Short Print ... Super Short Print

[bearlyjb]

While not completely new to hockey card trading I must admit I have become increasingly perplexed or my curiosity aroused by the definitions of "short-print" and "super short-print" used by fellow collectors ... thus I am seeking input to determine what is the reasonable definition.

To begin I have seen some fellow traders use SSP or SP to describe lower print runs while others appear to use it in the context of less cards produced than the stated print run. So which is correct?

Further, for those fellow traders using SSP in the context of print runs of lower numbers - some use it equally across #/5 as equally as #/25 ... is there a difference between SSP and SP? And what is the point that SSP applies versus SP?

Are there other intended or appropriate uses for SP or SSP for serial numbered #/1, #/2 or other?

Your help and perspectives would be appreciated.

[andrewconnors9]

People kind of abuse the SP and SSP. People often say SSP because they feel its that short printed when really it isnt. Its kind of hard to distinguish betweent the two really

[RGM81]

Say there's a subset where the average print run of the cards (be they autos, memorabilia, RC's) is #'d /999. In that context, I would say that an SP is /499 while an SSP is /99.

Really, it's all relative. In the Habs Centennial set, there's a ton of SP's and a handful of SSP's that have made putting together any of the major sets a crazy challenge.

For the memorabilia cards, there's 19 cards that are all relatively easy to come across (even years later when the product is long sold out), 1 SP (Guy Lapointe) that is a bit of a challenge and thus pricy, and 1 SSP (Jean Beliveau) that almost never surfaces and when it does it gets into the $300 range.

For the autographs, there's cards that are a bit tougher to come across (Beliveau, Roy, Bowman) that are SP'd, and then there's the 5 SSP's: Nilan, Lapointe, Robinson, Shutt, and Lemaire. The Lemaire may not exist - there's rumblings that he lost the cards when returning them to the Canadiens - as I have never seen a single copy, which throws a monkey wrench into the plans for the set builders. The only time I've ever seen a Shutt go to auction it fetched $2500. I had a Lapointe once upon a time that I sold for $600.

[TMLxCrosby87]

Also sometimes upper deck groups a set based on odds (ex 11-12 autofacts, 11-12 ud game jerseys) and they may go from example group A 1:4000 (SSP) to group F 1:16 (regular) and SPs could be considered such as Group B and C in between.
Hopefully that made sense lol, here's one of the examples I'm referring too:
http://www.beckett.com/news/2011/11/...-nhl-series-1/