Skip to content
ripfan
Top rip sitesTop sites
ripfan
Top rip sitesTop sites

Print run

A print run is the number of copies of a card or product that a maker printed. Serial-numbered cards state it on the card, as in 23/99, while many other cards do not state it at all.

Sports cards
Where a print run shows, and where it does not Three stacks of copies of a card, drawn taller for a larger run. Serial-numbered: The run stated on the card, as in 23/99; Short print: A smaller run than the rest of the set, often with no number; Double print: Placed twice on a print sheet, so twice as many exist. The tile for Serial-numbered is outlined. Serial-numbered The run stated on the card, as in 23/99 Short print A smaller run than the rest of the set, often with no number Double print Placed twice on a print sheet, so twice as many exist

In more detail

A 2009 beginner's glossary on Upper Deck's site ties several hobby terms to the print run. A short print has a smaller run than the other cards in its set, and a serial-numbered card has its run stamped on it, numbered in order from 1. A football card glossary gives 12/99 as an example of a card showing its run.

Runs also shape error cards. CGC's glossary notes that an error is often caught before the whole run is printed, and Wikipedia's article on error cards explains that a correction made early in a run can leave the error version the scarcer one, while a late correction can leave fewer corrected copies.

CGC also lists double prints: cards placed twice on a print sheet, so that twice as many exist as of the other cards. When a card's run is not printed on it, the checklist and the maker's stated rates give a clue to how scarce it is.

Related terms

Where Rip.fan covers it

More in Sports cards.

Updated