Teen who rocked Texas card show hopes rare Patrick Mahomes card soars with Chiefs win

Just before lunchtime Saturday, among hundreds of dealers and even more eager collectors and investors, one person stood out at the latest DallasCardShow.com show in Allen.

No one knew for sure just how old he was, some believing he wasn’t even old enough to drive, but Payne Kukulinski had men twice and three times his age scrambling to make a winning offer for the small piece of cardboard in his briefcase.

The 17-year-old had flown in from Raleigh, North Carolina, with his father, Nick, and good buddy Rett to one of the largest shows during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal was to sell a rare Patrick Mahomes rookie card for ... $100,000.

Imagine the possibilities of pocketing $100,000? A sum like that could cover college tuition, if not at least some of it. Or how about a new car? Is it too late to hop in on GameStop stock?

For sure, a lump of the proceeds would take Kukulinski deeper into a marketplace that allowed him to seek a steep, but not necessarily unreasonable, price for the card. It could soar in value should the fourth-year quarterback lead the Kansas City Chiefs to victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV Sunday night.

After turning down an offer for $85,000 and others that included a combination of cash and trade nearing $100,000, Kukulinski is now betting that Mahomes will outgun Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, and put his name into that GOAT discussion.

If that happens, $100,000 could be small potatoes.

“If it’s a Super Bowl win, I think I’m going to ask for more than $100,000,” Kukulinski said. “The people I talked to who didn’t want to buy it said it’s a $100,000 card, but people who want to buy want to make a profit on it like me. I’m not going to hold it forever.”

The card Kukulinski is hawking is Mahomes’ 2017 Panini Prizm white sparkle rookie card. Only 20 of them were printed in limited-edition packs, and only six of them have received the highest professional grade of 10 from PSA Authentication and Grading Services.

Another 10 was listed this week on eBay for $148,000. A PSA 9 was listed on eBay with an asking price of $59,999.

A dealer who considered buying the card at the Allen show said Kukulinski’s pitch was the future value of the card and not the current value.

“I think he was trying to sell the card on perspective value, hoping the Super Bowl goes well, which is right in itself,” said Chris Keysar, who traveled from Denver to set up shop at the show. “If I was in his position, the card would be the greatest I’ve ever touched, too.”

Josh Salazar, who traveled with Keysar, considered a cash/trade transaction.

“It’s a beautiful card. I wanted it, and he wanted a card I have,” Salazar said. “I almost was going to give him $25,000 and the card I want $70,000 for, and then I talked him down to $75,000-$80,000. He didn’t want to take that.”

Kukulinski said he landed his gem mint Mahomes a few months ago through Instagram in a part-cash, part-trade transaction. Among the cards he traded were Zion Williamson and Tua Tagovailoa rookie cards and some unopened Panini Prizm basketball hobby boxes.

“I was looking for one for a while, but they’re so hard to find,” said Kukulinski, who had been browsing for one on Instagram using his handle @919_sportscards. “I found someone who had one, I shot him and DM and I made it work out. It was a few months ago. The value of the stuff I gave is a lot more than it was back then. “

But so as the value of what Kukulinski received. The card has skyrocketed as Mahomes and the Chiefs kept winning, which included a 27-24 regular-season victory over Brady and the Buccaneers in Week 12. Mahomes is among the hottest players in the surging trading-card industry.

Last weekend, a Mahomes rookie card sold at auction for $861,000. The 2017 Panini National Treasures black autographed jersey patch card was number 1 of 5 and graded by Beckett Grading Services as a 9.

But how did a junior at Millbrook High School in Raleigh get the funding to acquire his card in the first place?

Some in Allen suspected that Kukulinski was doing his father’s bidding, or at minimum was heavily backed by his father.

Not so, Kukulinski said.

He initially became interested in a deeper dive into the hobby a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic after seeing the money that was being made. His father did help him with his first purchase, a rookie card of Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum.

Kukulinski purchased it for $300 and quickly flipped it for $800.

“That’s how I really got into — $500 in a day,” he said. “I was 16 back then. That’s pretty good money for a 16-year-old.”

Doing his school work virtually, and also picking work at his father’s grading and paving company, allowed him to keep buying and selling to the point where he had amassed enough of a portfolio and a deep enough bank account to pull of the deal for the Mahomes card.

He doesn’t see why he can’t keep doing it in college. He hopes to attend North Carolina State in Raleigh, majoring in business, and using other card sales to pay for whatever tuition the profit on the Mahomes card doesn’t cover.

Of course, the card still needs to be sold. To that end, Kukulinski was mulling his next move, either heading to a card show this weekend in Tampa, the site of Super Bowl LV, or waiting to see what happens on the field at Raymond James Stadium.

No matter who wins, Kukulinski said he will make money on the card, even if it sells for $70,000. A Chiefs win, though, is likely to result in a much bigger profit.

“If [Mahomes] doesn’t win Sunday, the value won’t drop too much,” he said. “I’m still in the green if he loses. It’s basically a controlled bet. I’m betting on the game. If he loses, I don’t lose all my money. But if he wins, I make a lot of money.”