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What does ‘SSP’ mean – Definition – The Sports Card Glossary

SSP stands for Super Short Print, which helps to identify sports cards even more rare than SP (Short Print).

While there is some debate amongst collectors on how rare a sports cards needs to be to be deserving of the SSP label, its my opinion that it should be reserved for cards with print runs under 20. So that would include numbered cards lower than /20 as well as non-numbered short prints with print runs less than 20.

In 2023 Topps Baseball, Topps introduced the Golden Mirror variation which was actually labeled with “SSP” in gold foil on the back of the card to help identify this particular super short print card.

Golden Mirror variation cards have SSP printed in gold foil on the back of the card.

Usually though, no such labelling is provided. So, some more common examples of SSP cards are:

  • Topps and Bowman True Red Refractors /5 and Superfractors 1/1
  • Panini Prizm True Gold /10
  • Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani in their new uniforms (Yankees and Dodgers, respectively) in 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball
The Shohei Ohtani in Dodgers uniform SSP from 2024 Topps Series 1 Baseball

Rory Hansen

Rory Hansen is a San Diego-based sports card collector and social media influencer. Considered an expert in the process of grading sports cards, he regularly advises other collectors on how to assess, prepare and submit cards for grading. Originally from Canada and now living in the US, Rory collects both hockey cards and baseball cards. His personal collection focuses on Shohei Ohtani, Ichiro Suzuki, Yu Darvish, Pavel Bure, Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Roberto Luongo.

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