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A good transaction on eBay thread -- my first soccer card! If you know about soccer cards chime in p
slum22
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So there seems to be a lot of negative eBay stories on here so I thought I would share a good eBay transaction. I generally don't buy much from international sellers, I have only done so once before and that was because I didn't bother to look where the card was coming from. I have been looking to add a soccer card to my collection for a while now and narrowed it down to either a 2003 Ronaldo or a 2004 Messi either PSA or BGS graded. There are a few of them with high BIN's but they don't come up for auction that frequently. I noticed this one was being sold by an international seller and put it in my watch list. Since the seller had good feedback I decided to put a snipe on the card and hope for the best. I ended up winning the card for about 1/3 of my maximum bid, so I was very excited when I saw the auction result after getting off work. I actually won a separate auction for another ungraded Messi card and some unopened packs from the same set from the same seller. At this point, I was pretty eager to have the card but shipping was expected to be about 2-4 weeks. I was all set to be patient since I wasn't expecting the card for a while but a week later I decided to check tracking info just to see where the card was at in its international journey. I was pleasantly surprised to see it had arrived in the US. In fact from China to my mailbox it ended up only taking 1 week for me to receive the card! The seller packed my cards and unopened packs safely and even threw in a couple of random soccer cards as a bonus without telling me. If anyone ever is looking for soccer (or tennis cards) I would endorse this seller. His (or her) eBay seller name is jason.kiddhl
Anyway, for those who know about soccer cards: Can anyone tell me about this card? In the little I know I believe this is considered to be one of Messi's best RC's. I believe the same set had multiple Messi cards in it but this was the one that commanded the highest prices. Does anyone know how many of this set and specifically this card were printed? I am pretty darn happy with the card as I feel the subgrades are very strong for a BGS 8.5. I consider Centering and Corners to be the two most important subgrades so for them both to be 9.5 is nice for me.
Thanks for letting me share.
[URL=http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/slum22/media/2004-05PaniniMegacracks71LionelMessiBGS85_zps722e19a7.jpg.html]
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Anyway, for those who know about soccer cards: Can anyone tell me about this card? In the little I know I believe this is considered to be one of Messi's best RC's. I believe the same set had multiple Messi cards in it but this was the one that commanded the highest prices. Does anyone know how many of this set and specifically this card were printed? I am pretty darn happy with the card as I feel the subgrades are very strong for a BGS 8.5. I consider Centering and Corners to be the two most important subgrades so for them both to be 9.5 is nice for me.
Thanks for letting me share.
[URL=http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/slum22/media/2004-05PaniniMegacracks71LionelMessiBGS85_zps722e19a7.jpg.html]
![http://s1297.photobucket.com/user/slum22/media/2004-05PaniniMegacracks71LionelMessiBGS85_zps722e19a7.jpg.html]](/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=http%3A%2F%2Fs1297.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2Fslum22%2Fmedia%2F2004-05PaniniMegacracks71LionelMessiBGS85_zps722e19a7.jpg.html%5D){kind=link}
[/URL] Steve
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Panini Mega Cracks - Barca Campio - Campions, #35 [Catalan variant]
Panini Mega Cracks - Barca Campio, #62 [Catalan variant]
Panini Mega Cracks - Barca Campio - Autograf #89 (auto is on all of them and is a facsimile) [Catalan variant]
Panini Mega Cracks - Barca Campeon - Campeones, #35 [Spanish variant]
Panini Mega Cracks - Barca Campeon, #62 [Spanish variant]
Panini Mega Cracks - Barca Campeon - Autografo #89 [Spanish variant]
Mundi Cromo Fichas Liga, #617
Mundi Cromo Top Liga - Glossy, #195, Francisco J. Munoz Llompart/Lionel Messi RC/Daniel Cancela Rodriguez/Borja Fernandez Fernandez
Mundi Cromo Top Liga - Matte, #195, Francisco J. Munoz Llompart/Lionel Messi RC/Daniel Cancela Rodriguez/Borja Fernandez Fernandez
The #617 Mundi Cromo is your basic dime-a-dozen entry level RC for Messi and sells for the lowest price. So far, there hasn't been a premium noticeable on the Catalan vs. Spanish versions of the Barca cards. Neither BGS nor PSA labels them correctly yet, distinguishing between the two varieties. The Matte finish Mundi Cromo Top Liga #195 sells for a bit more than the Glossy variety.
*Edit to say that there is also the supposed 2004 UK Traditions card out there, but so far I'm not convinced it is a legit issue.
Incidentally, the list price in this BGS 9.5 2004 Este is beyond insane. I would consider it a very strong sale if the actual price made it to 5% of the list price.
Eagles33--Yes, this seller seems to have sold quite a few of these cards. Do you have any idea how rare (or not rare these cards are)? I agree on not trusting the grading scales of online sellers (domestic or international). Now that I have my Messi card I am ready for soccer card prices to take off
miwlvrn--Thanks for the great information. Like I said in the original post, I am a novice soccer card collector so it is interesting learning about the variations. List prices are generally unrealistic no matter what book you look at. Whenever possible I like to look at previous sales on eBay as a general guide to what I should pay for something. Even with all the talk of shillers and questionable practices I still think completed eBay sales offer the easiest access to quick realistic prices on cards.
