There has been a lot of news in the sports collectibles industry over the month of August. One issue which has not abated is that record prices for the top grades of key sports cards continue to break records. Tom Brady is considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time. Brady’s GOAT status is based on Super Bowl wins, career longevity and by too many other statistics to easily count ahead of his crossing the 80,000 passing yards hurdle.
Tom Brady’s prized rookie card keeps breaking records. The latest and greatest record price was realized in the PWCC Premier Auction for August 2021. A 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady #144 rookie card graded PSA/DNA 10 AUTO PSA 10 GEM MINT has sold for $2.88 million.
As the card and the autograph are both given a perfect PSA 10 graded, there is very little that needed to be said about the condition. It’s flawless. As for the investment aspect of the record-breaking Brady card, PWCC’s description included:
The 2000 Panini Contenders Autograph Tom Brady rookie resides as the single finest blue-chip for his brand and represents the single most important football card produced from the modern era… The investment piece offered here is incomparably important to the market and sets a tone from which all others are measured, much like Tom Brady at the QB position. This card/player pairing is worthy of the finest modern-card portfolio in the world, and as Brady continues to redefine what’s possible, seems to present an investment opportunity on a never-ending upward trajectory. Comes with PWCC’s highest recommendation.
And that was not the only more than impressive sale. PWCC’s August Premier Auction also included a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady Rookie AUTO /100 BGS 8 which sold for $1.020 million.
(Image from PWCC Marketplace)
Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being invested into high-end collectibles. True sports collectors and hobbyists have a passion to own certain cards or memorabilia for years and years.
The “collectibles investors” are buying an asset to sell for a profit at a later date. That said, as with any asset purchase, there can never be any guarantee of a profit.
We have looked back at other 2021 auctions from various auction houses to see what other prior records had been set. It has become a routine item to see that auction houses are referring to the 2000 Tom Brady rookie variations, along with other high-end cards, as investments and assets rather than merely as sports cards.
It may seem hard to imagine, but Tom Brady doesn’t even command the highest sale price for a football rookie card. Not yet at least.
There are many other $1 million and higher sales of the rookie Tom Brady cards. Here are the other top Tom Brady rookie card we have found from 2021.
Lelands sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Rookie Ticket #144 Tom Brady Rookie Autograph (8/100) BGS MINT 9 and autograph grade of 10 for $3,107,372.40. That sale was in its Mid-Spring Classic 2021 auction which ended June 4, 2021.
Looking backwards, Lelands previously sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Rookie Ticket #144 Tom Brady Rookie autograph card (99/100) graded BGS NM-MT+ 8.5 and graded 9 for the autograph. Its final price was listed as $2,252,854.80. The card’s sub-grades were as follows: centering 9.5; corners 8.5; edges 8.5; and surface 8. Apparently holding long-term isn’t just for stocks when you see what else Lelands had to say on this card:
This card was purchased on eBay over a decade ago and has been tucked away in a private collection since then. One of only a handful ever offered for sale, this is an opportunity to acquire the best Tom Brady rookie card available to the public.
Leland’s has an auction ending on September 25, 2021, and the auction house already has seen strong interest in a Tom Brady rookie. This is the 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Rookie Ticket #144 Tom Brady Autograph (63/100) BGS NM-MT 8 and Auto graded 9, with a price that is already up to $296,990.00 with 31 days to go.
Golding Auctions has seen two Tom Brady sales above the $1 million mark. That is also ahead of an upcoming auction.
The first was in the 2021 April Premium Card Auction which ended April 24, 2021. This was the 2000 Playoff Contenders #144 Tom Brady Signed Championship Ticket Rookie Card (95/100) graded BGS NM-MT+ 8.5/BGS 10. That card had a minimum bid of $500,000.00 and its final sale price was $1,680,000.00. And in the March Premium Auction Goldin sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders #144 Tom Brady Signed Championship Ticket Rookie Card (5/100) graded BGS NM-MT 8/BGS 10, with a minimum bid of $300,000.00 that ended up selling for $1,080,000.00.
Goldin Auctions also has another example of a Tom Brady rookie card that is currently up for auction. This may not command the same buying price due to the grade, but its $150,000 minimum bid was already up to $425,000 with 3 days and 12 hours to go before the end. This is a 2000 Playoff Contenders #144 Tom Brady Signed Championship Ticket Rookie Card (52/100) graded BGS NM+ 7.5 and the autograph was given a BGS 10 grade.
Heritage Auctions also sold a 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady Rookie #144 (34/100) graded BGS NM-MT+ 8.5 Auto 10 on may 6, 2021. That price after premium was $1.59 million. Its sub-grades were listed as follows: Centering 10, Edges 8.5, Corners 8.5, Surface 8. Heritage’s description said at that time:
Of the seventy-five examples of that monarch’s premier rookie card submitted to Beckett for assessment, only seven have earned a Mint 9 rating. There are no 9.5 cards, nor any 10 cards. None could surpass the perfect 10 rating assigned to the twenty-three-year old’s black sharpie signature applied to this card’s surface. When you consider that Michael Jordan’s iconic Fleer rookie regularly commands over a half-million dollars for each of its 300+ PSA/DNA Gem Mint 10 entries, the ceiling for this spectacular rarity is positively stratospheric.
This is just all that much more to back up why the Tom Brady NFT launch sold out so fast earlier in August.
