Short Story: Panini America Begins Leaking 2013 Contenders Football SP Quantities

It’s a phenomenon that takes place every year at about this time. Almost immediately following the release of a new year of Contenders Football, the annual frenzy commences as collectors across North America begin scrambling and scouring to determine the relative scarcity of the set’s ample selection of Rookie Ticket SPs and variations.

It’s a mesmerizing chain of events to be sure, and one that explains, for instance, how a base Rookie Ticket SP of Detroit Lions receiver Corey Fuller can sell for a staggering $290.85 one day while his Variation SSP sells for a whopping $350 just three days later. Indeed, it didn’t take savvy researchers long to figure out just how short Fuller’s super-short-printed variation RC is.

To help provide a a little insight into the SP/SSP craze surrounding 2013 Contenders Football, below is the first of what promises to be many 2013 Contenders Football SP lists. This one is by no means complete, but it does provide a tip-of-the-iceberg illustration of Contenders’ scarcest Rookie Tickets and RC variations. The following list is broken into SPs (cards with quantities of 200 or less) and SSPs (cards with quantities of 50 or less).

Oh, and if you’re looking for a surefire visual tell-tale to differentiate the base Rookie Tickets from the variations, you can find it on the backs of the cards (check out the image below). The base versions include stars around each player’s card-back NFL helmet. The variations do not.

Now, let’s get to the SPs and SSPs:

Rookie Ticket SPs (200 or less)
Card #	Player	Team	Pos.
101	Aaron Mellette	Baltimore Ravens	WR
104	Alec Ogletree	St. Louis Rams	LB
107	Barkevious Mingo	Cleveland Browns	LB
110	Bjoern Werner	Indianapolis Colts	LB
126	Damontre Moore	New York Giants	DE
128	Darius Slay	Detroit Lions	CB
131	Dee Milliner	New York Jets	CB
143	Jarvis Jones	Pittsburgh Steelers	LB
148	Jordan Poyer	Philadelphia Eagles	CB
149	Josh Boyce	New England Patriots	WR
164	Marquess Wilson	Chicago Bears	WR
165	Matt Elam	Baltimore Ravens	S
190	Xavier Rhodes	Minnesota Vikings	CB
Rookie Ticket SSPs (50 or less)
Card #	Player	Team	Pos.
105	Alex Okafor	Arizona Cardinals	LB
106	Arthur Brown	Baltimore Ravens	LB
115	Chance Warmack	Tennessee Titans	G
117	Chris Gragg	Buffalo Bills	TE
122	Corey Fuller	Detroit Lions	WR
133	Desmond Trufant	Atlanta Falcons	CB
166	Matt Scott	Jacksonville Jaguars	QB
189	Tyrann Mathieu	Arizona Cardinals	S
2012	Richard Sherman	Seattle Seahawks	CB
Rookie Ticket Variation SPs (200 or less)
Card #	Player	Team	Pos.
102	Ace Sanders	Jacksonville Jaguars	WR
113	Blidi Wreh-Wilson	Tennessee Titans	CB
119	Chris Thompson	Washington Redskins	RB
125	D.J. Hayden	Oakland Raiders	CB
132	Dennis Johnson	Cleveland Browns	RB
134	Dion Sims	Miami Dolphins	TE
136	Dustin Hopkins	Buffalo Bills	K
137	Earl Wolff	Philadelphia Eagles	S
139	Eric Reid	San Francisco 49ers	S
151	Kenbrell Thompkins	New England Patriots	WR
152	Kenjon Barner	Carolina Panthers	RB
167	Matt Simms	New York Jets	QB
182	Russell Shepard	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	WR
184	Spencer Ware	Seattle Seahawks	RB
Rookie Ticket Varaition SSPs (50 or less)
Card #	Player	Team	Pos.
101	Aaron Mellette	Baltimore Ravens	WR
104	Alec Ogletree	St. Louis Rams	LB
107	Barkevious Mingo	Cleveland Browns	LB
110	Bjoern Werner	Indianapolis Colts	LB
111	Brad Sorensen	San Diego Chargers	QB
114	Caleb Sturgis	Miami Dolphins	K
118	Chris Harper	San Francisco 49ers	WR
122	Corey Fuller	Detroit Lions	WR
124	D.J. Fluker	San Diego Chargers	OT
126	Damontre Moore	New York Giants	DE
129	Datone Jones	Green Bay Packers	DE
131	Dee Milliner	New York Jets	CB
133	Desmond Trufant	Atlanta Falcons	CB
138	Eric Fisher	Kansas City Chiefs	OT
140	Ezekiel Ansah	Detroit Lions	DE
141	Jamar Taylor	Miami Dolphins	CB
142	Jamie Collins	New England Patriots	LB
143	Jarvis Jones	Pittsburgh Steelers	LB
144	Jawan Jamison	Washington Redskins	RB
145	Johnthan Banks	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	CB
147	Johnathan Cyprien	Jacksonville Jaguars	S
148	Jordan Poyer	Philadelphia Eagles	CB
149	Josh Boyce	New England Patriots	WR
153	Kenny Vaccaro	New Orleans Saints	S
156	Kevin Minter	Arizona Cardinals	LB
158	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders	RB
163	Margus Hunt	Cincinnati Bengals	DE
164	Marquess Wilson	Chicago Bears	WR
165	Matt Elam	Baltimore Ravens	S
166	Matt Scott	Jacksonville Jaguars	QB
169	Mike James	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	RB
170	Mychal Rivera	Oakland Raiders	TE
171	Nick Kasa	Oakland Raiders	TE
173	Phillip Thomas	Washington Redskins	S
175	Rex Burkhead	Cincinnati Bengals	RB
176	Robert Alford	Atlanta Falcons	CB
177	Rodney Smith	Minnesota Vikings	WR
180	Sam Montgomery	Houston Texans	LB
185	Tavarres King	Denver Broncos	WR
186	Theo Riddick	Detroit Lions	RB
187	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs	TE
188	Tyler Bray	Kansas City Chiefs	QB
189	Tyrann Mathieu	Arizona Cardinals	S
190	Xavier Rhodes	Minnesota Vikings	CB
191	Zac Dysert	Denver Broncos	QB
195	Kayvon Webster	Denver Broncos	CB