Messi Card Sale Tops Weekly Market Ahead of Baseball Icons
A weekly ranking of top sports card sales put Lionel Messi in the No. 1 spot, ahead of several baseball legends. The list included a 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson graded PSA 9 that sold for $518,500 and a signed 1932 Babe Ruth card that brought $976,000. A Cy Young cabinet card also made the top five, selling for $427,000.
Card Ladder data placed a 2026 Panini Prizm Choice Nebula Lionel Messi 1/1 BGS 9 first, at $1.25 million in an Oct. 9 private sale. A 2012-13 Panini Prizm Stephen Curry Gold /10 BGS 9 followed at $1,017,202.20, also private.
Baseball legends filled the next three spots: a signed 1932 US Caramel Babe Ruth PSA Authentic/Auto 9 at $976,000; a 1949 Bowman Jackie Robinson PSA 9 at $518,500; and an 1890-92 John H. Ryder Studio Cabinet Cy Young PSA 1.5 at $427,000. The Ruth and Robinson sales occurred Oct. 10 via Goldin.
This weekly card market snapshot may reinforce how sports memorabilia spans baseball and global soccer, potentially drawing new collectors to auctions and private sales. High-profile prices could influence expectations among hobbyists, dealers, and investors, while making historic baseball artifacts more visible to casual fans. It may also shape how card-grading and marketplace platforms present record sales, though broader social effects likely remain limited to collectors, athletes’ brands, and the memorabilia economy.