Cards for beginners

The standard version of a card — plain card stock, printed in large numbers. It's where every player's collection starts, and it's what all the fancy versions below are based on.

The same card printed on a metallic, mirror-like finish instead of plain card stock (Topps calls it Chrome). It feels glossier, photographs shinier, and is almost always worth more than the plain base version.

A Chrome card whose surface splits light into a rainbow when you tilt it under a lamp — that's the "refraction". Rarer than Chrome, and often marked with the word REFRACTOR on the back. Panini's version of this idea is called Prizm.

The same card released in different colours and patterns — Silver, Blue, Gold, Camo… Each colour is printed in smaller numbers than the last. Collectors chasing every colour of one player call it "chasing the rainbow".

A stamp like 07/99 means you're holding copy number 7 of only 99 ever made. The smaller the second number, the rarer the card. A 1/1 is the only one on Earth — the hobby's holy grail.

A player's first official card, often marked RC. It's usually the most valuable card of that player — collectors want the card that was there before the world knew the name.

Signed by the athlete. On-card autos (signed directly on the card) are worth more than sticker autos (a signed sticker applied at the factory). Look closely at the edges of the signature to tell them apart.

A real piece of a jersey, glove or even tyre embedded in a window on the card. Multi-coloured patches from a logo or number are worth more than plain single-colour swatches.