Lionel Messi Farewell Card Finishes With 335,283 Print Run, Third-Highest in Topps NOW History

Lionel Messi’s Argentina farewell card finished with a print run of 335,283 copies, making it the third-highest-selling Topps NOW trading card of all time. Topps revealed the final number after the ordering window closed, putting an official total on a release that had already been drawing huge demand for days.

The final print run also pushed the card past another major threshold for collectors. Because more than 250,000 copies were ordered, collectors now have a chance to receive ultra-rare Opal Chrome parallels with their orders. Topps says this is only the third Topps NOW card ever to qualify for Opal Chrome parallels.

The milestone comes just a few days after the Lionel Messi Farewell card passed 100,000 orders. At that point, as CollectiblesNews.com reported earlier this week, the higher print run had already unlocked additional Chrome parallels numbered to /25, /10 and /5, along with a 1-of-1 SuperFractor.

That earlier 100,000-card milestone was impressive on its own, but the final total ended up more than tripling it. By finishing at 335,283 copies, the Messi card cleared the 250,000 threshold by more than 85,000 orders and added another layer to an already loaded chase.

Along with the base card, collectors have a chance at a mix of numbered foil parallels, Chrome parallels, the 1-of-1 SuperFractor, Messi autograph redemptions and now the newly unlocked Opal Chrome cards. The size of the print run is especially notable because Topps NOW cards are produced based on how many are ordered during a limited sales window. In other words, the 335,283 total reflects actual collector demand rather than a predetermined print quantity.