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Last Updated On: December 13th, 2024
Since the first release in 2013, Panini Kaboom! cards have captured collectors’ hearts, minds, and wallets everywhere. For a good reason: the playful designs, superstar players, and, not least of all, the shiny, starry foil background all make for an exquisitely unique card.
As we head toward over a decade of Panini Kaboom! cards, it’s time to finally crown a set that stands above the rest. For our money, it’s the 2018 Kaboom! set, which combines the traditional Panini model of rare parallels with an untraditional multi-sport set. It also doesn’t hurt that the 2018 set features a host of the series’ highest-selling cards, as well.
In this post, we’ll make the case for the 2018 Panini Kaboom! series, undoubtedly one of the finest printed by the now-legendary card brand. We’ll highlight three reasons why the set deserves a place in your personal collection and provide some sales history. By the end, we have no doubt you’ll be ready to add one of these grail pieces to your safety deposit box.
Let’s discuss!
Table of Contents
Overview
For some collectors, the hobby is about finding an edge on the margins for the highest potential return on investment. For others, the game is about collecting an individual player or team and amassing the best possible collection built around the same.
But for those looking to collect and build an entire set, the calculation becomes more complicated. After all, most sets have their duds and, unless the set incorporates historic greats, is likely only representative of a small snapshot in time.
Then there’s the issue of overproduction. Like its predecessors Topps, Fleer, and NBA Hoops of the ’90s, Panini has not been shy about over-producing its flagship Prizm brand. In fact, the proliferation of Prizm parallels should give you pause, given what we know about how pop growth affects a card’s long-term value.
Panini addressed many of these concerns with its 2018 Kaboom! set. For starters, the set included short-run parallels for the first time and debuted football and baseball cards within the set. To top it all off, the 2018 Kaboom! set was multi-sport, meaning it’s possible to nab both LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo in the same 50-card set.
None of this is to say that Kaboom!’s inaugural set in 2013 isn’t collectible as the series’ debut, or even any of the other almost-annual releases either. Instead, we firmly believe that by 2018, Panini had unlocked something special with Kaboom!, which allowed the set to truly blossom.
3 Reasons to Collect 2018 Kabooms
We’ve identified three key traits the 2018 Panini Kaboom! set has in its favor: super-rare first-time parallels, along with first-time appearances for baseball and football, and the creative multi-sport set. Let’s break each one down in order.
1st Year Gold and Green Parallels
In order to understand why the 2018 Panini Kaboom! set took off, we first have to go back in time and diagnose why Kaboom! itself became a popular series beginning with its unveiling in 2013.
Consider the hobby’s landscape in 2013. The pandemic era surge was six-plus years away, and collecting had reached an unenviable stasis. Basketball cards recently changed hands from the likes of American giants Topps and Bowman to a little-known Italian brand.
The innovative design in 2013, when Kaboom! was part of Panini’s “Innovation” brand, led to immediate interest. Case in point: Sports Illustrated named the 2013 Kaboom! set among the five most important releases of the “Panini Era.”
To sustain such interest, however, Panini needed a shakeup. One strategy would have been to implement a parallel-bonanza akin to what we’ve seen with Prizm in recent years. Wisely, Panini eschewed this path and juiced Kaboom!’s popularity exponentially by doing precisely the opposite: introducing short-print Gold /10 and Green 1/1 parallels.
What is the ceiling on the 2018 Kaboom! short-print parallels? Consider the popularity (and values) of Precious Metal Gems (PMG) parallels from Fleer Metal of the ’90s. What’s stopping the Green and Gold Kaboom! inserts from becoming the modern equivalent of PMG?
Truly, the 2018 Kaboom! parallels offer much of the same as the ’90s PMGs: aesthetics, scarcity, serial numbering, and off the charts popularity. Indeed, some of the rarest and most coveted 2018 Kaboom!’s are already selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2024.
Though the price might make for a high barrier of entry like PMGs, 2018 Kaboom! parallels have a much smaller total print run. With 50 players in the Kaboom! set, the Gold /10 print run is only 500 cards in total. Compare this with the 1997 Metal Universe basketball PMG Green (also limited to 10 copies) print run, and there are 123 players in the set translating to 1,230 Green PMGs produced. And when it comes to Green Kaboom! one of ones — they’re almost impossible to find (you can do the math)!
1st Year Football & Baseball Kabooms
Although we’ve grown accustomed to seeing the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, and Josh Allen grace the front of Kaboom! cards, such was not always the case. In 2018, Panini poured gasoline on its already roaring Kaboom! fire by adding football and baseball to the set’s catalog beginning with the multi-sport set.
Before 2018, Kaboom! only represented two sports: soccer and basketball. Yet Kaboom! couldn’t have picked a better time to add football to its roster. By the time the 2018 set was released in December, Mahomes was en route to his first MVP nod and Brady was a year removed from his third MVP and a few months away from his sixth Super Bowl win.
Put another way, Panini caught the NFL just as the old guard of Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Rob Gronkowski were putting the finishing touches on their primes, while future studs like Mahomes, Allen, and a rookie out of Louisville named Lamar Jackson were beginning their own ascent.
