5 Essential Cards for Starting a Diego Maradona Collection
If you are looking to start a Diego Maradona collection, these 5 cards are must haves for your collection!
Thank you to everyone who read and supported my first ‘5 essential cards’ series post about Pelé. I enjoyed the feedback and commentary from members of the soccer collecting community. I thought there was no one better to follow up Pelé with than the man himself: Diego Maradona.
Some notes on the selection process for the Top 5 items:
Nothing too rare, comes to public auction more than 2 times per year
Nothing too expensive in a low grade (anything over $10K in a PSA 1 condition)
All cards are playing year cards, no post career cards
Only items that were meant to be collected like cards, stickers and pogs. No matchbooks, album cut outs, etc.
This is all based on my thoughts, so if you don’t agree that is perfectly fine! Please let me know what you do think should have been included!
Here are the 5 essential items, listed in chronological order:
1977 Crack Futbol Campeonato #11
The only 1977 issue for Diego Maradona. The iconic yellow disc from Argentina with a fresh-to-the-scene Argentinian football who would revolutionize the game of soccer for the next two decades. This disc was found in packs from the Futbol Campeonato set produced by Crack. Maradona on this disc is wearing the kit of Argentinos Juniors, the team that would bring him to the limelight of the soccer world before his move to Boca Juniors in 1981.
These discs are not impossible to find, but you must look thoroughly to find a nice copy. One thing to consider is they are very difficult to find in high grades. Out of the 85 copies graded by PSA, just 2 copies have achieved a PSA 8, with no copies having received a 9 or 10. Packs of this set can be found in Argentina, but the set boasts over 600 players meaning there is just a small chance of hitting this disc in a pack.
The aura of this card makes it one of the biggest collector’s pieces in the soccer card hobby and one that all collectors should seek out to have in their collections.
1978 Crack Campeonato Mundial De Futbol 1978
Despite that fact that this set was made for the 1978 World Cup, Diego Maradona did not actually make the squad for the tournament. For that reason it is a surprise that this sticker even exists in the first place. The speculation is that the album was made with the expected Argentina squad members, which included Maradona.
The design of the album issued by Crack in Argentina was similar to that of FKS out of England and Fher published in Spain. The difference between the Crack album and the other two albums was the addition of caricature stickers and more players for the Argentina team page. The Diego Maradona sticker was only issued in the Crack version and not in the FKS or Fher sets, making it rarer than all other players like Zico and Platini.
Overall the image on this sticker is great with the young Argentine pictured for the first time in his national kit. The bold colors of pink, yellow and blue pop to a collector’s eyes. So far 170 copies of this sticker have been graded by PSA with no copies achieving a 9 or 10 grade. Only 11 of these stickers have graded a PSA 6 or above, as many copies come out of the pack miscut or off center.
1978 Crack Libro De Estampas Argentina Campeon #1
This card is one of the handful to feature Maradona in the Argentinos Juniors kit, the club at which he began his illustrious career. This card, also released by the Argentine editor ‘Crack’, includes a full body image and a unique nameplate that stands out. Overall the image of this card is stunning and personally one of my favorite looking stickers on this whole list.
The album this card came in was like many in Argentina during the 1970s and 80s where packs could contain both normal rectangular cards and discs that were both made to be stuck into the same album. The first part of the album focuses on the 1978 Argentinian national team while the second focuses on the top teams in Argentina. Maradona only features as a rectangular card in this set. Would have been amazing if he had a discas well!
To date, PSA has graded only 83 copies of this rookie card. Only 6 copies have graded higher than a PSA 3, meaning this card is hard to find in excellent condition.
1979-80 Panini Calciatori #312
Regarded as a Rookie by some collectors, this stunning sticker was distributed in Italy for the 1979-80 Serie A season. The album for these stickers contained a page for World Soccer stars such as Diego Maradona, Zico, Michael Platini and more. The sticker features a perforated square in the middle that collectors were supposed to punch out to stick just the head of the player into the album, making this a unique collectible!
Boasting a very serious Maradona, this sticker has become one of the most well known collectibles in all of the soccer collecting hobby. The stunning yellow nameplate and the young Argentine in the national team kit personally makes me think this is a top tier design.
Like the Maradona stickers mentioned above, this sticker is difficult to achieve in a high grade with just 15 copies out of 358 graded by PSA achieving a PSA 9. This is one of the key stickers in the soccer hobby and I personally do not see that changing anytime soon due to the lineage of the Panini Calciatori set and its importance to the hobby. This sticker is the most graded single item for soccer before 1990, showing its status in the soccer hobby.
