Even Tom Brady’s rookie card is setting records by selling for $400,100

When I was a kid, I started collecting football and baseball cards because I was a fan of the players and teams they featured. Never did it cross my mind that I might have something of value in one of those packs of cards, complete with a dried out, rock-hard piece of chewing gum.

No, the idea of making money off those little pieces of cardboard I held so dear was simply unheard of at the time. I traded those cards with friends. Used them to decorate the walls of my bedroom. I handled them over and over again as I memorized all the stats on the back.

Oh, and some of them I pinned to my bicycle with clothespins so my tires made a cool click-click-click-click sound as I pedaled my way down the dirt road I grew up on.

Man, little kid me was a moron.

Just ask the person who sold their 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady autographed card on eBay Monday. That bad boy went for a cool $400,100 — a record for a football card sold at auction, according to NFL on ESPN Twitter.

The card, which was graded a 9 out of a possible 10 by Beckett Grading Services, was limited to a production run of just 100 copies. The one that sold was No. 41 out of that limited run.

According to Beckett, this was just the latest in a growing trend in high-priced auctions for Brady cards. Last month, the company reported, a similar card with a grading of 8 out of 10 sold for $60,100. Last year, a different 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Tom Brady card sold for $250,000 on eBay. At the time, according to ESPN, it was the second-highest selling modern-day sports card and the highest selling Brady collectible.

Previously, the highest selling modern-day sports card auctioned was a LeBron James 1-of-1 rookie card, which sold in 2016 for $312,000.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go check to see how much my 1989 Topps Don “Magic Man” Majkowski rookie card is worth. I have a kid heading to college in the fall, after all.