And then there’s baseball. Panini shrewdly knew its bread and butter was not with baseball (basketball and football comprise 40 of the 50-card set) but offered up depictions of baseball’s rising stars. Even Tim Tebow got a nod, then part of the New York Mets (and before you snicker, a PSA 10 Tebow base sold for nearly $500 in October 2024).
Panini later launched exclusive sets for football (annually starting with 2019 Panini Absolute) and baseball (debuting in 2021 Panini Absolute), following the precedent set with basketball and soccer in earlier years.
Multi-Sport Set With Many Key Names
Between 2013 and 2017, Kaboom! cards came in separate soccer and basketball sets (debuting in 2017 Panini Select, and 2013 Panini Innovation, respectively). But the 2018 checklist was a multi-sport release, making acquiring the entire set a collector’s fantasy.
Well over half of the players in the entire set are in the Hall of Fame or will one day be enshrined in their respective sports’ Halls. Where else can you get multiple GOATs in the same set? LeBron James? Check. Tom Brady? Check. Lionel Messi? Check.
Again, timing is everything. The 2018 set features Patrick Mahomes’ first Kaboom!, making it among the most collectible Mahomes cards ever printed. His Gold /10 Kaboom! in BGS 9.5 is among the top ten most valuable non-RPA Mahomes cards, per Card Ladder.
But don’t take our word for it. Check out the case The Wharf Sports Cards made for how special the Mahomes Gold Kaboom may be considered someday when looking at Mahomes’ most important cards against other goats in the same set.
Even in the next tier, we find stellar cards. For instance, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant make strong appearances in the set. And, if you’re a close reader, then you know KD and Giannis are among the most undervalued future Hall of Famers.
Among the rookie crop are studs like Saquon Barkley, Lamar Jackson, and superstar footballer Kylian Mbappe, along with Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell, whose rookie Kaboom! cards made it into the set late in calendar year 2018.
Counterpoints
In the words of Bret Michaels, every rose has its thorn. While we’re high on the 2018 Kaboom! set, it has its flaws.
Not a Typical Release
One of the drawbacks of the 2018 Kaboom! is its release method. While the cards came in a traditional pack, the 2018 set was redeemed with Panini Rewards points rather than purchased outright with money. At the time, a two-card pack of Kaboom! cards cost 2,500 Panini Reward points.
While perhaps not a typical strike against the card itself, a minority of haters will claim these cards are inferior because they didn’t come out of a hobby pack, a matter we debated and debunked recently. If you’re worried about the lack of a traditional purchase option hampering 2018 Kaboom! prices, take a look at our price chart below and reconsider.
Baseball is not Licensed
If there’s any ding against the 2018 Kaboom! set, it’s the lack of a license for baseball cards. Unlike the rather superficial reasoning laid out above, the fact that the baseball cards are unlicensed is a tried-and-true value killer that will force some collectors to pass.
Granted, if any card can pull off the charm of being unlicensed, it’s probably a Kaboom! The cartoonish design and eye-popping background grab attention in a way that more typical unlicensed cards often do not.
Top 10 2018 Kaboom Sales
The 2018 Kaboom! set only becomes more impressive when we examine the set’s sales history over the last 18 months. Here are the highest sales since last summer:
| Card Description | Sale Price (Date) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom #LBJ LeBron James Gold /10 – BGS 9.5 | 225,000 (Oct. 2024) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! #K-PMA Patrick Mahomes II Gold /10 – BGS 9.5 | $72,000 (Nov. 2024) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! #SC Stephen Curry Gold /10 – PSA 10 | $62,000 (Jun. 2024) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! #K-KB Kobe Bryant Gold /10 – PSA 9 | $45,000 (Aug. 2023) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! #JA Josh Allen Green 1/1 – PSA AUTH | $45,000 (Jul. 2023) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! #K-JT Jayson Tatum Gold /10 – BGS 9 | $29,400 (Dec. 2024) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! #SC Stephen Curry Gold /10 – PSA 10 | $27,586 (Aug. 2024) |
| 2018 Panini Kaboom! Gold #JT Jayson Tatum – PSA 9 | $25,000 (Aug. 2023) |
| 2018 Panini Absolute Kaboom! #K-PM Patrick Mahomes II Gold /10 – BGS 10 | $19,201.20 (Jul. 2023) |
| 2018-19 Panini KABOOM! #GA Giannis Antetokounmpo Gold /10 – BGS 9.5 | $19,100 (Jan. 2024) |
A few things stand out here. The list is dominated exclusively by football and basketball, suggesting Panini’s decision to add the former to its Kaboom! rotation was a smart one. Further, prices remain extraordinarily high despite the hobby’s softness in recent years. It’s an excellent sign for value retention moving forward.
2018 Kaboom! Cards on eBay Auction Now
Conclusion
With its short-run parallels, multi-sport offering, and glitzy foil background, the 2018 Kaboom! set stands out among the rest. Yet it’s more than aesthetic: the cards’ valuations have remained high for premium players despite a relative dip elsewhere.
My favorite aspect of this set is that, when these were sold, it was possible to unpack both Lionel Messi and Tom Brady in the same go. Rather than hunt for stars in different sports across multiple brands and sets, the 2018 Kaboom! is a one-stop-shop for superstars across four major sports.
The set isn’t without its drawbacks, however. How do you feel about the lack of a traditionally purchased pack? Or the unlicensed baseball cards? Let us know in the comments below!