1986 PANINI MEXICO ‘86 #84
The World Cup that cemented Diego Maradona’s legacy as a Top 5 player in the history of the sport was the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The world famous Panini World Cup sticker set is a perfect way to commemorate the brilliance of the Argentinian genius at the tournament. Just like the fellow legendary 1970 World Cup sticker of Pelé, there are four known back varieties for this sticker: Italy, Asia, Malta and Yugoslavia. The Yugoslavian version appears to be the rarest version in general, but all of the non Italian variations are relatively hard to find.
Despite the fact that 117 copies of all four varieties have been graded, none have been graded a gem mint 10 by PSA. While this sticker may not be ultra rare, it is very difficult to find in near mint or mint condition. Grabbing the ‘rainbow’ of 1986 Panini World Cup sticker of D10S is a fun project for any soccer collector.
If you are interested in taking your Maradona collection to the next level, here are 5 items I recommend to keep your eye out for as they can take your collection to the next level with more depth and variety!
1978 CRACK CAMPEONATO MUNDIAL DE FUTBOL 1978 #24
I must admit, this caricature is quite an interesting one. Crack, the editor of the sticker, used a pacifier tied around Maradona’s neck to illustrate how young the player was heading into the 1978 World Cup. The caricature also depicts the Argentine karate kicking a ball, which is fitting for moments he had later in his career. Overall, this sticker is an interesting one and considered by many collectors to be in Maradona’s ‘rookie constellation’. The bold yellow background coupled with the action drawing makes for a unique sticker to collect.
To date PSA has graded 96 copies of this sticker with just one copy receiving a PSA 9. At this time there are no PSA 10 copies of this sticker, which is not surprising giving the age of the sticker and the thin material used. While it may be an acquired taste for some, I personally like this sticker!
1979 CRACK SUPER FUTBOL #31
I know what you’re thinking, “back to back caricatures, really Matt?!”. I promise this is the last one in this article!
This depiction of Maradona from 1979 is an epic one to me. Just a few years into his professional career he had already begun being depicted with a crown and as a leader of Argentinian soccer. The people knew he was the chosen one and they did not hold back on how they depicted him. This card features him with a crown, cape and sword, ready to take on the World. In his right hand he has a soccer ball, ready to represent his country at the international level.
The Super Futbol set is full of Maradona cards, with over 871 individual cards from this set graded by PSA. Card number 31 has been graded just 31 times with the highest non qualifier grade being a PSA 6. This set is extremely hard to find in good condition, with 10 of the 871 copies receiving a PSA 7 or higher and no cards receiving a PSA 9 or 10 grade.
1982 PANINI ESPANA 82 #176
In general I think that the Panini World Cup stickers for vintage players are iconic and important pieces to have in your collection. The 1982 Panini World Cup sticker for Maradona is no different. The World Cup in Spain was the first in which Diego participated and played. While Argentina did not do very well in the tournament, it did kick off the World Cup career for the legendary Argentine. In four World Cup appearances, Maradona scored 8 goals for ‘La Albiceleste’.
This sticker is not that rare, which makes it a easier one on this list to be able to acquire for your collection. As of November 2023 PSA has graded and authenticated 118 copies of this sticker. No copies have received a gem mint 10 grade. There are three PSA 9 copies, which are the highest at the moment.
1981 CRACK FULBITO #10
One thing I love about the Argentina soccer collectibles in the 1900s is the interesting shapes and sizes they were produced with. There are circular pogs, square pogs, metal pogs, discs, stickers, cards and more. It makes collecting Argentinian players fun as you get to have a diverse collection to showcase the player. This 1981 disc from the 1981 Fulbito set is a great looking one. The vibrant pink with a portrait shot of Maradona in the middle in the Boca Juniors kit. Some discs can be found still connected to the cardboard panel in which it came in the pack, making a unique collectible that is difficult to find. A photo to visualize the panel has been added below the single disc photo.
There are six Maradona graded discs from the 1981 Fulbito set at the moment, with a PSA 8 being the highest graded. In addition, there are six Panels graded by PSA with the highest grade being a PSA 6. Both the solo disc and panel are great looking items from Argentina that capture the essence of Argentinian collecting.
1985-86 PERFETTI GUM FORZA GOAL
The Perfetti Gum cards out of Italy have gained a lot of popularity recently due to their appearance and seemingly scarce supply. The set features players from the Italian Serie A for the 1985-86 season with important players such as Baggio and Maldini (rookies in this set), Zico, Platini and of course: Diego Maradona. The card features a striking image of the Napoli striker with great color. The back boasts in an interesting style with player details and statistics, like you would see on American style trading cards.
This card is not the easiest to find. So far PSA has graded only 27 cards from this whole set. The majority of the graded copies is for the rookies, Baggio and Maldini. For Diego, there are 6 graded copies with only one copy grading higher than a 5 (pictured below). It is easy to say that this card is a classic and one that any Maradona collector would love to have in their collection!
