Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes cemented himself as the best signal-caller in the NFL with his second Super Bowl win in the bag.
Tom Brady’s retirement officially passed that torch to Mahomes, and with plenty of productive years likely still ahead of him, Mahomes looks like he will hold that title for quite some time.
The Mahomes rookie card market has always been an interesting one. In 2017, he wasn’t really the primary target of most collectors, it was Mitch Trubisky. Deshaun Watson, picked two spots after Mahomes, showed more flashes of being a star in his rookie year. Mahomes only played in Week 17 of his rookie season after the Chiefs clinched their playoff seeding, led by Alex Smith.
Come 2018, however, 2017 products were all anyone wanted, and Mahomes was reason why.
Five straight AFC championship games, two Super Bowl victories and two MVP awards later, any 2017 Mahomes cards will fetch you a pretty penny, but you can still own some without spending into triple digits.
Here are 10 Mahomes rookie cards that you can typically find for $50-$100.
2017 Panini Score #403
A handful of cards on this list will feature Mahomes in his Texas Tech uniform, but that should not deter anyone from picking this card up. Score is typically an early season release, and many Mahomes rookies from this set were probably toosed into boxes, waiting to be unearthed a season later. This one can still be had in the $30-$50 range with PSA 9s stretching closer to $80 or so.
2017 Panini Prestige #232
A sleeker design plus a full bleed photo makes his Prestige rookie rank slightly higher in my book that the Score one–and it’s sometimes a little cheaper, too. You can also sometimes find various Xtra Points parallels of this card for under that $100 threshold.
2017 Panini Classics #274
If you prefer a rookie card with an old school feel, his Classics rookie might be up your alley. Mahomes is once again featured in his college uniform in his minimalist design set. Prices compare favorably with the two cards above and far fewer have been graded to this point.
2017 Elite Draft Picks #145
Elite has always had the feel and look of a higher end set without the high end price tag, and 2017 Elite Draft Picks is no different. If you’re looking for a card with a foil finish, this Mahomes rookie can add some shine to your collection without breaking the bank. The number of high-grade examples is similar to Classic.
*The rest of the cards on this list feature Mahomes in his Chiefs uniform. Some have sold for over $100, but generally speaking these cards fall around $100 and should trend slightly downward the further we get from the Super Bowl victory.
2017 Panini #104
The Mahomes rookie for the base 2017 Panini football set is one of the first collectors could purchase with Mahomes in his professional uniform. The color matching in the card design makes this a solid addition to a Mahomes collection. You can usually find one for less than $100.
2017 Panini Contenders – Rookie of the Year Contenders #RY-3
Contenders has never been known for its valuable base cards or inserts, but this rookie Mahomes insert has been popular among collectors, even though it doesn’t have the “RC” logo. It has one of the most eye-appealing designs of anything on this list, and once again features Mahomes sporting his NFL threads. Ungraded copies shouldn’t cost more than $75.
2017 Panini Rookies & Stars #201
A yearly lower end release, Rookies & Stars won’t wow anyone with its relatively basic card design, but it delivers in color matching. While any Mahomes rookie is a great investment, this one may be higher on Chiefs fans lists for its use of red and white. These have ticked upward in price.
2017 Panini Absolute Rookie Roundup #20
Building on the color match theme from the previous card, this Rookie Roundup insert from Absolute is about as good as it gets when it comes to using the Kansas City red and gold color scheme. The foil finish also adds a touch of flair. If you can live without the “official rookie card” designation, this is an attractive choice for the money.
2017 Panini Player of the Day #R4
Player of the Day packs were typically given to customers in participating hobby shops who make the corresponding purchase that would end them some packs. If you were lucky enough to pull a Mahomes in your packs, you may have struck gold. These are much harder to find than others on this list but prices haven’t gone as high as you might think. There’s a memorabilia version, too.
2017 Panini Donruss Rated Rookie #327
The grail card of this list, and easily the most recognizable, is the Donruss Rated Rookie. The Optic version goes for significantly more than this paper version, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a buy. Collectors could easily grab this card for under $100 as recently as late 2022, but the Chiefs playoff run and Super Bowl victory has raised the price of this card to levels that were hard to imagine. While it’s jumped over $100, I would expect it to dip some as we get deeper into the offseason.
You can see all of Mahomes rookie cards on eBay here and check out a live list of the βmost watchedβ auctions below.
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