Tom Brady Kaboom Card Obliterates Record High
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A 2021 Absolute Green Tom Brady Kaboom 1/1 PSA just sold for $660,000 at Fanatics Collectables, setting a new all-time high for any Kaboom card across all sports. The comic book style card features Brady in his New England Patriots uniform doing his classic fist pump.
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Tom Brady’s 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket autograph rookie card remains his undisputed grail. There are more than 20 documented sales surpassing $1 million of the classic rookie. The $660,000 sale of his 2021 Green Kaboom 1/1 on November 21st stands out as the highest price ever paid for any Brady card that isn’t his Playoff Contenders rookie autograph.
The Kaboom milestone highlights how modern, non-autographed inserts are starting to command attention typically reserved for rookie grails. Kaboom inserts have evolved from a flashy chase card into one of the most valuable modern parallels in the hobby.
Highest Ever Kaboom Sales
Before Tom Brady’s 2021 Absolute Green Kaboom 1/1 shattered the record with its $660,000 sale at Fanatics Premier on November 21st, the previous high Kaboom sale belonged to a 2018 Panini Kaboom Gold Lionel Messi /10 PSA 9, which sold privately for $385,084.
The next highest public Kaboom sale is a LeBron James’ 2018 Gold /10 BGS 9.5 which sold for $353,800 on Goldin Auctions. Caitlin Clark’s 2024 Green 1/1 Kaboom sold for $341,600 earlier this year, making it the second highest Green Kaboom 1/1 sale ever.
The record sale reinforces Tom Brady’s status as the greatest quarterback in NFL history. It also reinforces his status as one of the sports card hobby's icons whose cards rival legends like Michael Jordan and Mickey Mantle in value. With Fanatics now running major high-end auctions, collectors should expect more record-breaking insert sales ahead.
This Exact Card Sold for 188K in 2022
When the same 2021 Absolute Kaboom! Green Tom Brady 1/1 sold in early 2022, it went for $188,400 at Goldin Auctions. This was a very high price at the time for a non-rookie insert card with no autograph, but a fraction of its latest price. Just three years later, the same PSA 8 copy sold for a staggering $660,000 marking a 250% increase in value.
The rise mirrors both Brady’s enduring market strength and the growing status of Kaboom inserts in the hobby. The Kaboom has become more sought after among collectors than the popular Panini Downtown inserts because the Kabooms are much more rare.
This sale also demonstrates the fact that the high-end sports card market is not going down anytime soon. All it takes is two collectors with deep pockets to get into a bidding war for a card like this to get to an absurdly high price.
David is a collector based in Georgia and a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees, New York Giants, and New York Knicks. He is an avid sports card collector with a strong passion for vintage baseball cards and vintage on-card autographs. David enjoys obtaining autographs through the mail and loves connecting with other knowledgeable collectors to discuss the history and evolution of the hobby. He also previously wrote about the New York Giants for GMENHQ.com