Curry & Messi 1/1 Topps Now Gold Sells for $111K

2024-25 Topps Now MLS Gold #128 Stephen Curry/Lionel Messi (#1/1) - PSA GEM MT 10 just recorded a notable ultra‑modern sale: $111,057 at Goldin on June 7, 2026.

Below is a structured look at what this card is, why it matters, and how this sale fits into the broader trading card market.

Card Snapshot

Card: 2024-25 Topps Now MLS Gold #128 Stephen Curry / Lionel Messi
Serial numbering: Gold parallel, hand-numbered 1/1 (one-of-one)
Players:

Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors (NBA)
Lionel Messi – Inter Miami CF / MLS (soccer)

Set: 2024-25 Topps Now MLS
Card number: #128
Parallel: Gold 1/1 (the top-level scarcity for this print-on-demand issue)
Grading: PSA GEM MT 10 (PSA’s highest standard grade for a standard card)
Attributes: Non‑auto, non‑memorabilia; value driven by dual‑goat crossover, 1/1 scarcity, and PSA 10 grade.

This is not a rookie card for either player. Instead, it’s a crossover, event-driven card from Topps Now—a print-on-demand program where cards are produced in real time to commemorate specific moments.

Context: What This Card Represents

1. A rare basketball/soccer crossover

High-end dual cards that combine an NBA icon and a global soccer legend are still relatively uncommon. Here, the pairing is about as strong as it gets:

Stephen Curry: widely viewed as the greatest shooter in NBA history and a defining star of the modern era.
Lionel Messi: one of the greatest footballers of all time, now the face of MLS through Inter Miami.

For collectors who focus on “GOAT” (greatest of all time) themes or cross-sport displays, this card sits at the intersection of two of the most collected modern athletes on the planet.

2. Topps Now MLS and ultra‑modern print-on-demand

Topps Now is a print-on-demand product: cards are only printed for a limited order window, based on how many people buy during that period. MLS Topps Now generally has:

Lower total print runs than flagship base products.
Stronger concentration of demand around key stars—Messi, and to a lesser extent other marquee names.

Gold 1/1 parallels sit at the top of the parallel ladder for this line. In practical terms:

There is literally only one copy of this specific card.
For collectors who care about unique ownership, that matters more than any pop report.

3. PSA GEM MT 10 on a one-of-one

When we talk about a card’s grade, we’re referring to a professional evaluation of condition on a scale (PSA uses 1–10). A PSA GEM MT 10 is their highest standard grade, meaning:

Centering, corners, edges, and surface all meet PSA’s strict top tier.
For ultra-modern one-of-ones, the grade often acts more as a reassurance of condition than a separator among many copies.

You’ll sometimes hear collectors say “it’s a 1/1, the grade doesn’t matter.” In practice, high-profile buyers still tend to prefer a PSA 10 because it removes most questions about condition and helps if the card is ever resold or used for insurance purposes.

Market Check: How Does $111,057 Fit In?

Sale details

Auction house: Goldin
Sale date (UTC): June 7, 2026
Realized price: $111,057 (before any buyer’s premium adjustments that may apply)

1. Direct comps for this exact card

For this specific 2024-25 Topps Now MLS Gold #128 Curry/Messi 1/1 in PSA 10, there are no earlier public auction results widely reported before this Goldin sale. That makes this effectively a first major public benchmark for the exact card/grade combination.

Because it’s a one-of-one, by definition there is no second copy to compare against. Instead, the market tends to triangulate value using:

Other Messi 1/1s across Topps and Panini products.
Other Curry high-end inserts and dual cards.
Other cross-sport 1/1s featuring global icons.

2. Related market references

Without over‑extrapolating, a few patterns from recent years help frame this result:

Messi Topps Now and MLS cards: Standard non‑1/1 Messi Topps Now MLS cards have traded anywhere from low double digits to low four figures, with signed or patch cards and low-numbered parallels commanding strong premiums.
Curry high-end parallels: Curry’s premium 1/1s and low-numbered inserts in top-tier NBA products often reach into five or six figures, depending on brand, era, and visual appeal.
Dual GOAT / cross-sport cards: Unique, dual-superstar cards (Jordan/LeBron, Brady/Mahomes, etc.) in recognized brands commonly sell at a premium to similar single-player issues, despite being non-rookie and non-auto.

