Writing about Lionel Messi is something of an absurdist exercise.
He is the most revered and respected player in the world’s most popular sport.
His is an ungodly combination of vision and situational awareness, obscene ball control while dribbling, inch-perfect passing, lethal finishing ability and physical toughness. Messi is the platonic ideal of a superstar. (Full disclosure: your author is an FC Barcelona fan, and resides in Barcelona).
At club level, for FC Barcelona, he’d done literally all there is to do: ten Spanish league titles, six “Copa del Rey” (a domestic cup competition) wins, and four European Champions League crowns. Individually, he’s won the Ballon d’Or, awarded annually to the best player in Europe (and, thus, the world), an unprecedented six times, including four straight from 2009 to 2012, and six times he’s won the Golden Shoe, as the top goal scorer across all of Europe’s top leagues.
As I’m writing this, he’s taken part in 761 games for Barcelona, and scored a ridiculous 654 goals. His 71 goals are the most ever for the Argentine national team. In 2012, he shattered the record for most goals in calendar, for both club and country, with an astounding 91. He’s scored 54 career hat tricks…
It goes on, and on, and on. There is a cottage industry on the internet build around the absurdity of his achievements.
It’s not simply that he’s great, though. There is a magic in watching him play that is has rarely been seen before (and never to this extent), has not to be replicated in this era, and is unlikely to been again. Not like this.
That Messi is only about 5’6” and 160 pounds simultaneously makes him more – and completely not – relatable. He doesn’t look like a superhero. He look completely mortal. Of our world. Unimpressive, even.
He’s none of those things, of course. Rather, he’s been the world’s (virtually) undisputed best player for about a dozen years, and counting, and is the sport’s consensus greatest-ever player.
As not only the world’s most famous and popular athlete, but one of its famous and popular people, it’s unsurprising that Lionel Messi cards have long been in-demand, and commanded a premium to those of anyone in the sport, past or present. By the middle of the decade, thanks to increased interest and knowledge in the hobby epicenter of the United States, soccer cards – led by those featuring Messi – had gained a rather strong foothold.
Sports cards and collectibles in Europe, particularly outside of England, prior to 2010 were largely local and not really “mainstream”. However, as the hobby has boomed, so too have soccer cards. Nowadays, a truly global fan base is flocking to what was a niche corner of the hobby. Messi is the clear-cut biggest name in soccer cards, though Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, Diego Maradona and Pelé all also command huge interest.
In keeping with the broader trend in the hobby, the grading of Messi’s cards has spiked over the past couple of years. Prior to the recent boom in the market, a number of issues from rookie season, 2004-05 were reasonably popular grading candidates, though even these populations paled in comparison to those of rookie cards of fellow unimpeachable icons Jordan, Kobe and LeBron.
Messi’s rookie cards are from his debut season of 2004-05. Most can be found with relative ease, but – increasingly over the past year – and particularly in the month prior to this article – are not easy on the wallet, with rare high-grade versions carrying massive price tags.
2004-05 Panini Este Sticker Lionel Messi
Total Graded: 89
PSA 10 – pop: 10; 1 sale in the past 6 months – June 2020, for $19,850
PSA 9 – pop: 30; 8 sales in the past 6 months; most recent February 10 ($29,999), and February 15 ($22,995)
PSA 8 – pop: 22; 6 sales in the past 6 months: $3,448 average
Total Graded by BGS: 116 – BGS 10: 4; BGS 9.5: 34; BGS 9: 24; BGS 8.5: 28; BGS 8: 12
Don’t let the relatively large number of high-grade BGS graded versions fool you – this is one of the two rarest Messi rookies.
The first of Leo’s Panini cards, an otherwise unassuming horizontally laid, non-numbered, blank-back sticker that, in the moment, in the hands of a child, resembles – hold on to your hats – a sticker, to be peeled and stuck somewhere…
A PSA 10 last came to market in June 2020, and sold for just under $20,000. In the two weeks prior to the writing of this article, a pair of PSA 9s sold for roughly $30,000 and $23,000. PSA 8s have leapt from $2,000-$3,000 in January 2021, to about $6,000. There’s a BGS 9.5 example on eBay right now for a big price.
