In its first showing at public auction since the card’s explosive run-up this summer, which saw it leap from less than $400,000 in its last public sale to $1.5 million in the private market, a 2004 Panini Sports Lionel Messi Mega Cracks PSA 10 rookie card fetched $960,000 at Fanatics Collect on Thursday night.
Though it failed to continue the upward trajectory of the card through the private market, the result is the best to date at public auction.
Another Messi card in the auction, while not closing in the same price range, proved to be an arguably more impressive result.
Messi’s 2004 Mundi Cromo Liga PSA 10 (population of 47) sold for $102,000 Thursday to close 33% higher than the previous record for the card set just three weeks prior.
The card is lesser known than its Mega Cracks counterpart despite actually releasing earlier in 2004. Fanatics attributes its “lack of notoriety” to the fact it was not produced by a major manufacturer.
As soccer, and Messi in particular, has seen a massive surge as of late, the cascading effects are now being seen in less prominent cards seen by collectors as opportunities to get in on the action at a lower price point.
Though it has double the PSA 10 population of the more famous Mega Cracks, demand for the Mundi Cromo is clearly growing each time it appears at auction.
In 2017, one could be had for less than $150. By October 2024, after having sold for as high as $59,000 in 2021, one traded hands at Heritage for $15,600.
Prior to Thursday night, copies sold publicly five times in 2025. First in July for $30,000, then three times in August for $50,000 each.
It most recently fetched $75,000 in early September.
Could this be the next Michael Jordan Star rookie? Both cards boast earlier prints than the “true” rookies and did not receive standard distribution. Only time will tell.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.