It won’t be a prominent part of his resume, but a Tom Brady rookie card has just set a record price on eBay.
It can be debated, I suppose, but in terms of Super Bowl rings Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all-time. That makes his collectibles, at least the rare ones, very valuable. Last year, an autographed Brady rookie card got $250,000 on eBay, a record for a Brady collectible.
Just last week a Michael Jordan card, one of 10 1997-98 Skybox Precious Metals Green produced and the only one graded and authenticated by the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) grading service, fetched $350,100 in an eBay auction.
According to Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune, some experts think the Jordan card is one of only three in circulation among the 10 that were produced.
Rich Mueller of Sports Collectors Daily believe is the highest-selling Jordan card of all-time, far surpassing the $20,000-25,000 price PSA-10 graded Jordan rookie cards generally get.
Brent Huigens, CEO of PWCC Marketplace, which handled the auction on behalf of a private owner, spoke on the rarity of the Jordan card.
“We call it a ‘holy grail’ because it’s so scarce and so desired that you just frankly never see it.”
Another of the aforementioned 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket rookie cards autographed by Brady, one of 100 produced, was up for bid on eBay and set a record Monday night.
According to Mueller, the Brady card is believed to be owned by former NFL guard Evan Mathis. Mathis seems to be a high-end card collector, having previously sold a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card (graded PSA 9) for a near-record $2.88 million last year.
As Brady continues to play into his 40’s, puts up numbers and maybe gets another ring or two, the value of his collectibles should keep rising and there will be sellers looking to cash in if they have a rare graded card.
But as it stands right now, before Brady takes another meaningful snap, $400,000 probably won’t stand as the record price for a card in an eBay auction for long.