2020 Panini On The Horizon was a Panini Rewards exclusive: no hobby boxes, no retail blasters, just points. The set also included some unlicensed baseball and hockey with Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Ronald Acuna Jr., and Yordan Alvarez. Hockey was represented with Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov.
Panini On the Horizon – Five Sports Represented
The only way to acquire these was through the Panini Rewards program, where you were able to redeem points for two-card packs that cost 4,000 Panini Rewards Points. The checklist mixed stars with rookies from the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Every single player on the checklist has a Gold parallel numbered to ten and a Green one-of-one. PSA has graded 2,687 of these cards, and only 211 have received the exclusive PSA 10 grade.
Mahomes and Brady at the Top
The On the Horizon checklist begins with two of the hobby’s most popular players to collect, Patrick Mahomesand Tom Brady. Football is represented in a 15-card checklist. Brady’s non-parallel version is the second-most-graded card in the entire set. It gets more interesting when we look at both players’ Gold and Green parallels. For Mahomes and Brady, 9 of the 10 gold copies have been graded for both players, yet no PSA 10s exist. Brady’s Gold version has three PSA 9s, and Mahomes’ shows only two PSA 9s. The Green? Well, the Tom Brady Green One of One is a PSA 9, and the Patrick Mahomes is a PSA 7.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry Lead Basketball
The biggest block in the set comes from basketball, with 20 players featured. LeBron James sits at OH-17, right behind Giannis Antetokounmpo at OH-16. LeBron James base version has been graded 86 times with only 13 PSA 10s.
The Gold /10 is where LeBron stands apart. Of the four that have been graded, two of them are PSA 10s. LeBron is the only player on the checklist with two PSA 10s in the Gold /10 parallel. His Green One of One is a PSA 9. Only four copies are graded, and two of them are PSA 10s. His Green 1/1 is a PSA 9.
Stephen Curry sits further down the checklist at OH-32. His base version has been graded 92 times; 53 are PSA 9s, and five are PSA 10s. His base card has 92 graded copies, 53 at PSA 9 and 5 are PSA 10s. The PSA 10 gem rate for the NBA’s all-time three-point shooter is only 5.4%. Of his Gold parallels, he has six graded copies, with five being PSA 9s, and none are PSA 10s. Interestingly enough, his Green one-of-one does not appear on the PSA population list.
Soccer is Represented with Ronaldo and Messi
Soccer has three players on the checklist: Cristiano Ronaldo at OH-47, Lionel Messi at OH-48, and Captain America himself, Christian Pulisic at OH-46.
Lionel Messi’s base version happens to be the most graded card in the set, with 107 copies: 71 of them are PSA 9s, and nine are PSA 10s. Cristiano Ronaldo’s base has been graded 95 times, with 66 PSA 9s and 16 PSA 10s. Those 16 PSA 10s are the most of any base version for any player in the set, with LeBron coming in second at 13 PSA 10s.
The Gold /10 parallel for both Ronaldo and Messi has been graded a total of 11 times between the two players, with all of them being PSA 9s. Ronaldo’s Green one-of-one is a PSA 9, and Messi’s Green is a PSA 7.
More NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL Stars
Besides the six we’ve discussed, the set is a great representation of who was relevant in 2019 and 2020. The NFL is represented by Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, and Kyler Murray. The NBA has 20 players on the checklist and also includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and Kevin Durant. MLB brings Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bryce Harper, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, and others.
The PSA population report shows where collectors focused their grading efforts. Ja Morant (96) and Luka Doncic (94) actually have more graded copies than Curry and Mahomes.
Why On the Horizon Matters
Panini’s On The Horizon set is scarce, features some of the greatest athletes of all time, and covers five sports.
- It’s a Closed System: A 50-card checklist that wasn’t available in stores and could only be redeemed through Panini Rewards Points.
- It puts the GOATs on One Checklist: Mahomes, Brady, LeBron, Curry, Ronaldo, and Messi.
- The Top End is Scarce: LeBron is the only one with a Gold /10 PSA 10, and he has two.
- Ronaldo’s Grading: With 16 PSA 10s, he leads the list, with LeBron’s 13 being second.
On price, Ronaldo’s base last sold raw for $851, Messi’s for $459, Brady’s for $1,675, Mahomes’ for $760, Curry’s for $1,071, and LeBron has had no recent raw sales, but a PSA 9 sold in September for $1,350.
With Panini having lost practically all its sports licenses, you have to believe these will become more popular over time with collectors because of their scarcity and gem rates. With a name like “On the Horizon,” you can’t help but think that more collectors will look at these in the future.
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Paulo runs The 90: A Soccer Cards Podcast and collector intelligence brand built on data. He also founded the site www.ultimate90.com. His background is in marketing, event, trade show, and conference production. Some of his favorite athletes to collect include Tony Gwynn, Ted Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Larry Bird.
