Originally posted on 4 January 2012.
The
following is a breakdown of the most valuable certified autographs in
the soccer card hobby as well as a few who surprisingly don't have a
certified autograph as of yet and some players to look out for in the
future. Note that I didn't include Futera cards in this assessment due
to their dubious nature.
Roberto Baggio - 'Il Divin Codino' or The
Divine Ponytail as he is affectionately known has a huge following not
only in Italy but also in Asia which is where his two certified
autographs were released back in the early 2000's. The 2003 Panini
Calcio Cards auto (hideous sticker BTW) pictured below has a low print
run of 100 and has been known to sell for well over a staggering
$1,000.00 USD!
David
Beckham - Here in the USA David Beckham is a massively overrated
footballer and his signed card's prices reflect that. Many fans of the
game here in the States regard him as a legendary player on par with the
likes of Pelé, I shit you not! I suspect this is also the case in east
Asia where his autos also command a hefty price. Capitalizing on his
inflated reputation as well as pop culture icon status, Upper Deck
pimped his cards as the main selling point in their excellent Man Utd
products and apparently they sold very well, thanks in no small part to
Becks. Well past his prime now, his signature remains among the most
valuable in any UD soccer release.
George Best - The flamboyant Northern Irishman has several autographed cards in Upper Deck's various Man Utd releases.
Fabio Cannavaro - Cannavaro.
Cristiano
Ronaldo - Cristiano is hugely popular with contemporary collectors and
is perhaps the most sought after signature of any footballer right now.
He has a small selection of Upper Deck Man Utd autos from the mid 00's,
unfortunately they're all sticker autos but still very desireable among
collectors. Despite massive popularity CRonaldo surprisingly hasn't had
another certified auto issued in nearly a decade.
Alessandro
Del Piero - 'Pinturichio's only certified autograph was released all the
way back in a 1998 Juventus collection by Upper Deck. This
on-card auto has a scarce print run of apparently only 20 copies. It's so rare that I've only
ever seen 1 on an online auction and as you can imagine it sold for a
some serious cash, well over $1,000.00 if I remember correctly.
Landon
Donovan - Landon is the undisputed favorite for US soccer collectors
and his autograph's prices definitely reflect that. Having recently
signed an exclusive contract with Upper Deck has seen his certified
signature become more common lately and as a result his prices have
dipped a bit. The highest end Donovan autos can still go for over
$300.00 though, some serious money.
Ryan Giggs - The Welsh Wizard
has a nice selection of autos from both Upper Deck and Topps including
on card and sticker autographs. The United legend's relatively wide
selection of autos has not really hurt his auto's values which remain
strong. I reckon when he retires his prices will only see a boost.
Mario Gómez - .....
Thierry Henry - UPDATE: Titi has recently joined MLS and as a result he now has at least a couple of certified autos which usually sell for 3 figures.
Andrés
Iniesta - Playing in the enormous shadow of Lionel Messi, Iniesta is a bit of an underrated commodity IMO. It's a very different
story on his 3 certified autos though. Each one is are extremely rare
and in the rare event that one does show up for sale, they perform very
well on the secondary market. The scarce World Cup auto from below can
go for upwards of $500.00.
Kaká
- The autographed card pictured below is Kaká's sole certified
autograph trading card. Due to it's rarity (/50 serial numbered copies)
and despite the hideous sticker this one sells for big bucks, even
nearing the $1000,00 mark on occasion.
Roy
Keane - The legendary long time Man United captain didn't sign as much
as the other Utd icons of the time, Beckham, Giggs and Scholes. So his
auto is relatively rare and sells very well on the secondary market,
with a premium price on awesome on-card autos like the one below.
Frank Lampard - .Lampard's sole Panini auto sells for 3 figures, while a very rare 2005 Topps England issue also sells for 3 figures but is much rarer.
Paolo
Maldini - AC Milan and Italian football in general have a massive
following in the far east of Asia. The legendary captain and symbol of
Milan for decades has earned him extreme popularity among Asian
collectors and has led to extreme prices for the few auto Maldini has.
$1000.00 is not unheard of for some of his inked cards.
