“The card looked perfect.”
Nick Bruce and his son “freaked out” when they pulled an autographed Lionel Messi card from a pack around the Christmas holidays at their Ferndale, Mich., home. It was a normal reaction for sports card enthusiasts discovering a rare autographed card of a superstar athlete.
“Perfect” for Bruce meant sharp edges and corners, a clean surface and proper centering that would garner gem mint status from a third-party grader and boost its value even further. The authenticity of the autographed sticker on the card never crossed Bruce’s mind.
Why would it?
The fine print on the front of the 2021-22 Topps Finest Flashbacks UEFA Champions League Football’s Finest All-Star Autographs Orange Refractor card, of which only 10 were printed, reads “Topps Certified Autograph Issue.” There’s more assurance on the back of the card, potentially worth more than $1,000: “The signing of all Topps autographed cards is witnessed by a Topps representative to guarantee authenticity.”
Bruce sent the card off to industry-leading grading company PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator) with the anticipation of a top, gem mint 10 grade. Initially, PSA mistakenly posted the card’s grade as “authentic,” at the bottom of the company’s grading scale, instead of issuing a numbered grade that would increase its value. No reason for that was given, according to Bruce. The company allowed Bruce to resend it for expedited regrading. “Expedited” turned into several weeks.
Then came a phone call from a PSA representative.
“She told me verbatim, quote unquote, ‘Nick, this card (signature) is fake,’” Bruce said.
Then the representative alluded to a rumor, never substantiated, that has circulated online for years about signatures advertised as Messi’s.
“She’s like, ‘And there’s potential that this could’ve been his brother that signed it,’” Bruce said. It’s not clear what that suggestion was based on, or what evidence there is for it.
Bewildered, Bruce then contacted Topps, which has been owned by Fanatics since early 2022. In an online chat, a Topps customer service representative told Bruce: “I can’t promise anything will be done as the product was released over a year ago … but I will ask (that) they review as a courtesy if you file a product defect submission and include PSA documentation.”
This wasn’t the usual “product defect,” though — a dinged corner or noticeable print line running through the card. This was a challenge by the industry’s most prominent authenticator to something many collectors have come to take for granted: that autographs certified by major card manufacturers are the real deal.
Autographed cards have become big business for the companies that produce them. They command a value premium on the secondary market, and cards signed by top names like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes sell for up to millions of dollars. The authenticity of those signatures is rarely questioned. If autographs from one of the biggest superstar athletes in the world aren’t real, then what does that mean for all the other autographed cards out there?
It’s not the norm to have one pillar of the trading card industry — PSA — dispute a superstar athlete’s autograph that’s been certified by another pillar of the industry — Topps — in such a definitive way.
Another example came in May 2022 when the San Clemente, Calif., based Pat’s Pulls submitted a customer’s 2021 Panini Immaculate Messi autograph card to be graded by PSA. The grading company deemed the autograph as “inconclusive” and refused to grade it.
Ok need some help. Please retweet and share to get this resolved @PaniniAmerica arguably one of the best chases in Immaculate can’t even be Auth’ed by @PSAcard Please explain and make this right. How does this happen 🤷🏻♂️ #messi or #notmessi or #brothermessi pic.twitter.com/ltMLwsG7GF
— Pat’s Pulls LLC (@PatsPulls) May 11, 2022
Bruce decided to wait until PSA returned the card to him before making any decisions. He received the card back from PSA on Feb. 25 with “refund” on a loose label where a number grade would typically appear. Bruce spoke with The Athletic the next morning.
During the interview, he received an email from Topps.
“We have spoken with PSA and we can remake this card with a new sticker auto and PSA has stated that they will authenticate it,” a Topps collector support supervisor wrote in the email, which Bruce forwarded to The Athletic. “If you are interested in pursuing this resolution I have attached a prepaid label for you to return this card to us. When we receive the card we will begin the process of remaking your son’s Lionel Messi card with a new sticker auto.”
Bruce reacted to the email in real time during the interview. As he saw it, the company’s decision to replace the card “is an acknowledgement that this is fake, and agreeing with PSA.”
