In short, cosmetics are visual modifiers that change the way certain things and items look in game. They don’t offer any in-game advantage nor enhancement. These can vary in many ways from being something that can be equipped and unequipped, to being something that is permanently visually altered.
Special Edition cards produce a different visual experience in game. The experience isn’t exactly known yet, but hints have been dropped from the Parallel team that they will be noticeably different from their First Edition counterparts.
Card Backs are the original cosmetic option. They alter the visual appearance of the back of the card art, also known as the ‘reverse side’. These can be equipped and unequipped at ease before each game, so if you’re lucky enough to have more than one, you can swap them out for each game.
As things stand, most Card Backs have very low edition sizes ranging from 64 to 250. However, the five original Parallel Collectible Card Backs are the only ones to have a Special Edition version which has edition sizes ranging from 11 to 16.
Card Backs cannot be replicated through the echoes system so they truly are a collector’s item.
Art Cards, with edition sizes of eight, are extremely scarce non-playable versions of card art that can also be utilized as Card Backs. There are two main styles – Art Cards and Concept Art Cards, with the latter being the artist’s original concept sketch of the final released card art.
Artigraphs: An Artigraph adds the original artist's signature to the card. To Artigraph a card, a collector can spend PRIME, depending on the rarity type, to add the artist’s signature.
There are 24 signed cards available for each card name in total.
First Edition: 18
Special Edition: 8 [4 if the card has a Perfect Loop variaition]
Perfect Loop: 4
First Edition Artigraph: 300 PRIME
Special Edition Artigraph: 400 PRIME
Perfect Loop Artigraph: 480 PRIME
To Artigraph you’ll need to have your wallet connected. Go to https://parallel.life/cards, sign in and connect your wallet, select a card, and then click Upgrade to Artigraph.