If you want to really deep dive into creating an expansive Diego Maradona collection, here are 5 more fun items of his to look out for!
1979 CRACK SUPER FUTBOL ARGENTINOS JUNIORS DISC #10
This disc comes from the same set that I refer to above in Section 2, item number 2. As mentioned, there are many Maradona cards in this set, but many are action shots that are hard to see or images of Maradona off of the pitch. All together there are over 20 cards in the set with Diego Maradona as the main subject! This disc is the only one in the set featuring Maradona. In total, the Super Futbol album has 320 discs for players on all of the Argentinian club teams. There are also cards that feature Argentina international players in their European club kits.
The neon green background with a star to highlight the Argentinos Juniors player is a great image for a collector to have. It makes this item unique and stand out from other cards and stickers. This disc has been graded 38 times by PSA and only one copy has received a PSA 8 or above.
1979 CRACK HACE MILLONES DE ANOS
The album that features this great looking Maradona card is a unique one. In the 1970s, an album named ‘Hace Millones de Anos’ was released in Spain. The stickers in the album depicted the history of the Earth and the creates that have inhabited it. The album featured just stickers relating to this topic. The album was then released in Argentina with the same name but from the Argentine editor, Crack. What was different about the Crack version was that at the end of the album there were a few pages added to hold stickers for sports players including hockey, golf, soccer, basketball and more.
This meant that modern day soccer collectors were lucky enough to end up with a very nice early Maradona card to add to their collection. The image used appears to be identical to the image used on the 1978 ‘Libro de Estampas’, featured earlier in the article. This card is smaller though, with a different nameplate style that I personally think is pretty neat.
To date, PSA has authenticated and graded 36 copies of this card, but only one copy has graded a PSA 7 with none higher. The vast majority of copies seen so far of this card have been in poor condition, many glued in and removed from the album itself.
1980 CRACK DEPORTISTAS ARGENTINOS Y DEL MUNDO #8
As you have seen by now, I am a big fan of the Argentinian discs. This circular cardboard has a unique style with a loose triangle around Diego Maradona and a light blue background to make the disc ‘pop’. This disc comes from a set that focuses on Argentinian soccer and many other sports such as racing, boxing and tennis. The album features pages that are built to have normal stickers pasted in and a section just for discs to be stuck in. This mixture of discs and normal stickers is something that is very unique to Argentina. Packs would could come a mix of different shaped items.
So far this disc has been relatively hard to find for collectors with just 14 copies authenticated and graded by PSA. Of the 14 copies there is one PSA 5, one PSA 6 and one PSA 7. There are no copies graded higher than a PSA 7, making this rare disc even rarer to find in excellent condition.
1981 CRACK CHAPITAS
Earlier in this post I referenced the fact that Argentina had multiple issues with metal pogs in them. This 1981 issue from editor Crack falls into that bucket with unique metal pogs featuring caricatures of players from the Argentina League as well as international stars (both socccer and misc sports/non sports). This bright red ‘chapita’ depicts Maradona in his international kit with a crown. Notably he is holding a soccer ball with a clown face on it. Why? I wish I knew, but it sure makes a hell of a unique item!
As of November 2023, just 11 of these discs have passed through PSA. Due to chipping issues and and easy to scratch surface, just one copy has scored a PSA 7 or higher with 8 of the 11 copies being a PSA 5 or lower. Needless to say, this metal pog is not the easiest to find in the current market, making it a fun one to chase down!
1982-83 PANINI SPANISH LIGA FUTBOL 83 #50
I felt that it was important to include one item from the stint at FC Barcelona that brought Maradona to the world stage. This sticker features a great design and shows the Argentine in the famous Barcelona kit. This set is the normal annual release came out annually from Panini to show the players in the Spanish Domestic League. The album does however have an additional Diego Maradona sticker with the Argentina kit in a section called ‘The best players of the 1982 World Cup’. This section contains other legends like Platini, Socrates, Zico and more.
Surprising to me, this sticker has only been graded 7 times so far by PSA with only one copy above a PSA 6 (pictured below). While I certainly do not think this sticker is ultra rare, it is not as common as one would think based on the fact it was a Panini issue from the 1980s in Europe. This is a fun one to chase down and add to a Diego Maradona collection!
Diego Maradona offers a wide variety of collectibles from across the globe to seek out. You can focus on his rookie era cards (1977-1979) or you can enjoy his hard to find pogs and discs. There is an endless adventure in collecting a great like Diego Maradona, with so many amazing items to acquire.
I hope you enjoyed this article, please feel free to email me at chicagoorangecards@gmail.com with any feedback on this article or players you would like to see next!
DISCLAIMER: This article is not investment advice. Please carefully research and comp all purchases you may make. All photos used are public images.