Topps and Fanatics, however, did not confirm that, and it’s unclear whether there is an alternate explanation for what PSA found. PSA grades are not immune from human error or differences of judgement; although graders work within standardized guidelines, individual decisions can vary from grader to grader.
The Athletic sent questions to both PSA president Ryan Hoge and Fanatics Collectibles/Topps CEO Mike Mahan.
When asked how PSA will handle autograph authentication for the remade Topps card, Hoge said, “We are already working with Topps on this specific instance, with a resolution in the works. For occurrences such as these, we regularly work directly with manufacturers on solutions. In this case, we’re able to have Topps send us the recreated card directly for us to complete the authentication and grading process.”
Hoge didn’t respond to other questions: How often has someone other than Messi potentially signing his cards been an issue on certified products from Topps or Panini, the sports card hobby’s other primary manufacturer? And how many Messi autographs certified by Topps/Panini have failed PSA authentication?
Through a Fanatics spokesperson, Mahan declined to comment on any of the questions sent via email by The Athletic, including Topps’ position on PSA’s non-authentic decision, why the company offered to remake the card and whether Topps offers to remake every certified autographed card if PSA tabs the autograph as inauthentic.
Inter Miami, Messi’s MLS team, didn’t respond to an email seeking a comment or statement from Messi involving questions surrounding his autograph on cards and memorabilia. A representative for Messi also did not respond to a request for comment.
Athletes typically autograph cards for companies while sitting with a witness, who signs a legal document verifying the items are actually being penned by the athlete. Since the bigger card companies can have hundreds if not thousands of athletes signing for them in a given year, these sessions can happen anywhere — even in a Dunkin Donuts. Players sign autographs either on the actual card or on stickers to be placed on cards later. The sheet of stickers could range between 25 to 40-plus stickers per page, often totaling several thousand autographs in a given session. Panini posted a photo on social media of Messi signing stickers to be placed on cards in 2016.
Not ‘Messi’ng Around: New ink from #LionelMessi arrives at @PaniniAmerica HQ. @TeamMessi #WhoDoYouCollect https://t.co/V4nPRbmAX2 pic.twitter.com/PbUANgrK8L
— Panini America (@PaniniAmerica) December 21, 2016
Bruce posted his dilemma on Reddit following his initial correspondence with Topps, sparking a renewed spree of internet chatter surrounding possible fake Messi autographs on Topps and Panini cards, with some speculating that they were signed by his brother. In addition to years of social media discussion, there are YouTube videos on the subject and a long-running thread on a prominent card collecting forum where users have meticulously compared signatures on Messi cards in an effort to determine which are real and which could be fake.
That thread begins with reference to a well-known authenticator who, in January 2022, publicly called out the scenario Bruce said PSA raised with him.
Steve Grad, lead authenticator for Beckett and frequent expert on History Channel’s “Pawn Stars,” was asked on X, “Have you ever heard that Leo Messi had someone sign his on-card stuff back in 2018?” Grad replied, “It’s fairly well known he had a family member signing for him on and off for a few years.” Grad didn’t offer evidence of his claim, and the theory remains publicly unsubstantiated.
Beckett declined a request for The Athletic to interview Grad for this story.
Dan Jamieson, CEO of Icons, an England-based sports memorabilia company, said he understands why a discrepancy with Messi’s autograph involving two of the most noted companies within trading cards would raise eyebrows.
Icons specializes in autographed soccer memorabilia, specifically Messi’s (athletes often have separate deals for trading card autographs and autographs on memorabilia like jerseys and balls). Jamieson said Icons has been working with Messi, 37, since the soccer star was only 17. Messi sits with the Icons staff at least three times a year for autograph sessions, with Jamieson’s name attached to every certificate of authenticity. The company has shared multiple videos of Messi signing for them on their YouTube channel.
Jamieson admits he’s no handwriting expert, but said Messi’s signature hasn’t varied much through the years when signing for Icons.
