Football cards up for grabs as £20,000 case go to auction
Collectible enthusiasts can bid for individual cards for only £1.
UK sports collectibles retailer Mania Sports has partnered with eBay to host what is believed to be one of the biggest live soccer card breaks ever staged in the UK: a complete sealed case of 2018 Panini National Treasures FIFA World Cup Soccer. The case is currently valued at between £20,000 and £25,000.
The live event will take place on Sunday at 12:00pm on the Mania Sports eBay Live channel, with every entry spot starting at just £1. The break comes as global interest in football peaks during the closing stages of the FIFA World Cup, offering collectors an opportunity to chase some of the hobby's most coveted cards without the five-figure cost of buying a case outright.
Widely regarded as one of the premier football card releases ever produced, 2018 National Treasures World Cup Soccer features only serial-numbered cards, including on-card autographs, premium memorabilia cards and one-of-one Platinum parallels. Each box contains multiple autograph and memorabilia hits, while sealed cases also offer the chance to pull highly sought-after Dual Jersey Autograph booklet cards.
Among the biggest potential pulls are autograph cards of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, rare Kylian Mbappé base cards limited to just 50 copies, along with signatures from Neymar, Luka Modrić, Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne, Antoine Griezmann and football icon Diego Maradona.
Live "breaking" has become one of the fastest-growing segments of the trading card hobby, allowing collectors to purchase individual teams or countries rather than an entire product. Cards pulled for that team or country are then shipped to the participant, making premium products accessible to a much wider audience.
James Barber, CEO and founder of Mania Sports., said: "This is the biggest break we've ever run. Opening an entire National Treasures World Cup case live, with eBay supporting the event, is something we've wanted to do for a long time.
“The fact that every spot starts at just £1 means anyone has the chance to pull a card worth thousands of pounds. There couldn't be a better weekend to do it."
Collectors can watch the break live on the Mania Sports eBay Live channel from 12:00pm on Sunday.