Good points from eagles. As we've discussed in several threads before, it is a pretty big crapshoot buying from the foreign market, especially Spain and Italy, since their grading standards are pretty wacky sometimes. Like you see on the relatively new Ronaldo thread by a google-translate-utilizing would-be seller, many times the cards for sale on Euro sites are very over-represented. It probably contributes some to why the sales of certain cards are experiencing such high prices. You might have to take on the risk of picking up a lot of expensive raw cards before one of them actually turns out to be grade-worthy once in hand, and some of that cost gets passed along (i.e., when you sell your graded good one, you're including some cost you incurred in all the midgrade ones stacked up too). Similarly, a knowledgeable buyer who knows about the potential for getting burned by over-represented cards from overseas probably pays a bit more on a graded card like the Mega Cracks Messi or Ronaldo since that way he can be sure of what he is getting. I think as more of these big-time Euro RC's that make it over to the North American market, there will probably be less risk in buying raw ones since there will be many more sellers who understand local condition grading, and the sale prices of the graded ones might in turn take a slight dip or at least level out.
<< <i>I would go with the 2003 mega craques for ronaldo rc. 2003 panini sticker is a nice inexpensive option.. About 25 bucks >>
OK, but 2003 is the year to go with?
<< <i>
<< <i>I would go with the 2003 mega craques for ronaldo rc. 2003 panini sticker is a nice inexpensive option.. About 25 bucks >>
OK, but 2003 is the year to go with? >>
The 2002 Panini Stickers - Futebol 2002-03, card #306, is a lot less expensive than the 2003 Panini Mega Craques. Both of these are considered his Rookie Card. There are several different ones from the 2003 Upper Deck Manchester United set, between base cards and parallels, but even though they're 2003 like the Mega Craques, I consider them a 2nd year card as compared w/ the 2002 Panini Stickers & 2003 Mega Craques. I think his RC has to be one of the cards w/ Sporting rather than Man.U.
<< <i>I see some 03 Upper Deck cards on ebay showing him with Man U. They seem pretty inexpensive. Are they not worth it? Also what is CAMPIONI DI FUTURO CALCIO ? >>
The Campioni di Futuro cards are sort of a B.S. mass-produced oddball. Calcio refers to it being a soccer card within the set of cards that includes other sports. Same set as the B.S. Sidney Crosby Pre-RC. There is a Malkin in that set too. It has multiple parallels w/ different background colors, but they carry as much value as the unlicensed 1990 oddball baseball cards that flooded the market, no more than a dollar or so.
eagles33 and miwlvrn--Thanks for the introductory class on soccer cards! You guys seem to know your stuff. That's why I asked for the soccer card experts to contribute in my thread title as I wanted to gain some knowledge on the subject. I appreciate you guys giving your input.
Pele 1958 Ave Ltda. Colecao Titulares (could also choose from many other issues from 1958 more info here Pele Rookie Card Thread )
George Best 1964 Barratt & Co. Ltd Famous Footballers
Diego Maradona 1978 Figurita Crack Mundial
Roberto Baggio 1985 Panini Calciatori
David Beckham 1995 Raven Manchester Utd. Red Devils
Cristiano Ronaldo 2003 Panini Mega Craques
Leo Messi 2004 Spanish Panini Megacracks
These are 2 newer ones that could end up cracking the list..
Gareth Bale 2007 Panini Coca-Cola Championship
Neymar 2009 Abril Gol Cards
<< <i>No problem. Im not an expert either. I'm actually in the same boat as you and just wanted to pick up a few rookie cards of players that could go down as all time greats. I actually know more about a few cards than I do about the sport... Here are the soccer cards that cracked my rookie card list of all time great athletes. The list is based on popularity rather than actual accomplishments. I picked the guys that I have heard of.
Pele 1958 Ave Ltda. Colecao Titulares (could also choose from many other issues from 1958 more info here Pele Rookie Card Thread )
George Best 1964 Barratt & Co. Ltd Famous Footballers
Diego Maradona 1978 Figurita Crack Mundial
Roberto Baggio 1985 Panini Calciatori
David Beckham 1995 Raven Manchester Utd. Red Devils
Cristiano Ronaldo 2003 Panini Mega Craques
Leo Messi 2004 Spanish Panini Megacracks
These are 2 newer ones that could end up cracking the list..
Gareth Bale 2007 Panini Coca-Cola Championship
Neymar 2009 Abril Gol Cards >>
Nice collection. In addition to the ones you've got identified there, I've picked up similar ones and some other Rookies of the top footballers who are not on your list. Problem is, my RCs for the following players have all been N9'd:
Franz Beckenbauer
Johan Cruyff
Lev Jascin
Alfredo Di Stefano
Eusebio Ferreira Da Silva
Zinedane Zidane
I did also pick up the Bobby Charlton & Thierry Henry RC's as well, but those are graded by PSA.
I submit a whole lot of foreign stuff, so I've probably had about 33% N9 in my last 750 cards sub'd. Getting an N9 is sort of expected when going for items that fall into the category of "condition nearly irrelevant, pop 1 none higher or lower, even though mid or low grade is the best one someone is going to find" so I know the risk I'm taking when I pick up obscure raw items.
Some of the ones I was talking about here specifically are:
1956 Chocolates Eduardo Pi, #15 Alfredo Di Stefano
1958 Fussball-Weltmeisterschait 1958, #77 Pele vs. Lev Jascin
1965 Lampo Perfetti - Grand Champions, NNO, Franz Beckenbauer
1969-70 Monty Gum - Eredivise, #233 Johan Cruyff
1992 Picsou Magazine - Perforated, #18 Zinedane Zidane
If you look at some of my soccer sets, they're full of zero higher or lower items. Part of the reason it has taken me so long to inch my way up the Pele list is that while I have the most items, many of those where I've got the only one graded, a lot of them were only possible to find in low condition. But for every card on any of my soccer sets, I have just as many buried in the stacks of N9 rejects that may eventually go to SGC since they'll holder a lot of items PSA won't. SGC seems willing to grade anything that BVG does, but PSA doesn't quite share the same amount of willingness on that.
Kiss me twice.....let's party.