Panini went for broke when it launched Kaboom! cards. These cards stand out from just about any prior issues in sports cards. Many collectors thought poorly of the cards initially. Now they are among the most desirable modern cards for collectors. And in some cases these Kaboom! cards can dominate over some of the Rookie Patch Auto (RPA) cards that have been issued. There is no absolute in collecting, but what has become an absolute is that Kaboom! cards have become harder and harder for a true collector to accumulate.

There may be nothing but emotions and market forces that will determine Kaboom! card prices in the future. And any serious collector or sports card investor knows that there are no guarantees of a profit. That said, Kaboom! cards in many cases have just become too expensive for modern era card collectors.

Panini Kaboom! cards are among the most sought after inserts for modern collectibles. This first review of the cards is dedicated solely to Panini Kaboom!’s football issues from 2018 to 2020. There are of course soccer and basketball Kaboom! cards that have been issued. And it is becoming more than evident that there are big risks chasing the hottest young talent in sports cards.

PSA is certainly not the only grading company out there to grade Kaboom! cards, Still its 2020 Panini Absolute Kaboom! football total graded population was just 857 PSA graded cards on the PSA registry so far. The 2019 Panini Absolute Kaboom have just 564 PSA graded examples in its population report, while the 2018 Panini Kaboom! had just 2,232 PSA graded examples in the PSA population report.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. That means that the same funds that could have been used to buy stock, bonds, crypto and other assets are being invested in collectibles like sports cards. It turns out that Kaboom! doesn’t even require for a player’s card to be a rookie to run up well into thousands of dollars. Some of these cards are even reaching well into tens of thousands of dollars for just the football cards.

As of November 10, 2021, Heritage Auctions had a 2018 Panini Kaboom! Tom Brady PSA 10 which had a guide value or estimate published at $6,000.00 — but the current bid with 8 days remaining was already at $9,250.00 (Image below provided by Heritage Auctions). Heritage also had two other sales from 2021:

• 2020 Panini Absolute Kaboom! Patrick Mahomes II #KPM PSA Mint 9 (September 5, 2021) fetch $1,980.00
• 2020 Panini Absolute Patrick Mahomes II (Kaboom!) #KPM PSA Mint 9 (July 23, 2021) fetch $1,500.00

Goldin Auctions also has seen many high-profile Kaboom! sales go off. Excluding a Kobe Bryant sale for basketball, here are the four top Kaboom! sales that Goldin Auctions has seen:

• 2020 Panini Absolute Kaboom! Green #K-JH2 Justin Herbert Rookie Card (#1/1) PSA MINT 9 fetched $79,200.00 (Image below from Goldin Auctions)
• 2020 Panini Absolute “KABOOM!” Green #KRW Russell Wilson (#1/1) PSA MINT 9 sold for $14,400.00
• 2018 Panini Honors Kaboom! Rookie Recollection Collection #K-BM Baker Mayfield Signed Rookie Card (#1/1, Panini Sealed) sold for $13,530.00
• 2020 Panini Absolute “Kaboom! Gold” #KKM Kyler Murray (#09/10) PSA 10 Gem Mint sold for $10,800.00.

According to Cardlines.com, Panini’s Kaboom! cards are less personal than many of the other big hit vards but they are “still cherished and chased by so many.” They also note that the Downtown cards are easier to pull from cases despite Kaboom cards having found different homes (release points) based on sport and product over the years. Cardlines also gives its specific total population evaluation to show just how rare these cards are.

eBay is a continual source of Panini Kaboom! football card auctions and “Buy It Now” transactions. These are recent sales pulled from eBay’s sold history of graded Panini Kaboom! football cards:

• 2018 Lamar Jackson Panini Kaboom PSA GEM MT 10 sold for $3,600.00 on September 25, 2021 after 58 bids.
• Kyler Murray 2020 Kaboom PSA 10 sold for $2,025.00 on October 25, 2021 after 32 bids.
• 2019 Kyler Murray PSA 9 Kaboom rookie card sold for $1,425.00 on August 30, 2021 after 70 bids.
• 2019 DK Metcalf PSA 10 Kaboom rookie card sold for $1,184.89 on October 5, 2021 after 7 bids.
• 2020 Tua Tagovailoa BGS 9.5 sold for $1,136.00 on September 20, 2021 after 11 bids.

These were some of the recently completed auctions of ungraded and sold Panini Kaboom! football cards from auctions

• 2020 Justin Herbert ungraded Kaboom Rookie Card sold for $3,250.00 on October 11, 2021 after 50 bids.
• 2020 Patrick Mahomes ungraded Kaboom sold for $1,870.00 on September 20, 2021 after 26 bids.
• 2020 Patrick Mahomes ungraded Kaboom sold for $1,725.00 on september 15, 2021 after 29 bids.
• 2020 Patrick Mahomes ungraded Kaboom sold for $1,625.00 on August 30, 2021 after 40 bids.
• 2020 Patrick Mahomes ungraded Kaboom sold for $1,580.00 on September 8, 2021 after 12 bids.
• 2020 Joe Burrow ungraded Kaboom rookie card sold for $1,102.52 on September 27, 2021 after 12 bids.
• 2021 Charles Woodson ungraded Kaboom sold for $1,075.00 on November 9, 2021 after 36 bids.

And here are some of eBay’s newly listed and sold items from auction formats:

• Tom Brady Gold Kaboom ungraded sold for $163.50 on November 10, 2021 after 37 bids.
• 2021 Justin Jefferson Kaboom ungraded sold for $330.00 on November 9, 2021 after 27 bids.
• Tom Brady Gold Kaboom ungraded “Lombardi Toss” sold for $353.00 on November 9, 2021 after 49 bids.
• 2021 Charles Woodson Kaboom ungraded sold for $1,075.00 on November 9, 2021 after 36 bids.
• 2020 Jordan Love Kaboom ungraded sold for $630.00 on November 7, 2021 after 32 bids.
• John Elway Kaboom ungraded sold for $305.00 on November 5, 2021 after 18 bids.

The good news about the Kaboom! cards is that some of the newer cards of former players are still within reach for those modern sports card collectors. That is certainly true among the recent ungraded sales. The bad news is that the Kaboom! graded cards of the stellar rookie players and top super stars graded in the highest conditions are going to be exponentially higher (and then some) compared to the base cards.

As Collectors Dashboard has warned, not every young hit QB will end up in the Hall of Fame. Some might not even make it into the next couple of years.

Coming soon… Downtown!