Huge Crowd Greets Tom Brady for CardVault Opening in East Hampton

It happens in the Hamptons.

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady – who won the big game six times with the New England Patriots and once with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – met with a massive crowd of fans in East Hampton Village on Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of his CardVault by Tom Brady collectible sports and trading card shop on Newtown Lane.

Before a crowd of some 300-400 adoring locals and visitors — some of whom drove hours just to be there — screaming his name and holding signs like, “I Left School for the GOAT” and “Tom Can You Be My Dad,” Brady stood on a stage in Herrick Park and threw footballs and cards to fans of all ages. And, in what will surely be a special memory for them, members of the East Hampton Bonackers football team stood on stage with Brady throughout the event, which was a short walk from the new store. Team quarterback Theo Ball, who shares the jersey number 12 with Brady, helped toss footballs to fans.

“It’s all about connecting with the people who love to support one out whether it’s the games,” Brady said in an exclusive interview with Dan’s Papers inside CardVault. “And this has always been one way that I felt you can connect with younger generation who are up-and-coming collectors, up-and-coming sports fans. And when I was their age, I had all these idols and people I looked up through sporting items, and the way that I connected was through collecting. I’d open packs and I’d collect them, and I had binders full of cards, and my favorite players were always on the top of the binder, and these plastic sheets, and I put nine cards in a sheet, and had binders and binders full of cards.”

CardVault by Tom Brady is a high-end retailer specializing in sports cards, trading cards, memorabilia and even in-store card grading submissions. Featuring an immersive showroom experience, the location includes a curated collection of sealed boxes, individual cards and signed memorabilia from brands like Topps, Panini, Upper Deck, Pokémon and Fanatics Authentic. Visitors can also explore the store’s signature vault room, featuring limited edition merchandise and a themed Pokémon display.

As for what Brady’s personal favorite sports card is?

“I was packing up my stuff, and then my closet in my house,” Brady said. “I had the safe, and I went in there, and I opened up all my boxes and just flipped through the cards. I had a Don Mattingly 1984 Topps, and that was the card that I always want to use. My favorite player. It happened to be a New York Yankee, and he was the first base and left-handed hitting. And I just loved his fire. I think all those years, I tried to be like him as a player.”

Chris Costa, co-founder and managing parter of CardVault by Tom Brady, highlighted the East Hampton community’s response to Brady being there.

“I think today was shocking,” Costa said. “We expect a big turnout anytime Tom comes to town, anywhere in the country, but in New York, it was out of control, and so encouraging. But with that said, we knew East Hampton would be a special place for us. We know the community is really strong. We know the fan base and fandom and fanaticism in this town and this neighborhood is really strong, and it’s one of the reasons we came here. When you think about the East Coast and the Northeast, the Hamptons is as iconic as it gets.”

Other notable faces at the event included billionaire Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin, and Brady’s former boss, billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

CardVault by Tome Brady is located at 47 Newtown Lane in East Hampton and is open now. For more info on all their products and services, visit cardvaultbytombrady.com or call the store at 631-931-7151.