The 3 most expensive soccer cards I bought this week and WHY
I’ve recently gotten into buying soccer cards as an investment. I’m not 100% sure if now is the best time with the impending recession/depression, but I’ve been watching the prices of all Panini Obsidian cards and they’ve been staying pretty consistent or even going up in some cases. My focus has been almost solely on Panini Obsidian cards for three reasons. The first is that I like them; I think they have a good design and look good when displayed. I personally find Prizm to be too jarring and hard to see in the wrong light. Secondly, the prices of these things new is crazy. MSRP for a pack of 7 cards is $160. You can usually find a pack on eBay now for $130–140, but that still averages out to about $20 a card, which makes them very exclusive. Little kids aren’t going to be buying these at Walmart. Lastly, every card is limited. The most copies of a single card that exist in the whole set is 199. That means they will be very rare. This is also the first time Panini is making them, which adds even more value in my opinion.
Anyway, last week, I ordered 49 Obsidian cards. Almost all of them were under $10. A good number of them were under $2. However, I did spend more than $10 on three cards:
- Samuel Umtiti — Matrix Material /25 — $14.10
- Daniel James — Base /165 — $16.91
- Joao Felix — Base /15 — $53.85
I’m going to go into detail about why I paid more than my normal threshold for these cards and why I think these cards have a good chance at becoming very valuable.
- Samuel Umtiti — Matrix Material /25 — $14.10
Samuel Umtiti is a 26 year old World Cup winning central defender for Barcelona and France. He has the capability of being one of the best defenders in the world. He was nearing that place when he was injured last season and hasn’t fully recovered yet. However, hopefully he will return from this Coronavirus break feeling back to normal. He currently has a FIFA Rating of 85 with a potential rating of 88. He even had a FUT card rated 99 in 2018. He is also being eyed by some large teams in England, such as Manchester United, Arsenal, & Chelsea, for a possible summer move. I think this would be good for him because it would keep him at a very big team in world football, but he would be more likely to become the main man in defense, which could help his resurgence in popularity, value, etc. This could also help solidify his place in the French team for the Euros next year, as he would likely get more playing time than at Barcelona. France are again favorites after winning the World Cup in 2018, so if he were a part of that team, his popularity would only grow.
This card, in particular, holds a higher value than his other card because it has both a relic (jersey swatch) and autograph, whereas the other is just relics. The value of this card isn’t extremely solidified as only 2 have ever sold, but the same card in less rare samples (/50 or /99) have sold as high as $25.99. Most current Buy It Now listings on eBay for /99 are around the $30 mark and one /50 is even sitting at over $100 shipped. Now, I don’t think it will sell for that any time soon. However, it does show that the perceived value is very high to some.
Umtiti already has a large fanbase with 6.6m Instagram followers, and this will likely continue to grow, especially if he’s able to get himself back to the forefront of world soccer.
2. Daniel James — Base /165 — $16.91
This is by far the least rare of the three cards I’m talking about, which means most of the card’s value is in the player alone. Daniel James was relatively unknown a year ago, playing for Swansea, a mid-table Championship team. However, his move to Manchester United last summer and his early goal scoring form, earned him a spot as a favorite amongst one of the world’s largest fanbases. He played all but 2 games for Manchester United this season, scoring 3 and assisting 6. But it was that early hype that really helped drive his card prices up. At only 22, James seems to have a big career ahead of him, likely having a similar career of fellow countrymen Ryan Giggs or even Gareth Bale. He currently has a FIFA rating of 77 with a potential of 85, but he’s already had an FUT card of 86. He has a lot of people looking at him to be the future of Manchester United to help bring them back to the glory years of the 00s.
The card, itself, while relatively common for this set, is still pretty rare. Only 165 exist, and it’s a Rookie Card, so if he does become the next Giggs, this card could be worth a lot down the line. He has gained 1.7m Instagram followers in essentially 9-10 months, and this will continue to grow, especially if United start challenging for titles and Champions League again. He is also a favorite for the Welsh National Team, which is coached by Ryan Giggs and will probably have a long healthy career there. And while it’s a long shot, I wouldn’t count Wales out of winning or at least competing for a European Championship or even World Cup in the next few years.
This card has sold at around the $20–25 mark consistently since it was released. The only current active listing is at $44.99, so a listing at $30–35 should easily get an offer at around the $25 mark. But I don’t think $44.99 will be too crazy in the very near future.
3. Joao Felix — Base /15 — $53.85
Now, before I start going into detail about this card, I should say that while I am happy with the purchase, I didn’t necessarily mean to buy it. See, I have a spreadsheet of all the sales of every Obsidian card. And sometimes I make mistakes. And with this card, I accidentally combined this /15 Yellow with /8 Contra, so I was under the impression when I bid that this card was worth around $300. So when I bid $50, I didn’t expect to win. But I did win, only to realize my mistake. However, I am still the lowest paying buyer of this card, so I am ok with it.
Joao Felix burst onto the scene last season as an 18/19 year old for Benfica. He scored 20 goals and assisted 11 in 43 appearances. So naturally, many teams were in for him last summer, and he ended up going to Atletico Madrid for a club record fee of $138m to replace their longtime striker, Antoine Griezmann, who moved to Barcelona. His first season hasn’t been too great, scoring 6 and assisting 3 in 28 games. However, he still proves to be one of the most exciting future prospects in world football. He has a FIFA rating of 80 but a potential of 93, which is almost unheard of. His highest FUT card is 92. The next season or two will be instrumental for him, as he will have to prove his worth. However, if he does, there could be big rewards.
His compatriot, Cristiano Ronaldo, is near the end of his career, and will likely play in his last European Championships next year. Felix will probably be there beside him, so there is a good chance that the current European Champions will hold onto their title. If they can do that, or even come close, then many will see it as a sort of passing of the torch from Ronaldo to Felix as a worldwide star. This will increase his value and fanbase, as well as likely push him to an even larger team than Atletico, where he could win titles and Champions Leagues on a consistent basis.
But again, Joao Felix is only 20 years old, so a lot of this is speculation and hope that he can fulfill his promise while staying injury free. The card itself is very rare: only 1/15. Previous sales have been between $62 and $73 shipped with several bidders on each, so there are many people that see the value. There is a current listing for a /25 for $565, which is ridiculous in the current market. But again, it shows the perceived value that Felix has. My hope is that as Messi and Ronaldo retire in the next few years, Felix, along with Mbappe will become the world superstars.
Overall, a big reason for my paying a little more than usual can be traced back to the promise, both of the quality and the popularity of the players. None of them had particularly great seasons stat-wise; however, they show great glimpses of what they could become. I could be wrong, but I think even if I am, getting in this early is a no-lose situation.
