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EAGAN, Minn. (FOX 9) - The baseball card collectible world is still buzzing over a unique card opened in a pack, right here in Minnesota.
It was pure elation and raw human emotion as a one-of-a-kind Tom Brady baseball card was pulled by collectors in Eagan earlier this week.
"I was watching on my phone," explained Alex Davis, owner of Triple Diamond Sports Cards and Collectibles, "and I saw it hit, and my instant reaction was to run around my house and say, ‘we pulled the biggest card in the world. We pulled the biggest card in the world.’"
Many don't know the now-retired, Hall of Fame-bound quarterback was once a Major League Baseball draft pick of the old Montreal Expos, now the Washington Nationals. Brady, a former high school catcher, and the card makers at Bowman, had a little fun this year with a special autograph release that went out in the company’s 2023 Draft set featuring baseball stars of the future.
Davis’ team at Triple Diamond pulled the card out of a box they opened on a livestream. Davis figures the autographed Brady, a one-of-one unicorn, could fetch over $1 million.
"The store has been buzzing," explained Davis. "Lots of people coming in. They want to see the card, people calling. We have had several people call trying to make offers to buy the card. It is just a really exciting time. Any time you can do something like that, it's very rare, right?"
"We pull lots of really expensive, high-value cards for our customers all the time in our breaks. But to pull something that can potentially fetch over $1 million is special. I mean, the guy spent $200 and maybe turned it into a million," Davis continued.
Triple Diamond opened the packs for other collectors who bid in advance on the potential of winning big. They also found a non-autographed Brady version as an Expos draft pick that could potentially fetch several thousand dollars in a sale. Both Bradys are now heading out to an anonymous customer who bid $229 for the rights to all Nationals/Expos pulled from the Bowman Draft packs opened at that time. Davis insists he is just fine with over $1 million in Brady baseball cards getting shipped out the door.
"We have been doing this for quite a while," Davis told FOX 9’s Paul Blume. "And we are really into this to build a community of collectors and spread the hobby. So, we are overjoyed for our customer."