2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks #BIS 71
Total Graded: 226
PSA 10 – pop: 20; 1 sale in the past 6 months – September 2020, for $116,988 (Preceding 3 sales: April 2020, for $21,500; March 2019, for $13,900; and October 2017, for $8,610)
PSA 9 – pop: 34; 5 sales in the past 6 months: $22,040 average (Year ago: $4,309)
PSA 8 – pop: 50; 7 sales in the past 6 months: $9,214 average (Year ago: $1,077)
PSA 7 – pop: 31; No sales in the past 6 months: Last 2 sales, in July 2020, were for $3,750 each
Total Graded by BGS: 360
BGS 9.5: 70; BGS 9: 109; BGS 8.5: 93; BGS 8: 36
The holy grail of soccer cards.
Though not as rare as the Panini Este sticker, this Mega Cracks Messi rookie is the most valuable Messi rookie. PSA 10s (pop: 20) come to market roughly once a year. In October 2017, one sold for $8,600. In March 2019, one sold for $13,900. A month later, $21,900. The most recent, in September, was for an incredible $116,988. PSA 9s, meanwhile, are now in the $30,000 range, with the lower grades, down to PSA 6, now approaching – and exceeding – $10,000.
A few can usually be found on eBay at varying grade levels.
2004-05 Mundi Cromo Sport Las Fichas de la Liga #617
Total Graded by PSA: 347
PSA 10 – pop: 46; 1 sale in the past 6 months – August 2020, for $5,655
PSA 9 – pop: 133; 10 sales in the past 6 months: $2,467 average
PSA 8 – pop: 87; 15 sales in the past 6 months: $1,915 average
PSA 7 – pop: 40; 7 sales in the past 6 months: $534 average
Total Graded by BGS: 153 – BGS 10: 1; BGS 9.5: 13; BGS 9: 48; BGS 8.5: 53; BGS 8: 17
Part of the extensive Spanish Mundi Cromo set that covers Spain’s domestic league, this is the most mainstream, and typically least pricy of Messi’s rookie cards. For a number of years, raw copies in good condition could be had for well under $100. Unsurprisingly, prices have skyrocketed over the past year and, along with all other Messi rookie cards, have hit the afterburners. Thanks to the challenges of finding perfectly centered copies, ultra-high-grade versions command something of an added premium.
A PSA 10 last sold in August 2020, for $5,655. In the months since, sale of PSA 9s have gone from about $2,500, to $5,500, with PSA 8s and 7s also cracking four figures. The good news is they are readily available.
2004-05 Mundi Cromo Top Liga #195 (w/ Borja Fernandez, Daniel Rodriguez and Francisco Llompart)
Total Graded: 35
PSA 10 – pop: 1; No recorded sales
PSA 9 – pop: 10; 1 recorded sale – January 27, 2021, for $4,510
PSA 8 – pop: 11; 1 recorded sale – July 28, 2020, for $1,009
Foil parallel
Total Graded: 347
PSA 10 – pop: 1; 1 recorded sale – January 2018, for $1,375
PSA 9 – pop: 7; 1 sale in the past 6 months – October 23, 2020, for $8,500
PSA 8 – pop: 22; 3 sales in the past 6 months: $1,012 average
No BGS-graded versions of either card
From a second 2004-05 Mundi Cromo set, a quad-player rookie card.
In one man’s opinion, this is the least desirable Messi rookie. Between the unattractive photo of Messi, and the fact that none of the other three prospects on the card went on to stardom, purely form a collector’s perspective, there’s not much to sink your teeth into here.
That being said, this is the other of the ultra-rare Messi rookie. Per PSA, only eight graded versions of this card have sold in the past three years, the two most recent an 8.5 which fetched $3,500 in October 2020, and a PSA 9 which sold for $4,500 in late January.
Strangely, graded versions of the even rarer foil version have popped up more frequently, though only one PSA has surfaced, and it sold for $8,500 in October 2020. Meanwhile, lower grades (6-8) have fetched low-four-figure sums. A few are usually on the market at any given time.
The Mega Cracks Trio
Lastly, there is the Barca Campeón / Campió edition product. The reason for the two different names is because this set was released with both a Spanish version (Campeón) and a Catalan version (Campió). The difference can be distinguished by the crest in the upper front corner of the cards–and perhaps more obviously by the spelling of the headline running up the right side of the front (“Campeones vs. Campions”).
In all, the set features three different Messi cards: Campeones/Campions (#35; head shot), Accion/Accio (#62; the side view), and Autografo/Autograf (#89), the last of which actually uses the same photo from the Panini Mega Cracks card above.