This Goldin result in the low six-figure range is therefore high relative to most Messi MLS pieces and most Curry non-rookie, non-auto inserts, but broadly consistent with what the market has shown it’s willing to pay for:

Unique, visually distinct 1/1s.
Cross-sport combinations featuring top-tier global names.

3. Ultra-modern volatility

This card sits in the ultra-modern category (roughly mid-2010s to present). Ultra-modern prices often move more quickly than vintage because:

Player narratives and current performance can change fast.
New products arrive constantly, competing for collector attention.
Collectors are still discovering new Topps Now moments and parallels as they grade and sell them.

The $111,057 sale shouldn’t be read as a guaranteed “value” for every future transaction. Instead, it’s a documented data point that shows what at least two motivated parties were willing to transact at in June 2026.

Why Collectors Care About This Card

1. GOAT narrative in two sports

Collectors increasingly think in terms of narratives rather than just player lists: championships, awards, and cultural impact. This card layers several:

Curry’s impact on the three-point revolution in the NBA.
Messi’s World Cup legacy and his role in elevating MLS’s global profile.
The broader story of basketball and soccer as the two most globally visible team sports right now.

That makes the card appealing not just to single-player collectors, but to:

“GOAT chasers” building displays of all-time greats across sports.
Crossover collectors who collect both basketball and soccer.

2. Topps Now as modern documentation

Topps Now products function as a kind of running documentary series for the sports calendar. For MLS and Messi in particular, they’ve been a primary way to capture key moments of his North American chapter.

While the base Topps Now cards are often accessible, the 1/1 parallels like this Gold are on the opposite end of the spectrum—effectively a single, physical headline for that moment.

3. PSA 10 and long-run preservation

Condition has become increasingly important as collectors take a longer-term view of how modern and ultra-modern cards will age physically.

A PSA GEM MT 10 suggests the card is well-positioned from a preservation standpoint.
For a card that already relies on scarcity (1/1), this pairing of max scarcity + top grade is about as strong as it gets in the current grading framework.

Interpreting This Sale Without Overreacting

For active hobbyists, a sale like this can raise fair questions:

Does this mean every Curry or Messi 1/1 is now six figures?
Are Topps Now 1/1s always going to command this kind of attention?
How should small sellers think about pricing their own high-end parallels?

A few grounded takeaways:

Card-specific factors dominate.
Name recognition, visual appeal, story, and brand all matter. This card checks many of those boxes at once.
One auction is a data point, not a price floor.
Another sale (if the owner ever chooses to sell again) could clear higher, lower, or not at all, depending on timing and buyer pool.
Cross-sport, cross-market demand is growing.
As soccer and basketball collector bases blend, especially online, cards that bridge both worlds naturally attract more eyes.
Topps Now has layers.
The average Topps Now card is relatively accessible. The 1/1s—and especially crossover, dual-legend 1/1s—live in a very different part of the market.

How This Matters for Different Collectors

For newcomers

Use this sale as an example of how scarcity, star power, and grading can intersect.
Most Topps Now cards are far more affordable; this is an outlier at the very high end.

For returning collectors

The presence of Curry and Messi together on a licensed Topps Now MLS card is a reminder of how much the hobby’s product mix has evolved beyond standard base sets.
Print-on-demand and event-driven products are now key parts of the landscape, especially for global stars.

For active hobbyists and small sellers

When evaluating your own inventory, consider:
- How unique is the card’s story?
- Does it bridge multiple collector bases (teams, sports, countries)?
- Where does it sit in the brand hierarchy (flagship, premium, print-on-demand, etc.)?

This Goldin result reinforces that when a card checks multiple boxes at once—GOAT names, unique crossover, true 1/1, PSA 10, documented major auction sale—the market is willing to assign meaningful premiums.

Final Thoughts

The $111,057 sale of the 2024-25 Topps Now MLS Gold #128 Stephen Curry/Lionel Messi (#1/1) PSA GEM MT 10 at Goldin on June 7, 2026 stands out as a clean snapshot of where the hobby is right now:

Cross-sport storytelling is powerful.
Ultra-modern, event-driven issues can matter just as much as classic set releases when they involve global icons.
True, graded 1/1s remain some of the most contested pieces in the modern market.

For most collectors, this card will only ever be something to track from a distance, but it offers a useful reference point for understanding how today’s high-end buyers think about scarcity, narrative, and condition in the ultra-modern era.