Nakata
Hidetoshi - The most prolific icon of Japanese football from the 90's to the mid
2000's and possibly of all time, Nakata is hugely popular among Japanese
collectors who tend to be a very dedicated and hardcore bunch. This inevitably
leads to huge prices on his many autographs. His autos sell for around
$300.00 - at the lower end! Higher end ones sell for $1000.00 + easily.
Pelé
- Edson Arantes do Nascimento, as is his given name, has a series of
autographed cards from Canadian card brand, SportKings. They're not the best designed cards out there but they do feature solid on-card autos. These tend to
sell well but not as well as you might think for a player many
consider the greatest of all time. Usually somewhere in the $250.00 to
$400.00 range.
Ronaldinho - Ronaldinho only has 1 certified auto and it is also a jersey card. The signature on it is on-card which is a rarity. The going rate on these gems is close to the 1 grand mark.
Ronaldo
- The original and best of the Ronaldo's as far as I'm concerned has
the 2002 Panini World Cup auto in the pic below and a few DS (now
defunct) auto's to choose from. Not even the fugly white paper/sticker
that Panini used for Ronaldo's signature can stop 'O Fenômeno's sig from
fetching $500.00 and beyond!
Francesco Totti - ................
Robin van Persie - This flying Dutchman's 2 Panini autos sell for big money on the rare ocassion that they do surface. his signed cards are from the 2010-11 Panini Champions League Premium set and the 2010 Panini World Cup Premium product.
Mark Viduka - The aussie has an auto issued in 2006 by Australian manufacturer Select which has been known to sell for over $600.00 AUD.
Xavi
- Another diminutive undervalued Spanish player who some even consider to be the World's
best, he's even tired of winning it all with Barça and Spain hasn't
he. Xavi's only auto which is limited to /25 generally sells within the
range of $500.00 and a cool grand.
Honorable
mentions for players like Adriano (of Inter fame), Anelka, Ballack,
Chiellini, Clint Dempsey, Deschamps, Fàbregas, Forlán, Gascoigne, 'Pipo'
Inzaghi, Henrik Larsson, Lúcio, Rafa Márquez, Michael Owen, Puyol, Rui
Costa, Schmeichel, Scholes, Shearer, Valderrama, van der Sar, van Nistelrooy, Zamorano and
Javier Zanetti, who all have valuable signed cards but don't quite crack
the elite list.
Some notable all time greats who do NOT have any certified autos include, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane.
While other greats such as Eusébio,
Facchetti, Shilton and Ian Wright do have autos which can all be had for well under
$100.00 and in the cases of Eusébio and Shilton under $25.00!
Ones to look out for in the future include:
Javier
'Chicharito' Hernández - A massive fan favorite among Mexico and Man Utd
fans alike, the sweet pea has no reputable certified autos to speak of
but he does have a dubious Futera auto which regularly sells for 3
figures in the rare case that it does surface. If he were to have a
Panini, Topps, or UD auto, I'm sure plenty of collectors would be
willing to pay big money to pick one up, I know I'm one of them.
Lionel
Messi - Despite there already being ongoing debate about Messi being
the greatest of all time, Messi does not have a certified autographed
trading card as of yet, I doubt he even has one of those shitty Futera
ones. I don't know why Panini hasn't been able to secure Messi's
signature for any of their collections but if they or any other company
(SportKings anyone?) did produce one I'm certain collectors would be
falling over themselves to obtain one. It'd surely cost a fortune to get
your hands on one though.
UPDATE: Since this original post Messi has had his own card collection released in Japan by Icons. The few autos I've seen surface have all sold for well over 1,000.00 USD!
Neymar - I'm not really sold on Neymar
being a bona fide superstar, yet. Until he proves himself in Europe, I
see him as another Robinho type who possibly lacks the temperament and
maturity to be a legit World class player. If he goes across the pond
and does indeed prove himself as an elite player I could see his
potential future autos doing very well.
Wayne Rooney - Even though
he's already a well established superstar Rooney does not yet have a
certified auto but once he does I reckon it will cost a small fortune seeing as how Man Utd is probably the most popular football club among card collectors.
Luis Suárez - The controversial Liverpool star has some Futera autos out there but if a major company were to release a certified auto I'm thinking that would take his cardboard sigs to the next level, value-wise.
