Football legend Tom Brady’s business venture into trading cards is off to a smashing start in Northern California — for all the wrong reasons.
The former New England Patriot’s brand-new CardVault store in Palo Alto was broken into over the weekend — a little over one week after Brady attended the the grand opening on Aug. 15.
The suspects smashed a window and several display cases inside the store, police said, stealing 60 trading cards valued at more than $12,000.
The looters are still on the loose.
Tom Brady’s store specializes in trading cards and sports collectibles and features a “vault” with autographed memorabilia. On its website, CardVault also sells collectibles outside of sports, such as Pokémon and Magic trading card products.
The Palo Alto location is the trading card store’s 19th location, and its third in California. He has two others in San Francisco and Sacramento. Brady himself grew up in San Mateo, not too far from the card shop locations.
It’s not the first time CardVault has been targeted, as collectibles and trading cards have become a hot target for thieves looking to make a quick buck.
Last November, a man made off with $10,000 in baseball and Pokemon cards from NYC’s SoHo CardVault location, The Post reported.
The crook fudged with the tap-to-pay system to trick the employee into believing the transaction went through, authorities said.
Brady has said he he has long had a passion for sports cards, and his visits to his card shops have boosted attention to his business.
Fans reportedly waited more than eight hours for the Palo Alto opening in anticipation of a surprise appearance from the NFL GOAT.
Brady posed for pictures, signed memorabilia and spent time with fans and members of the CardVault team before cutting the ribbon.
“Very surreal. Growing up in San Mateo. I got into collecting when I was a young kid. A huge fan of the 49ers Niners, and San Francisco Giants, the Warriors, and it was very surreal to come back,” Brady told KTVU at the opening.