2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks Barca (#35) (see photos above)
Spanish: Total Graded: 243
PSA 10 – pop: 46; 5 sales in the past 6 months – $20,620
PSA 9 – pop: 96; 9 sales in the past 6 months: $3,562 average
PSA 8 – pop: 57; 10 sales in the past 6 months: $1,303 average
PSA 7 – pop: 28; 5 sales in the past 6 months: $1,359 average
Total Graded by BGS: 117 – BGS 9.5: 19; BGS 9: 51; BGS 8.5: 31; BGS 8: 9
Catalan: Total Graded: 120
PSA 10 – pop: 15; 3 sales recorded: June 25, 2018, for $1,202; June 21, 2018, for $750; and May 22, 2018, for $2,850 – no data available for sales prior or since
PSA 9 – pop: 24; 5 sales in the past 6 months: $2,895 average
PSA 8 – pop: 19; 9 sales in the past 6 months: $2,877 average
PSA 7 – pop: 28; 7 sales in the past 6 months: $1,199 average
Total Graded by BGS: 5 – BGS 8.5: 3; BGS 8: 1; BGS 7.5: 1
See both versions for sale and auction here.
2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks Barca (#62)
Spanish: Total Graded: 236
PSA 10 – pop: 76; 13 sales in the past 6 months – $11,547
PSA 9 – pop: 77; 14 sales in the past 6 months: $1,588 average
PSA 8 – pop: 62; 12 sales in the past 6 months: $747 average
Total Graded by BGS: 103 – BGS10: 1; BGS 9.5: 33; BGS 9: 43; BGS 8.5: 19
Catalan: Total Graded: 77
PSA 10 – pop: 3; 1 recorded sale: November 2019, for $2,550
PSA 9 – pop: 11; No sales in the past 6 months; Last recorded sale was in April 2020, for $1,200; preceding 3 sales, all in March 2020, for between $227 and $275
PSA 8 – pop: 26; 4 sales in the past 6 months: $1,319 average
Total Graded by BGS: 3 – BGS 9.5: 1; BGS 9: 1; BGS 8.5: 1
See them for sale and auction here.
2004-05 Panini Mega Cracks Barca (#89)
Spanish: Total Graded: 499
PSA 10 – pop: 143; 13 sales in the past 6 months – $8,314
PSA 9 – pop: 114; 13 sales in the past 6 months: $2,388 average
PSA 8 – pop: 83; 6 sales in the past 6 months: $1,126 average
Total Graded by BGS: 228 – BGS 10: 1; BGS 9.5: 106; BGS 9: 59; BGS 8.5: 33; BGS 8: 13
Catalan: Total Graded: 192
PSA 10 – pop: 38; No sales in the past 6 months; 2 sales in July 2020, for $3,900-$4,000
PSA 9 – pop: 37; 13 sales in the past 6 months: $4,515 average
PSA 8 – pop: 37; 4 sales in the past 6 months: $712 average; Only other recorded sale was in March 2020, for $62
Total Graded by BGS: 7 – BGS 9.5: 2; BGS 9: 1; BGS 8.5: 2; BGS 8: 2
Check the current market for these autographed Messi rookie cards here.
Amid the recent explosion in the prices of Messi rookies, the entire batch of Mega Cracks cards seems to have gained momentum, with all having at least doubled (if not more) in the past month. Among the more common Spanish versions (graded versions of the Catalan cards are rather more difficult to come by), 3 PSA 10 “Campeones” sold between January 17 and February 17, 2021, for $9,000, $20,000 and… $56,000!
Meanwhile, a shocking eight PSA 10s versions of #62 sold in the past month, starting at $9,000 on January 27, and climbing gradually to $30,000 on February 10.
The market has seen a rise in the “Autografo” Messis, with five PSA 8s selling for between $613 (January 27) and $3,500 (February 6), five PSAs going for between $2,500 and $10,600 (February 19) and seven PSA 10s selling for between $5,500 (January 27) and $27,500 (February 18).
Of course, another question remains: In a country that’s not historically collectibles focused, and has never been awash in spare funds for high-dollar sports cards, let alone professional grading, just how many more of these things (or, for that matter, his now-hot 2005-06 cards) have survived nearly almost decades in prime condition?
You can check out the current list of the 100 most watched Messi card auctions via the live list below and see a list of all most watched soccer card auctions on eBay here.
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