Soccer collectors: What is considered Messi's best RC?

gregmo32

I am thinking of picking one up for a gift for a friend. Are there multiple RC's for him? Is there an established best RC?

RedHeart54

It seems the 2003 Panini is his most established RC.

miwlvrn

There aren't any licensed 2003 cards. There are lots of 2004 cards. His best is unquestionably this one:



I laid this info out in another thread, but don't remember which one, so here you go:

Best one:

2004 Panini Mega Cracks no. 71

This is the 2nd best one:

2004 Panini Este Stickers NNO

The rest:

2004 Mundi Cromo Top Liga No. 195 (this card has incorrectly been labeled as 2005 by PSA, but it is a 2004 card)
2004 Mundi Cromo Las Fichas de la Liga no. 617 (this is the inexpensive bargain-basement dime-a-dozen card, relatively speaking)
2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks - Barca Campeon (Spanish) no. 35
2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks - Barca Campeon (Spanish) no. 62
2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks - Barca Campeon (Spanish) no. 89
2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks - Barca Campio (Catalan) no. 35
2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks - Barca Campio (Catalan) no. 62
2004 Panini Sports Mega Cracks - Barca Campio (Catalan) no. 89

PSA has mislabeled a whole heck of a lot of these cards because they didn't know the differences between the Spanish and Catalan versions. There are many ways to tell them apart. The other TPG's label them correctly. I've recently documented the variances for PSA and I am confident they'll begin getting these labeled accurately soon.

Any others you find aside from these 10 here are not licensed and are pretty much junk, if you're talking Messi RC.

DanBessette

I see a lot of 2004 Messi cards listed on eBay that are "UK Traditions" but that wasn't on your RC list. Is that because those are unlicensed?

miwlvrn

Yes, those are unlicensed, and not respected as legit cards. Waste of money from an investment perspective, but if you happen to like the photo for your collection, you should be able to pick one up for a buck or two.

eagles33

2004 Panini Mega Cracks #71 is the only one I would buy...,unless some earlier one from Argentina sufaces that I don't even know about.

gregmo32

Thanks a lot for the info. I appreciate it.

slum22

PM sent.