Phil Jones bought four Tom Brady trading cards for $6 in 2001. They are worth a lot more today. (4:01)
A 2000 Fleer showcase Masterpiece Tom Brady rookies card, graded 8.5 NM-MT+ by Beckett Grading Services and numbered 1 of 1, has sold for $396,000, including the 20% buyer's premium.
It was not the only of its kind. There is another 1-of-1 of the same Brady card.
The sports card market went belly-up due to rampant fraud and overproduction in the early to mid 1990s. Thousands of brick-and-mortar stores in America have disappeared in a matter of hours.
The lack of transparency was a fatal flaw. There are more than two million 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr. rookies, which were once a hot commodity. Junior admitted he owned more than 100.
At the time of the crash, manufacturers began to stamp serial numbers on sought-after cards, called Chase cards. The first 1-of-1 card was produced in the late 1990s and soon thereafter, 1-of-1 printing plates made their way into collector's hands.
The ultimate chase card was created by the creation of 1-of-1s.
The fear of industry skeptics is what makes two one-of-ones so rare.
Howard Carter found King Tut's tomb, like a Brady 1-of-1 rookies card. Brady is pictured with a buzz cut and is hailed for his work, when a client came to PWCC with the BGS-graded Fleer showcase Masterpiece Brady rookies with The Only 1 of 1 Masterpiece stamp on the back.
Two Brady rookies were floating in the world.
The owner of the other Brady 1-of-1, still in their possession and not for sale, was first contacted by PWCC. The fear was that this Brady had been the same card, cracked open and regraded, but that was quickly quelled.
In the early days of serial numbering, card manufacturers printed multiple 1-of-1s as they experiment with productions or even if one was ruined, but they were never supposed to leave the factory.
It appears one way or another.
A team from Oregon was flown to Dallas to deliver the Beckett-graded Brady. Beckett confirmed that the BGS-graded Brady was graded and placed in a slab on February 4th, 2004. The PSA-graded version is believed to be authentic as well. The letter of authenticity from Beckett will be given to the purchaser of the Beckett-graded 1-of-1.
The seller of the Beckett-graded version recalls buying the card on eBay in 2005 for $2,000.
He had a feeling about the guy because he had just delivered the New England Pats three Super Bowl rings.
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