As one of the biggest and most influential entertainers of a generation, you’d think there’d be a significant number of Beyonce trading cards out there. The reality is that while some do exist, there aren’t many. And those that are out there, most come from a couple of products.
Best known as a singer, Beyonce is also an actress, producer and all around icon. She doesn’t follow trends. Beyonce sets them. The relatively small number of her trading card appearances is most likely a testament to the fact that there aren’t a lot of general music sets like there were in the past with releases like 1991 Pro Set Super Stars MusiCards.
As far as her film roles, none have gotten the full trading card treatment. 2002’s Austin Powers in Goldmember has a small number of promo cards, but Beyonce isn’t on any of them.
So where do you find Beyonce trading cards? Most come from one of two places: a British trading card game and stemming from her appearance in the 2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Here’s a look at Beyonce’s key trading cards.
Top Beyonce Trading Cards
2003 Top Trumps Smash Hits! Popstars 2 Beyonce
The first Beyonce trading card isn’t totally traditional in the sense that it’s part of a card game. Top Trumps has been producing decks under a variety of themes and licenses for decades. 2003 Top Trumps Smash Hits! Popstars 2 is a music-centric release that includes several other big names like Eminem and Britney Spears. Coming from Britain, some acts failed to invade North American airwaves like The Beatles did 40 years earlier.
Beyonce is one of 33 cards in the deck, all of which came packaged together. She’s also on the header alongside Eminem and Charlie from Busted.
The 2003 Top Trumps Smash Hits! Popstars 2 Beyonce card is somewhat readily available on its own at reasonable prices. That said opting for a complete deck could bring better value overall, especially when you consider that there’s also Eminem and an early Britney Spears card. It is worth nothing that because Top Trumps is a game, used cards could have some wear from being played with. The edges are the likely sign to look for. They were also mass produced so centering can also come into play if finding a card in top condition is a concern.
2005 Top Trumps Smash Hits! Popstars 3 Beyonce
In sports card terms, this is essentially Beyonce’s second-year card. Still a solid option, it’s not as desirable as the 2003 Top Trumps Smash Hits! card. Still a game card and still oversized, it’s a little outside the mainstream as far as traditional trading cards go.
2005 Top Trumps FCUK Celebs Beyonce
This Beyonce Top Trumps card takes on a different tone, going all in on the celebrity and paparazzi angle rather than pop music. Ms. Knowles shares the checklist with the likes of Brad Pitt, David Beckham, Madonna, Britney Spears and lots of British tabloid headliners.
2007 Stellar Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Beyonce #99, 100
The first traditional Beyonce trading cards, as in not part of a game and available in packs, are a part of 2007 Stellar Sport Illustrated Swimsuit. While she doesn’t have regular base cards like other models who appear on the pages of the annual magazine, she is shown on the two checklists that finish the set. Both use the same front, the cover from the 2007 issue where the entertainer is front and center.
These two cards are overlooked by many, likely for a couple of reasons. The first is that they’re not always cataloged as Beyonce trading cards. Rather, they’re often simply listed as checklists, which are basically the ignored cousin of a holiday gathering. There’s also the product itself. While tastefully done and a reflection of a widely available magazine, the swimsuit theme shifts the focus of the set towards the adult trading card side of the hobby.
2007 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Beyonce Inserts
There’s a reason why Beyonce doesn’t have standard base cards in 2007 Stellar Sports Illustrated. She’s has her own dedicated insert set. Consisting of ten cards, these land 1:4 packs. Using those odds, they’re not tough as one could potentially build a full set with two boxes and still have a couple left over. But this is a relatively niche release where supply has long since dried up.
This set has gone on to represent some of the most valuable Beyonce trading cards. In addition to raw copies, these are especially popular as professionally graded cards.
2007 Topps Hollywood Zombies #32 Beyonslay
So this isn’t an official Beyonce trading card, but at the same time it’s close enough. And fun. 2007 Topps Hollywood Zombies is kind of in the same vein as Garbage Pail Kids were over 20 years earlier — satirical and boundary-pushing. The set reimagines an alternate reality where celebrities have been turned into zombies, complete with decomposing flesh and other gross-out visuals. This card has art by Layron DeJarnette on the front and the lyrics for “Zombie in Love,” a reworked version of “Crazy in Love,” on the back.
In addition to the standard base card, there’s also a Freaky Foil parallel.
2009 Top Trumps Tournament Pop Stars Beyonce
In case you haven’t noticed, Top Trumps has done several Beyonce cards over the years. But this one might be the best from a fan perspective. While most use somewhat generic red carpet photos, this one shows her looking fierce during a performance.
2009 Upper Deck American Idol Season 8 Ultimate Idol (caricature with Madonna, Ryan Seacrest)
Another satirical-style offering, this Beyonce trading card doesn’t name her directly. But that caricature is unmistakable. There’s also that Destiny’s Child reference in case there was any doubt. So this might not be an official entry on the singer’s checklist, but it’s certainly notable. An initial surprise in 2009 Upper Deck American Idol Season 8, it’s an extremely rare card today that seldom pops up. And when it does, collectors may have to compete with Madonna collectors as well. Who knows, even referee Ryan Seacrest might have some people building personal collections around him.
In case you were curious, the artist is Court Jones. He worked with Upper Deck for several sets, the most notable are the Presidential Predictors found in 2008 Upper Deck Baseball.
2012 Stellar Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Decade of Supermodels Beyonce #12
Five years later, Beyonce finally got her regular SI Swimsuit base card. For their final set of trading cards looking at the Swimsuit Issue, Stellar looked back and took a greatest hits sort of approach. This included a spot for Beyonce. Singles are somewhat tricky to find as the configuration took on a premium factory set format instead of traditional packs and boxes. So in order to get singles, you’d have to find someone breaking up their complete set.
2012 Stellar Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Decade of Supermodels Celebrities Beyonce #C2
In addition to the base card, Beyonce also appears in the Celebrities insert set. The singer is the headliner in a ten-card set that also includes Maria Sharapova, Danica Patrick and Elle Macpherson. Four Celebrities cards are in each factory set.
2017 Topps Garbage Pail Kids The Shammys #6a Beautiful Beyonce / #6b Noticeable Knowles
It’s debatable whether Garbage Pail Kids count as Beyonce trading cards. Either way, these two cards are still notable. They were originally sold as a two-card set on the Topps website to coincide with the 2017 Grammy Awards. A print-to-order release, just 242 were sold. In short, they’re scarce. This is especially true when you factor in that most likely went directly into collections.
2019 Top Trumps Limited Edition Celebrities Beyonce
It’s the circle of life for Beyonce cards, wrapping things up with yet another Top Trumps appearance. Long a veteran of the British-produced game, her 2019 Limited Edition Celebrities card shows her transformation into entertainment icon. So while not a particularly valuable card, it’s a nice companion to her early Tops Trumps cards from much earlier in her career.
