Apologies if this has been discussed before, I did undertake to do a thread and forum search but didn't really find anything.
The application of the SP note seems inconsistent across various hockey products. Sets like MVP use it, but not flagship.
By my math (using this years hobby box config)
- one out of every 19 physical base cards is a Young Gun. Packs have 12 cards, every 2nd pack has a YG. The pack with has 10 base including the YG, the pack without has 9 once the other inserts are included. Note I'm unsure if Canvas Young Guns count towards your YG per allocation or are considered other inserts, just ignoring them for simplicity
- in terms of the checklist,YG's are 1 out of every 5 cards (50 in a set of 250)
thus the YG per card print run should be approximately 20% of a base card.
Is it just because 'everybody knows' they are lower print . Are they not 'rare' enough to warrant it, and if so are the short prints in sets like MVP really rarer than 20% of the larger print runs to justify getting the designation? Is it to avoid confusion with the even rarer SP'S in the set like the photo variations ?