There are plenty of collectibles you can buy to celebrate Lionel Messi's life and career. But the prices are so different that it’s worth checking a comparison.
With the year of the Copa América finally upon us, and with Lionel Messi’s presence on Intern Miami making ticket prices jump by 1000%, anything related to Messi seems to be at its apex. Inter Miami fans even booed and asked for ticket refunds when Lionel did not show up to play in a match in Hong Kong.
Memorabilia related to whom many consider the best soccer player of all time is sure to draw attention from collectors and fans everywhere. For those who are enthusiasts about the current holder of the FIFA World Cup, here are the 7 coolest Messi collectibles.
1. Join The Planet Collectible Boot
The place where Messi-enthusiasm and sustainability meet, this exclusive shoe is a replica of Lionel Messi’s iconic left boot. Endorsed by Messi and created by Join The Planet, the Genesis Edition shoe was designed along with the soccer player and is made of plastic waste and fishing nets recovered from worldwide oceans and rivers worldwide.
The texture of this authentic, limited-time boot resembles the waves and blue waters you can help protect by buying one: every shoe is made up of more than 4 lbs of recycled plastic. Also: a part of the profit is used to support ecosystem-restoring programs.
Genesis Edition boot: A Messi collectible with his signature
Because this boot is part of an official partnership with Messi himself, the design also displays a replica of his signature and comes with a digital certificate that registers the buyer as its legitimate owner. Affordable and official products are difficult to find, especially when they also come as a part of a sustainability effort.
This boot will make a fine Messi piece of memorabilia to have on your shelf. You can buy it on our website.
Source: Jointheplanet.earth
2. Set of 6 Lionel Messi’s worn shirts
When talking about the coolest Messi collectibles, we are really talking about the most stylish. This next item will probably be unreachable. Most likely one of the most sought-after keepsakes of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the set of 6 worn shirts that Messi himself wore in the finals, semifinals, quarter-finals, round of 16, and two Group Stage matches is valued at $7.8 million.
The set was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in December 2022, when the Argentinian team had just been crowned as the world champions.
3. Official UEFA Champions League signed ball
Guarded in an acrylic case, these official UEFA balls were signed by Lionel Messi in May 2024. With a limited stock and a prize of £1,849.99, even getting a glimpse of this Messi collectible is difficult.
Still, the rewards are vast: as the balls come with an official certificate of authenticity, the buyer will have 100% proof that they own a real signature.However, if this option is out of your budget, the next piece of memorabilia may be more appealing.
4. Funko Pop Messi collectibles
These big-headed, wide-eyed figurines can be found in the rooms and offices of fans of — well, anything. Their presence in pop culture is so vast that the company that makes them reported net sales of $1 billion in 2021 alone, according to Forbes.
You will find Funkos depicting Messi in all the eras of his career: wearing the white and light blue Argentinian national team jersey, suited with the blue uniform of his years in Paris Saint Germain, or even lifting the World Cup. Of course, these figurines are nowhere near as exclusive as other items on this list, as they can be easily found on Amazon or eBay. But still, they make a fine addition to your collection of Messi-inspired memorabilia.
5. Mystery signed shirt box – FC Barcelona edition
If you want to feel the thrill of Christmas mornings again, all while making your collection of soccer-related items bigger, then this one is for you. You can buy an official FC Barcelona shirt, signed by any player from a long list of former members of the team, such as Ronaldinho, Pep Guardiola, Jordi Alba, and, of course, Lionel Messi.
The catch with this one is that you cannot be sure which one you will get, so it could be a considerable number of purchases before you find the one you want. So, to some extent, you will be opening a box without knowing what is inside. However, a great part of the art of collecting is, precisely, the quest to find the Holy Grail of memorabilia you crave, so the search for Messi’s signature can be as fun as actually finding it.
Source: Icon.com
6. Panini’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 sticker album
Next in line is a lower-cost option, but an exciting one nonetheless. If you are a Messi fan trying to find the perfect addition to your collection, this is your opportunity to own something to remember and revisit the FIFA World Cup 2022, which was played in Qatar, and gave Lionel Messi his first World Championship. It is tradition for the Italian company Panini to launch sticker albums for major soccer events. Fans try to collect the stickers of their favorite players, teams, stadiums, and mascots, with the final goal of filling every spot on the book. Of course, Messi’s sticker is only one of too many, but the album makes a good collectible anyway. And the best part is you can buy the album with all the loose stickers included, so you can take pleasure in actually sticking them. And, for the bookworms out there, the whole thing is hard-covered.
7. Bonus item: A napkin
Yes, as you are reading it. The last item on this list is the famous napkin in which Lionel Messi’s father, Jorge, first signed a deal with FC Barcelona for his 13-year-old son to play in the team, which would mark his rise to global success.
Written using a ballpoint pen, the deal was a rushed way of making sure Messi’s father would not take him back to Argentina, due to uncertainty on the contracts. This soccer-lore relic was kept in a vault for years, only seeing sunlight again to be auctioned. It was sold in May 2024 for £762,400, equivalent to about $968,600. So, unless you have 1 million dollars stacked in your pocket, this is a collectible that you will probably not be able to buy. But, considering it is one of the pieces of history that started the career of one of the greatest soccer players of all time, it is worth spending a bit of money on it.
Source: BBC.com
Buy a unique Messi collectible with his signature
The shelf (or shelves) in your house dedicated to Lionel Messi can always get more and more full of items. As this list has shown, collectibles dedicated to the soccer legend are endless, and come in a large range of prices, accessibility, and exclusiveness, but you can usually prioritize only one of these qualities, as they tend to be contradictory among themselves.
Even so, when all the planets line up, and you find memorabilia that is official, exclusive, and affordable, you cannot miss that opportunity, especially when it comes as part of a sustainability effort. To have all these qualities gathered in only one collectible, you can buy the Genesis Edition boots, with Messi’s signature, directly on the Join the Planet website.
Buy the Join The Planet signed collectible boot by Leo Messi now!