5 Zion Williamson Rookie Cards YOU CAN AFFORD!

Today's topic is on five Zion Williamson rookie cards that you can afford. Well at least they're cheaper than Prizm. So with so many people coming into the hobby and Zion Williamson being obviously a huge name, people want to collect his rookie cards, but it can be so confusing. There are so many rookie cards out there. I think Panini must have cut down half of the amazon forest to print up all these Zion Williamson rookie cards. I mean it's just incredible how many there are. Most of us know that his 2019 Prizm, card number 248 is his most sought after card, but as the making of this video which is from the first week of January 2021, it's got an average selling price of $718 for a PSA 10. So that's a pretty steep price for a collector just coming into the hobby that wants to pick up a Zion Williamson rookie card. Plus it's got a PSA population report of 14,515. If you don't know what a PSA population report is, that's how many of that particular card have been graded a PSA 10. I think everything on this list of five cards actually combine to be that number, so that's something to keep in mind. Lastly, it's kind of an ugly card, go back and watch my ugly card video that I made on some the basketball cards, it's on that list. It's just kind of a bland, boring design, doesn't really do it for me.

With that being said though, this video is going to be about these five Zion rookie cards that you can afford and also I'm gonna be focusing on just the base cards and the ones that have been graded PSA 10s, so just to keep it all real consistent and easy. All this data is going to be over the last 90 days and it all comes from market movers which is a sports card investors’ software program. So I'm going to give you a rundown of the cost of the item, the PSA population report, and also my thoughts on the design and the future of that particular card.

So here they are in order from cheapest to most expensive.

Number one is the 2019 Panini Hoops, card number 258. The average selling price of the last 90 days, $120, super nice, that's a great price for a rookie card. The current PSA population report is 3,740, 47% chance at a PSA 10. So not too bad there, I do like the Hoops design. Hoops is underrated I just love how they use team colors and I love how they're using that nice action shot most of the time. Very nice, it's not a silver looking color, not a refractory card, so it doesn't have that same advantage that Prizm has. People really like that silverness to it. It's just a bland card, but they do a very nice design. Just keep in mind if you're looking to buy this card raw and get it graded yourself, that bottom right corner where it's blue, that tends to be white and kind of tends to be a little soft corner so be looking for that if you are going to buy this card raw and get it graded yourself.

Overall thoughts. I do like the Hoop design as I've already mentioned. It's not a glossy card so that is kind of a disadvantage and it's not as sought after obviously as Prizm. However, I do think it's one of the better two looking cards on this list, and for me personally, I think  good looking cards do tend to hold their value over time because a lot of people like the design of them and they're more opt to buy that card. Will this be a very valuable card in the future? I think this is just going to be a slow increase. It's not going to see any huge jumps with this particular card, but is it going to be worth more than $120 in 10 years I would probably say. Again, buy the card if you like the design of it.

Number two on this list is the 2019 Panini Donruss, card number 201. Average selling price in the last 90 days, $145. Current PSA population report 2,167, second lowest on this list. Ironically it also has a 47% chance of a PSA 10. It's kind of odd, a pretty bland design. I do like the bottom of the card with the brown there and the rated rookie, and just an okay image of Zion kind of standing there. If you're looking to buy these cards raw though make sure you watch out for that centering. Of course you want to have equal borders on all four sides. These cards are notorious for being off center so watch for those.

Overall thoughts, not a bad card design. I've seen worse. Go back and watch that ugly card video, but I do like the low population report. Still, it’s kind of along the same lines as Hoops. Kind of a slowly increasing card. Again, not my overall favorite by any stretch of the imagination.

Number three the 2019 Panini Mosaic, card number 209. Average selling price $197 the last 90 days. Current PSA population report 4,517 and a 63% chance at a PSA 10. This is an interesting card because this is the first year of Mosaic as a standalone product. Meaning it wasn't an insert or some other product, so that's something to keep in mind when you're investing in this card. If you choose to buy this card it's kind of similar aspect to 2012 Prizm. That was the first year of Prizm, people like these “first years of sets” and this happens to be the first year of Mosaic, and I think that definitely adds value to this card. A decent design there it's got a little bit of team colors in there and a nice little silver background which people tend to like with the cards. Zion's just kind of standing there, looking like he's trying to be told what to do. If you are gonna buy this card raw though watch out for dimples on that surface and print lines on the back. These are notorious for that.

Overall thoughts though, I do like it because it's the first year of the Mosaic. Already mentioned that POP report isn't too crazy and I do like this card over the other two that I have previously mentioned.

Number four on this list is the 2019 Panini Donruss Optic, card number 158. Average selling price $275 in the last 90 days. Population report 4,566 and a 57% chance of a PSA 10. Very similar numbers to Mosaic. Kind of a dumb design. He kind of looks like he's like a five-year-old standing there. Like he's trying to keep the ball away from his older brother. I don't know, it's just funky every time I see this card. Definitely not my favorite. Again, if you're looking to buy this raw watch out for that centering. These are notorious for being off center.

Overall thoughts. Probably my least favorite card on this list. I know Optic is a very solid brand, I just don't like the design and I don't like the price for it either. There’s just nothing special to me besides being an Optic card.

Number five on this list is the 2019 Panini Select, card number 1. Average selling price of $335. The current PSA population 1,459. That's a 60% chance of a PSA 10. That is actually the lowest population report on this list too. So that is huge for a few reasons I'm gonna be mentioning here. This is the Concourse level card. With Select, there are three levels. There's the Concourse, there's the Premiere, and there's the Courtside. In this case, Courtside is the hardest to find, therefore it is the most expensive, and you've got the Concourse level, which this card is, is the most accessible one. So it is the least costly one. Also keep in mind. Select when it comes out, is not available everywhere like you see with Prizm. So it's very difficult to find, so that's another thing to keep in mind when you are looking to buy this card. You're looking at the population report. 1,459 which is basically 10 of what the Prizm card is, but keep in mind just because a card has a really low population report compared to another card, it doesn't make it more desirable. It doesn't make it more valuable in certain cases. Prizm is king of basketball so that is something to always keep in mind when you are going to buy a card. Population report is important, but it's not the overall end-all be-all on the value of a card.

I do like the design here though. Kind of a little hourglass behind them, it's got some team colors too, a nice little action shot. Select, the Courtside card, for this one is very nice. Make sure you go and check out that Courtside one, very expensive card but a very nice design.

Overall thoughts. I like the rareness of the card and the low population report out of the five cards on this list. I like the design the best on this one and it's decently affordable. I think at $335 you're looking at half the price of the Prizm rookie card and I like the fact that Select just isn't available everywhere when it comes out, and if I had to choose one card on this list to buy this would probably be it. I think this one's got some room for growth. It's got more room for growth than the other ones. I like the design and also the short print run of this particular card.

Hopefully that helps you guys navigate the 2,500 PSA 10 rookie cards that are out there for sale right now on eBay. That is absolutely incredible, I mean my god, but hopefully this helps you guys out. Again, I really like these five cards, but that Select one is very nice.