New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson's rookie cards have gone from being overhyped, overpriced, properly priced, undervalued, to being all those things at once as the youngster gets better and better at the NBA level. It's a tricky place to navigate because some Zion RCs remain overpriced while some have become undervalued.
His Prizm Silver RCs sit in the overpriced category relative to how many there are in the wild. This is where this list comes in. We're not here to talk about which Zion Williamson rookie cards to buy if you're after the quick flip. We're here to point out which of his rookie cards you should invest in if you're after the long game.
2019-20 Select Courtside Silver #297
While everyone goes stir crazy over Prizm Silver rookie cards, it's not the go-to rookie Silver card that you should be hunting down. Part of the reason behind that is Prizm Silver rookie cards aren't that rare to begin with. Outside of the Prizm hobby boxes, you can also pull Silver RCs in Prizm retail boxes.
The variety adds to the cards that are being pulled and sent to grading services for grading. At the moment, the PSA population report of #248 Zion Williamson Prizm Silver RCs graded Gem Mint 10 sits at 1,195. That's just PSA.
The Beckett Grading Service (BGS) has its own population report, and Zion's Prizm Silver RCs graded Gem Mint 9.5 comes up to over 1,700 cards.
By comparison, PSA's population report of #297 Zion Williamson Select Courtside Silver RC graded Gem Mint 10 only comes up to 28 cards. BGS' population report of the same card graded Gem Mint 9.5 adds up to just 16 cards.
That's a huge disparity between these two. You're going to have to pay a premium for the Select Courtside RC Silver (last PSA 10 sold on eBay for $10,000) compared to the Prizm RC Silver (last PSA 10 sold on eBay for $4,600), but the huge gap in the population report between the two cards means that you're still getting more value for the Select Courtside RC Silver.
2019-20 Zion Williamson Mosaic Genesis
The 2019-20 Mosaic product has been properly criticized for being overprinted. That's fair. But it's also fair to point out that Mosaic has one of the most secretly underrated parallels of any product that was released last year: Genesis.
Available as case hits in Mosaic retail products, you'll go a long way in beefing up your Zion Williamson RC collection if you have his Genesis card in the fold. Not only does the card itself look cool, but the background effects are completely new, meaning that it hasn't been used in other products. That singularity adds to the card's long-term provenance.
Just as important is the Pop Report. There are only 48 PSA Gem Mint 10s of the Zion Genesis and 39 BGS Gem Mint 9.5s of the same card.
The last sold PSA 10 Zion Genesis came up to $4,700, while the last sold BGS 9.5 version was sold at $4,000. Let's put this in perspective. Would you rather own a PSA 10 Zion Mosaic Genesis or a BGS 9.5 Zion Prizm Silver RC if both cards are valued at the same price point? Go with the Genesis.
2019-20 Zion Williamson Spectra Color Blast
If you're after a “case hit,” or cards that hit at a rate of one card per case, on average, Spectra's Color Blast is the way to go. Granted, the Color Blast was, without question, one of the toughest cards to hit last year, in part because it actually appeared at a rate of two or three cases on average. You could break open two cases of Spectra and not hit a Color Blast. That's how hard it was to pull, and that's how valued it is as a collector's piece.
The numbers bear fruit, too. The last sold Zion Color Blast graded a PSA Gem Mint 10 fetched for a whopping $16,322 in late March 2021. That's an expected number, especially when you consider that there are only six of these cards that are graded a PSA 10 and another six that reached a BGS Gem Mint 9.5 grade.
It's a huge investment, for sure, but again, you're betting on the card's incredible aesthetic appeal, as well as its grade and overall rarity as a super short print (SSP).
2019-20 Zion Williamson Donruss Net Marvels
This card is not rare. That much we can get out of the way. Nevertheless, Zion Williamson's 2019-20 Donruss Net Marvels insert is arguably one of the most sought-after common inserts from his rookie year. One reason is its comic book-like aesthetic, which appeals to a wider range of collectors compared to the design of Donruss' other hit insert from last season, the cereal box-inspired Crunch Time.
Net Marvels also took a life of its own when the “Gold” Press Proof parallel started selling like hot pancakes on a cold winter morning. The insert's prices have largely remained where they are since they picked up steam last season. That has contributed to the overall feeling that the Net Marvels insert will carry long-term appeal similar to a lot of the classic inserts from the 1990s.
Of course, a Zion Williamson Net Marvels isn't just an insert; it also features Zion as a rookie. That's another notch in the cap of the card. And even if the card's print run is in the four figures — that's our estimate — the graded population report, particularly for Gem Mint cards, isn't that high.
There are only eight Zion Williamson Net Marvels that graded a BGS Gem Mint 9.5 and only 55 PSA Gem Mint 10s. That tells you that the card is a tough grade, and the price disparity between a PSA Gem Mint 10 and a PSA Mint 9 is telling. The last sold 2019-20 Zion Net Marvels graded PSA Gem Mint 10 ended at $1,550. A PSA Mint 9? $350.
If you're in the market for a 2019-20 Zion Williamson Net Marvels, it's PSA Gem Mint 10 or bust.
2019-20 Zion Williamson Revolution Galactic
There's a bit of bias here because the Revolution Galactic SSP/case hit is my favorite SSP/case hit of any card product. The amorphous holographic foil effect is unparalleled in the hobby, and the difficulty of pulling one — one per master case on average — also makes it one of Panini's most desirable SSPs.
All these factors play into the belief that the Revolution Galactics have the potential to become one of the most sought-after SSPs/case hits from this era of the hobby.
Owning a 2019-20 Revolution Zion Williamson Galactic is a must if you're a heavyweight collector of the man. There's no official print run attached to the card, but number crunchers estimate that there are only about eight to 12 Galactics per player in Revolution. That means that you'll have to be extremely lucky to pull a Zion Galactic, and even if you did, Revolution cards are notorious for being difficult to grade. That explains why in PSA's population report, there are only two PSA Gem Mint 10s of the card.
One of those two sold on eBay for a staggering $15,200 back in January 2021.
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