He doesn’t look much different than he did ten years ago but he’s now what sportswriters refer to as an “aging veteran.” Still, he remains among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks. The most popular Tom Brady football cards on eBay include his myriad rookie cards issued way back in 2000 as well as some of the more jazzy autograph relic cards produced in recent years.
In his career, he’s engineered more than three dozen fourth quarter comeback victories. Brady has the highest post-season winning percentage in NFL history.
Tom Brady rookie cards have become the modern holy grail for football card collectors. It’s not really a stretch to call him the NFL’s Michael Jordan.
Collectors and investors have often flocked to Brady’s 2000 Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket autograph.
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lso popular is his SP Authentic rookie card, numbered to 1,250. Several PSA 10 (gem mint) examples exist with strong interest pushing sold prices into five figures.
Other, lesser known issues are found in smaller quantities. Virtually every lower-end Brady rookie card, if offered at a reasonable market price point, sells on eBay.
Collector Joe Prizio has been actively hunting the best Brady cards he can find. Here’s what he told us about Brady’s popular rookie cards when we interviewed him by email in 2013:
I’ve been collecting Brady RCs for about three years now and am trying to obtain every one of his RC/RC Parallels in a PSA 10 or the highest graded possible. Here are some notes on his cards:SP Authentic & Playoff Contenders Auto – These are definitely his most desirable RC cards to have for the Brady fan & also high end collector. Most Collectors consider the SP Authentic card to be his #1 True RC card. Recent PSA 10 sales have been strong. The Playoff Contenders Auto RC is his only “True RC” autographed card.Other “True” Rookie Cards:Brady has 44 “True RC” cards. In the past three years I’ve managed to obtain 43 of the cards in a PSA 10 except for the Fleer Showcase card. PSA Pop Reports show that there is currently only 1 PSA 10. I’ve submitted over 10 of these cards to PSA & each one has come back “Min Size Req”. I think that almost all of these cards from this set were cut small from the factory and it is extremely difficult to get in high grade.Other tough Brady RCs that are very condition sensitive & low serial numbered are the Leaf Limited /350, Pacific Prism Prospects /1000, Playoff Momentum /750 & Pacific Revolution /300. The most readily available and commonly sold Brady RC in a PSA 10 is the Bowman Chrome. It is much more affordable & available than most of his other RCs with a POP Report of over 500 PSA 10s.RC Parallels:My Top 5 RC Paralells would have to be:#5 – Bowman Gold /99: The Bowman set from this year has tremendous centering problems as well as being extremely prone to chipping. Couple that with only 99 copies available and the fact that the base issue looks exactly like the Gold version, these are extremely difficult to find. Who knows how many are lying in a box somewhere collecting dust.#4 – Tie SPx Spectrum /25 (3 PSA 10s), Upper Deck Exclusives Gold /25 (1 PSA 8), Quantum Leaf Infinity Purple /15 (1 PSA 7) – The Infinity Purple is foil based and is difficult to find in near mint condition never mind mint condition. All three cards are hardly ever seen up for sale. An SPx Spectrum PSA 10 /25 sold for $3500 in 2012.#3 – Fleer Autographics Regular Issue, Silver /250, Gold /50: All three versions are some of the most sought after Brady auto RCs among hardcore collectors. The Autographics issues from this year are almost always off center as well as having major chipping along the edges & corners. The silver & gold versions are hardly ever seen for sale & are numbered to /250 & /50 respectively.#2 – Donruss Elite Status /10 & Playoff Absolute Players Honors /10. Being numbered to 10 makes these cards impossible to find. The lone PSA 10 Elite Status card sold for $6500 in 2011.#1 – The “Holy Grail” of Tom Brady RCs is the 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Autograph /100. This is the parallel version of the Playoff Contenders Auto RC and is numbered to only 100. These cards are autographed and have a Refractor like coating. They are extremely condition sensitive and are prone to chipping and surface issues. Autographed, Refractor & Scarcity make the Championship Ticket the ultimate Tom Brady RC card to own. That is, unless you have the money to shell out for his 2000 Fleer Showcase Masterpiece 1/1 RC.
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