Kaboom baseball cards were ultra-rare promotional baseball cards inserted randomly in 1987 Topps packs that featured exploding images on the front. The word “KABOOM” was printed across the front of the card in a stylized fiery font with parts of the image appearing to explode out of the borders. On the back was a short write-up about the “explosion” and details about the extreme rarity of the cards. Only ten examples of each Kaboom card were printed, making them the rarest and most valuable baseball cards ever produced.
The idea for Kaboom cards came from Topps marketing executive Jeff Idelson in 1986. Idelson wanted to create a card that would generate massive publicity and excitement for the 1987 Topps baseball card set release. Topps had experimented with minor insert sets in the past but nothing on the scale Idelson envisioned. He proposed including an “1-in-a-million” type card that would explode the hobby. Topps executives were skeptical but gave Idelson the go-ahead to produce a test run of the concept cards.
Idelson worked with Topps designers to come up with exploding visual concepts featuring iconic baseball players of the day like Nolan Ryan, Wade Boggs, and Ozzie Smith. The front image appeared to explode out of the standard card frame with pieces of the photo flying in all directions. Fiery colors and textures were added to enhance the illusion that the card was literally blowing up. Idelson knew that if they could really sell the “KABOOM” concept visually, collectors would lose their minds trying to pull one of the promo inserts from packs.
After several rounds of refinements, ten test Kaboom cards were printed featuring Tim Raines, Tony Gwynn, George Brett and others. Topps sales reps were instructed to randomly insert one test Kaboom per box of 1987 packs they shipped to hobby shops. Excitement was immediately generated as word spread of the “1-in-a-million explosively rare cards.” Phone calls flooded into Topps from eager collectors asking if the Kablooms were for real or a hoax. It was clear Idelson’s gimmick had worked and captured the imagination of the entire sports card collecting world.
Topps decided to move forward with a full released run of Kaboom cards for the 1987 set. For each of the 792 total players cards in the 1987 Topps checklist, 10 examples of their corresponding “KABOOM” variation were printed. That meant nearly 8,000 total Kaboom cards existed in the world. Collectors had no way of knowing exactly which players had Kabooms or how many had been pulled already. The true rareness andmystique around tracking them all down added greatly to the Kaboom frenzy.
Once 1987 packs went on sale, the Kaboom hunt was in full effect. Collectors tore through uncounted boxes of cards desperate for that colorful 1-in-10,000 shot of grabbing a super rare exploded image. Minor Kaboom sightings at local shops would cause lines of people clamoring to buy the boxer they were reportedly found in. The Kaboom not only captured the interest of the hardcore collecting community but brought enormous new attention and customers to the entire sports card industry.
Over the decades since, Kaboom cards have cemented themselves as the most iconic sports card insert set ever. Getting your hands on even a common player Kaboom is a tremendous get for any collector, let alone a star. Kaboom pull rates were so small that to this day, nearly every player issue is accounted for and few have ever traded hands publicly. In the extremely rare auction appearances, even lesser star Kabooms can sell for five figures or more due to their finite supply and legendary rarity in the hobby. No other promotional baseball card has quite captured the collective imagination of collectors worldwide like the 1987 Topps Kabooms. They were a true 1-in-a-million find that sparked an insert craze copped by many card companies since but never quite matched in terms of scarcity. The 1987 Topps Kaboom baseball cards truly exploded onto the scene and left an indelible mark on the trading card industry.
