Everything You Need To Know About 2022 Absolute Football

The NFL season is in full swing and the playoffs are just around the corner. And just in time for what promises to be an exciting back half of the season, we have a few notable NFL products set to release this December.

The first to hit the shelves will be Absolute Football which is slated to drop on December 2nd. In this article, I’ll give you the full rundown on the product, including its biggest hits, how its value has fared over the past year, and why you’ll want to get your hands on Absolute before the playoffs.

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About Panini Absolute Football 2022

Absolute Football is a mid-tier NFL product and is one of Panini’s longest-running and most recognizable products. While it isn’t considered top-of-the-line like Flawless or Immaculate, it still offers hobby appeal at a more affordable price.

For NFL collectors Absolute has become best known for its premier card: “Kaboom!.” Kaboom! has been one of the most cherished cards across all sports for the past few years. It saw huge growth during the pandemic and has made headlines with some eye-popping sales prices. Even non-rookie Kaboom! cards can have crazy value, like the 2018 Tom Brady that sold for $120,000.

Absolute is the only football release that features Kaboom! and the odds shake out to hitting one per case (12 hobby boxes). 

2022 Panini Absolute Football releases just in time for the Playoffs

As a December release, Absolute is one of the first non-collegiate products to hit the market. That means for rookies like Kenny Pickett, Garrett Wilson, and Kenneth Walker, it’ll be our first time seeing them in their pro uniforms.

Another advantage Absolute has is the timing of its release. Most of the bigger products won’t be out by the time the playoffs roll around, which means no chance for collectors to cash in on the hype for players with huge playoff performances. 

Last year we saw Jamar Chase’s Kaboom! card more than double in value across all grades during his memorable Super Bowl run with the Bengals. By the time the bigger products were released after the playoffs, Chase’s value was already through the roof.

So, if you’re looking to buy in on players who could be poised for a memorable postseason, Absolute ‘22 is one of your best options. This is even more true if the player you’re interested in is a rookie, since Absolute will be one of the only non-collegiate products on the market.

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Absolute Football 2022 inserts and parallels

Panini has released a few mockups from Absolute Football 2022. Here are a few of my favorites. 

Football 2022 Kaboom!

Kaboom! is the biggest hit in the box, and with the right player resale value can be well into 5 figures.

The mock-up that Panini has released of this year’s version is pretty standard – bright colors and a loud font that gives it a unique comic-book-like appeal. Panini knows better than to mess with the design too much, choosing to keep the look in line with the stylistic features we’ve seen in the past.

Glass Insert 

While much of the hype around Absolute comes from Kaboom! cards, the Glass Insert is an equally rare and very valuable card in its own right.

The card is literally made of glass, and it hits at the same rate as Kaboom! (about once a case, or once every 12 boxes.) This fragile black and white card looks good even without the caveat that it’s made of glass, but its unique composition makes it even more of a novelty and should be considered a big win for anyone who pulls it. 

Explosive

Explosive is another colorful, in-your-face insert. If you prefer sleeker, more subdued cards then this one might not be for you. But if you like loud and fun, Explosive is your card.

While the Kaboom insert is more refractive, the two main colors on an Explosive card are the primary colors of that player’s team. The Trey Lance mockup here is attention-grabbing, and if I was a 49ers fan I’d love the way that the red and gold are the first thing to catch your eye.

2022 Panini Absolute Hobby Box Breakdown

The 2022 Absolute hobby box is set to go on sale December 2nd, 2022 and is currently pre-selling for $440. 

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Here’s what each hobby box will contain:

• 5 cards per pack,
• 3 packs per box
• 15 cards total
• 12 boxes in a case

And here’s what Panini has released about the card breakdown inside:

• 1 Rookie Premiere Autograph
• 2 Additional Autographs
• 2 Memorabilia Cards
• 1 Insert
• 2 Parallels
• 1 Rookie

The two big hits (Kaboom and Glass Insert) work out to one per case (1/12 boxes.)

2022 Absolute Football Checklist Info

While we won’t know exactly which players will be included until the product officially drops, Panini has released some information about the breakdown of what’s inside.

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Base Cards

• 100 Rookies
• 100 Veterans/ Legends

All of the base cards feature the following odds for a 

• Spectrum Red – #/100
• Spectrum Orange – #/75
• Spectrum Blue – #/50
• Spectrum Green – #/25
• Spectrum Gold – #/10
• Spectrum Purple – #/5
• Spectrum Black – 1/1
• Printing Plates 1/1

Investing in 2022 Absolute Football

There are a lot of reasons why I think Absolute is a smart investment, and there’s promise in both the singles and wax. Here are the three approaches I like the best for investing in Absolute Football ’22:

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Buying and flipping singles before the playoffs

As I mentioned above, Absolute is a great investment for the playoffs. With a release date of December 2nd, we should see graded singles hitting the resale market by January at the latest. That’s a perfect time to lock in your big risers.

It’s worth noting, however, that buying before the playoffs is still a gamble. 

For every Jamar Chase who helps his team to a surprise Super Bowl, there’s a Mac Jones who gets blitzed by 30 points in the first round. Mac Jones saw a drop of 30-50% on his Absolute cards from December of 2021 to March of 2022. 

Sure some of that was compounded by his late-season struggles and a general market correction to his initial hype. Nevertheless, if you buy in on a hot player now and they fall apart in the playoffs, expect a big potential loss.

Buying and holding Kaboom long term

So, if you’re looking for a quick playoff flip, Absolute is a good option. But what about as a long-term hold? Sure, the Kaboom! cards took off in mid-2020, but how has their value changed since?

Well it’s never a perfect science trying to determine the overall growth of a particular product, since the trends often have more to do with how the market feels about the player as opposed to the product itself. That said, I like to look at retired players when determining a product’s popularity.

Sometimes big news like a HOF induction, death, or off-the-field controversy can affect a retired player’s value. But overall, these values are pretty consistent, and changes in value are mostly a reflection of the product’s popularity and the market as a whole.

Each one of these cards rose between 10%-35% from their initial release to now. While I wouldn’t use those numbers to project-specific growth to next year, I do think it’s an indication that Kaboom (and the NFL market as a whole) are steadily growing. 

Overall, Kaboom and other high-end inserts are valued by the NFL collecting community and are strong long-term holds. 

Buying and Holding Wax Hobby Box

Buying and holding wax is generally the safest way to earn value on nearly any middle to high-end product. While there are no guarantees in the world of sports cards, we’ve seen wax turn a solid consistent profit for a few years straight.

Here’s the current selling price of the last four years of Absolute:

Obviously, there’s a lot of variability in those values. Some of that has to do with the rookie classes, how much was printed, what’s currently in circulation, etc. And while the ’22 rookie class does appear to be weak, the current selling price of $440 is much lower than any of these previous years.

Things are a little down across all sports, which is likely why we’re seeing these lower SRP’s. That said, if you buy now there’s a chance for a big jump in value once the market bounces back.

Final thoughts on 2022 Absolute Football

While many associate Absolute with the Kaboom! insert, it offers more than just one card. Along with other big hits like the Glass Insert and Explosive, it also has a great-looking base card with favorable odds of hitting colored parallels.

This is one of our first big football products with rookies in their pro uniforms. So for those looking to get in on the ’22 class early, Absolute NFL is your best bet.

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Full 2022 Absolute Football checklist