Panini Obsidian Football: Box Prices, Electric Etch and Color Blast

Quick facts

Box formats for Panini Obsidian

Hobby Box

The 2024 hobby box is a single pack of seven cards, with twelve boxes to a case. On average it delivers one patch autograph, one additional autograph and two relics, plus one insert or insert parallel and two base cards. Seven cards for four hits is the most concentrated configuration in Panini's mid-to-high range, and it is the reason a single box outcome swings so violently between a great result and a total loss.

FOTL

First Off The Line boxes went on sale February 25, 2025, ahead of the wide release, and carried FOTL-only parallels in Deep Sea Mojo, Molten and Neon. They command a very large premium: recent FOTL sales have reached the $1,380 to $1,500 range against roughly $600 for a standard hobby box of the same year.

Hobby International Box

The international configuration uses five-card packs with international-exclusive content and trades at a steep discount to domestic hobby, generally $235-$290 for the 2024 edition. It is a legitimate way to open Obsidian cheaply provided you understand that the parallel pool differs and that international cards do not always carry the same demand on resale.

Hobby Case

A case is twelve boxes and therefore roughly forty-eight hits. The super short prints, including the Black Color Blast and Black Stained Glass cards, are seeded at case rarity or scarcer, so a case is the only realistic route to them.

Recent years: prices and key rookies

The 2024 edition trades highest, helped by the class and by being the final one. The 2022 box has softened noticeably over the last two years, with recent sales clustering in the $280 to $380 area, which shows how quickly a hit-dense product can fall back when the class underneath it disappoints. The 2020 edition contains the strongest rookie group Obsidian ever printed and sealed boxes almost never appear, so asking prices sit well ahead of anything you could call a market.

Chase cards, parallels and hit rates

Electric Etch is the parallel treatment that defines Obsidian. Base cards run through Contra and International versions, then a numbered colour ladder including Silver to 75, Red to 49, Blue to 25 and Gold to 10, down to one-of-ones. The 200-card base set carries both veterans and rookies, and low-numbered Electric Etch rookies are the main non-autograph chase.

Above the parallels sit the super short prints: Black Color Blast, which is the single most chased card in the product, and Black Stained Glass, added to the 2024 checklist. Autograph and relic content runs through Rookie Jumbo Jersey Autographs, Rookie Materials Ink, Supernova Swatches and Magmatic Memorabilia. Published hit counts are averages across the print run, and there are no reliable public odds for Black Color Blast, so ignore listings that quote them.

Is Panini Obsidian football worth buying sealed?

Obsidian has the strongest design identity of any Panini mid-to-high range football line, and Black Color Blast gives it a ceiling that most products at this price lack. Four hits in seven cards also makes it one of the most watchable break products, which supports demand.

The counterargument is variance. With no base-card cushion, an Obsidian box either delivers a name people want or it delivers nothing, and the average result on singles sits below the box price in every recent year. The line's five-year run and hard stop in 2024 make the whole universe genuinely small, which is a better structural argument than most Panini lines can make, but the 2022 price history is a warning that a weak class overwhelms scarcity. If you are buying to hold, 2020 and 2021 are the interesting years, and both are hard to find sealed.

How to spot fakes and resealed boxes

A one-pack box is the single easiest configuration in the hobby to search and reseal, which makes seal verification non-negotiable on Obsidian. Panini hobby boxes carry a tamper-evident seal beneath the shrink; look for adhesive residue at the flap, a bottom seam that has been re-heated, wrap that does not sit tight at the corners and any sign the box has been opened flat and re-glued. If a seller will not photograph the seal and all sides of the box, walk away.

FOTL and international boxes are both branded on the printed box rather than only on the wrapper, so verify the panel before paying a FOTL premium or accepting an international box sold as domestic hobby. Because the FOTL premium here runs to four figures, this is the line where box-art verification matters most.

Where to buy Panini Obsidian football sealed

Shops that run high-end breaks hold Obsidian and will often quote below marketplace levels. Card shows are the practical venue for 2020 through 2022 boxes and for cases, which rarely list online at reasonable prices. Online, try these exact searches:

• 2024 Panini Obsidian Football Hobby Box sealed
• Panini Obsidian Football FOTL box factory sealed
• 2022 Panini Obsidian Football Hobby Box sealed