The 2021 Panini Prizm Draft Picks baseball card set was highly anticipated by collectors upon its release in July 2021. Panini Prizm has become one of the premier modern sports card brands known for its flashy refractors and prospects of big rookie card hits. The 2021 Draft Picks set focused on prospects from that year’s amateur draft class and had collectors hoping to pull cards of future MLB stars.
Some key things to know about the 2021 Panini Prizm Draft Picks baseball card set:
The set featured 162 cards total with base cards for every player selected in the 2021 MLB June amateur draft rounds 1-10. This included first round picks like Henry Davis, Jordan Lawlar, and Kumar Rocker.
Parallels and short prints added to the excitement of chasing rare cards. Refractors, pink ice, blue ice, and 1/1 auto parallels gave collectors multiple card variations to find of their favorite players.
Autograph and memorabilia cards sprinkled throughout blaster and hobby boxes gave people a chance to pull rookie swatches and signatures of draft picks like Jack Leiter, Jack Suwinski, and Sal Frelick.
Design similarities to the flagship Panini Prizm NBA and NFL sets made the baseball cards feel like part of the larger “Prizm Family” of modern sports products. Bright colors and refractors had a clean, flashy look.
With no minor league seasons in 2020 due to COVID-19, the 2021 Draft Picks class arrived with extra mystery and intrigue. Scouts had less recent data on some players, creating uncertainty around long term pro potential.
Cards of players taken in the later rounds held intrigue as a “lottery ticket” in case a low pick exceeded expectations. Examples being 11th rounder Spencer Schwellenbach or 25th rounder Tanner Murray who have since developed into prospects.
While release date was months after the draft, the set allowed collectors to accrue cards of players before their pro careers began. This created an opportunity to obtain rookie cards of future stars at affordable prices.
In the months since the set debuted, some 2021 Draft Picks cards have already grown in value:
1st overall pick Henry Davis’ prizm rookie card has appreciably increased in secondary market value as he had a strong pro debut season.
Vanderbilt RHP Kumar Rocker, taken 3rd, saw early cards rise after an impressive showing in his first full pro season in 2022 despite not signing with the Mets after the 2021 draft.
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Termarr Johnson, a 2nd rounder, has garnered prospect hype and his prizm rookies have followed suit in price.
Texas Rangers 3B Cam Cauley, an 8th round selection, posted a breakout 2022 season and his draft picks cards jumped up collector want lists.
While it’s still very early, the 2021 Panini Prizm Draft Picks baseball set provided an opportunity to obtain rookie cards of players who may develop into future all-stars. As more members of this class establish themselves in professional baseball over the coming years, their prizm rookies from this set stand to gain in both collector and investment value. The combination of the respected Prizm brand with the intrigue of a new draft class created a product that remains one of the more interesting modern release to follow in the years ahead.
