Expect an average of 15 parallels per box, including 10 silvers.
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The online-exclusive First of the Line (FOTL) format contains Neon Orange Rookie Patch Autograph and a limited base parallel that is either a Neon Orange Pulsar or Tiger Prizm. The FOTL autos have been numbered to /23 in the past, but this year’s numbering isn’t published yet.
The base set of 500 cards is divided among the three typical subsets: concourse, premier level, and field level, and each of the subsets has its own parallels (for example, each subset has gold /10).
The 2022 checklist looks a lot like previous years apart from the changing of the names of the different tiers.
There is a deep list of parallels available at every level of base cards. For example, here is the “premier” level breakdown:
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- Silver
- Zebra SSP
- Tri-Color – #/199
- Blue – #/149
- Light Blue – #/99
- Purple – #/75
- Neon Green – #/49
- White – #/35
- Tie-Dye – #/25
- Gold – #/10
- Green – #/5
- Green & Black Snakeskin – #/2
- Black – 1/1
The already-rarer Field Level includes less parallels:
- Silver
- Zebra SSP
- Tri-Color – #/75
- Blue – #/49
- White – #/35
- Tie-Dye – #/25
- Gold – #/10
- Green – #/5
- Black – 1/1
The XRCs are still something to get excited about, but they definitely aren’t as “fun” since the draft is already in the rearview.
These exchange cards, historically, are the first chance to truly get a licensed card that matters for the future rookie class.
These cards are very valuable and a great way to stake an early claim of your favorite early draft pick.
In addition to the standard XRCs, which have the silver Prizm look, there are parallels: tie-dye /25, gold /10, and black 1/1s add even more scarcity to the exciting rookie class.
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This year’s Select will bring a few more inserts. Phenomenon, Snapshots, and Sensations are back, and new to 2022 is the “Neon Icons”
Also look for new SSP Inserts Multiverse, Starcade, and Visionary.
Investing in Select Football
With a pre-order price of $575 (down from $1,200 last year), Select is demanding half of the price in 2022 as the year prior.
Still, does that make it a good investment?
One pro for the product is that each box has 60 cards, while many of the expensive recent releases have only included 8 – 10 cards, in total, so at least with Select you have more chances of pulling nice cards and getting your money back.
But still, you’re paying $10/card with a new box of Select and it’s a big investment in something that might not pay off at all. Here’s our take on how to consider investing in Select.
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Investing in sealed boxes
If you’re investing in sealed boxes with the intent of holding them, here are some numbers to consider.
- Current resell of 2021 hobby: $900
- Current resell of 2020 hobby: $1,475
- Current resell of 2019 hobby: $575
- Current resell of 2018 hobby: $1,800
- Current resell of 2017 hobby: $6,200
A couple of takeaways here.
For one, when I ran similar numbers last year, they were very close to what they are now. Most of the boxes have dropped less than 10%, if at all. 2020 and 2017 even went up. (The one exception is 2019, but everybody is out on Kyler Murray now.) That’s a great sign for Select – it’s aging very well, even against a general decline in the market.
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And, the other point: the rookie class matters. And, unfortunately, the 2022 class is probably a lot closer to the 2019 class than anything else on the list.
Still, if you are buying a sealed box to sit on, Select isn’t a bad option – especially if you like the 2022 rookie class. There aren’t many stars from the 2019 class and the boxes are still selling for as much as the 2022 boxes are pre-ordering for, so that’s a great sign.
The jury is still out on 2022. Nobody has looked amazing, but it’s been one year. No need to overreact.
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Investing in rookies
Select rookie cards are one of the blue-chip investments of modern Panini rookies – perhaps second to only Prizm. If you’re going to invest in just one card of anybody, Select is a great way to go.
Your best bet for making a guaranteed profit on this product is finding a few silvers or field-level rookies of players you believe in, buying them raw (after asking for more pictures), then getting them graded.
If you can scoop up silvers of the rookies you like and grade, then you’ll be set for a long-term hold. Collectors go nuts for Select PSA 10s, especially if you can get cards in one of the two rarest tiers.
But caution: don’t buy the first Select cards that appear on eBay for this year. The price will inevitably drop as the supply meets the demand.Shop for boxes of 2022 Select Football on eBay
Select is always a popular brand, and this year shows no signs of it slowing down. And, for perhaps the first time for any of the 2022 products, I don’t think this one is a bad long-term investment. It seems to have minimal risk and decent upside potential.
Perhaps the recency of the NFL draft will actually prime the XRCs to be an even hotter chase since collectors can target their favorite players. Either way, Select is a heavyweight in the industry and won’t slow down anytime soon.
What do you think of this product? What will it be worth in 5 years? Let us know on Twitter @card_lines.
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2022 Select Football checklist
Come back here closer to the release date to view the full 2022 Select Football checklist.