“I think it (Messi’s signature) has been pretty consistent,” Jamieson said. “He gets a lot of practice with us. He’s quite a consistent guy and he hasn’t deteriorated, let’s say. We sign with legends who were fit and young at the start and now are old and a bit dodgy and their signature does vary and change.”
Jamieson’s company doesn’t sell autographed sports cards, but he’s familiar with the demands put on some athletes to sign in bulk, particularly with “sticker autos,” as they’re called in the industry. While not indicating this happened with Messi and Topps, Jamieson questioned the overall autograph supervision process for sports cards.
“If you have a contract for 4,000 (autographs), it takes a long time,” said Jamieson. “I think people do it at home and I don’t think everything is witnessed.”
Bruce had been browsing online shortly before Christmas, and he couldn’t resist the discount at the New York-based Dave and Adam’s Card World. Cases of 2021-22 Topps Finest Flashbacks UEFA Champions League, which was released in Oct. 2022, were marked down 75 percent to less than $300 each. He went into impulse-buy mode and purchased a couple of cases, with six boxes of cards per case.
Hitting the Messi autographed card more than paid for the purchase — assuming, of course, it was authentic.
The last three sales of the Red Refractor version of this particular Messi autographed card (serial numbered to five) sold for $3,000, $1,801 and $1,711 in April and May 2024, according to sales tracking site Card Ladder. If Bruce’s initial card had received a PSA 10 grade, it would likely be worth north of $1,500.
The above sales involved ungraded cards. One of the two PSA graded versions of this card carries a DNA autograph authenticity. The other possesses a card quality grade only.
The “authentic” grade was a curveball Bruce had never experienced.
PSA put the card through its DNA autograph evaluation service for the second grading process because of the potential value of the autographed Messi card. PSA’s DNA service “conducts ink analysis, autograph structure analysis, object evaluation and side-by-side comparisons,” according to PSA’s website. “Authenticators may also use a video spectral comparator to further evaluate the autograph.”
Bruce asked the PSA representative he’d been in contact with what would happen to the two Messi autographed cards from that set that are accounted for in PSA’s population count.
“She (the PSA representative) said ‘we’re going to remove those,’” Bruce said. “‘We’re going to remove those certifications.’ That’s when I was like, ‘Whoa! Actually, this is kind of a really big deal.’ Scrubbing cards that potentially traded hands for thousands of dollars … that just opens up a huge can of worms.”
As of Tuesday night, both cards remained listed with grades. When asked if they will be decertified, Hoge said, “We have an internal brand protection team that investigates instances such as this on a case-by-case basis as they are brought to our attention, then takes the appropriate actions on individual cases.”
There has been no finding of fraud in this case. But any seller of inauthentic or fraudulent sports memorabilia could be subject to significant criminal charges and civil actions, according to New Orleans based attorney Stephen Scullin.
“On the criminal side, the seller may be charged with forgery or fraud which could result in various fines and jail time depending on the jurisdiction,” Scullin said. “If the item was transported through the mail or interstate commerce, the seller could also be prosecuted under federal mail fraud laws.
“On the civil side, the aggrieved party could sue the seller for negligent misrepresentation, unfair or deceptive trade practices, and/or fraud depending on circumstances of the case. The seller’s intent to deceive and the value of the item in question will have an impact on potential criminal charges and civil claims.”
If Topps made efforts to ensure authenticity (by having a witness sign off on it), Scullin said they could seek to impose the liability on Messi and the witness.
“If Topps and the Messi team had some contract/agreement with each other, I’m sure it (would be) a breach of that contract for Messi not to actually sign the cards,” Scullin said. “The claim by the person who bought/found the card (would) be against Topps. Topps, in turn, may have claims against others to go after in the event it is found liable for damages.”
Bruce said he gladly accepted the offer from Topps for a reprinted card with another autograph sticker on it, along with the card being PSA graded and authenticated. That’s what he wanted all along, and he says he doesn’t plan to pursue any legal action.
Still, this has raised questions for Topps and PSA that remain unanswered — leaving collectors to wonder what really happened, and whether someone else could be signing some of Messi’s cards.
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(Top image: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)
