Every football fan knows that the most expensive and valuable football cards on the market are of Tom Brady. Being the GOAT of the sport, it makes sense that his cards sell for hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of dollars. However, the former QB recently revealed that if you go looking to buy one, you might run into some competition, as he himself likes to buy and collect his own cards.
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In case you didn’t know, Brady’s cards sell for insane amounts of money. In June of 2021, his 2000 playoff rookie card, which he signed, sold for $3.1 million. It was the second most valuable football card ever to be sold, behind Patrick Mahomes’ autographed rookie card, which sold for $4.3 million. Moreover, Brady has had other cards sell for $312k, $288k, and $233k.
As you could deduce, the trading card business is an expensive one, and it’s only continued to evolve and thrive over the years. Crazy enough, Brady shared that he might be the biggest investor in his own cards, leading to some expensive final pricelines.
“I’m always a buyer of my own cards,” Brady told the Dude Perfect podcast. “I’m probably the biggest investor in my own cards.”
So why does he buy his own trading cards for thousands of dollars? Brady later shared that he does it because he likes to re-gift the cards to people.
“I love giving them as gifts to people, that’s what I love doing. So, I collect a lot of my own, I sign them, I personalize them,” Brady continued.
Not only that, but the former Patriot also talked about his humble beginnings as a collector when he was just a kid. Collecting cards was a big hobby of his. That’s why, today, Brady still likes to get knee-deep in negotiations over prices for them.
“I was very much just a normal card collector when I was a kid, and every spare dollar I ever had- you know, I had a paper route where I made literally $2.50. I’d make like $20 a month. And I would take that money and I’d go to my local hobby shop, what’s on second sports cards in San Mateo. I would buy boxes of cards.”
Every sports fan who collected cards as a kid can relate. There are few feelings better than coming home from the store with a fresh pack ready to open. The excitement is thrilling, and the possibilities are endless. Will you get an expensive card? A favorite player? A cool design? That feeling is why card collectors collect.
For Brady, he still gets that same feeling whenever he’s about to buy a new card of his own. He never thought he would reach these heights as a player, but now that he has, the GOAT can’t help admitting that it’s pretty cool to see how expensive his trading cards have become. Ultimately, he still indulges in the hobby because of this.
