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‘Superhero’ Shohei Ohtani dominates hobby as his baseball cards continue to soar
Shohei Ohtani’s quest for another MVP season is off to a great start. He wasted no time recapturing last season’s magic, hitting his first home run of the year during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome March 19.
What fans on both sides of the Pacific Ocean witnessed—aside from Ohtani’s amazing hitting skills—was the global star power he brings to America’s pastime.
“I know Shohei puts his pants on just like we all do, one leg at a time,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said following the season-opening Tokyo Series. “But if there’s ever a superhero, I think Shohei just seems like a superhero. In the biggest of games or the biggest of moments, he seems to always deliver.”
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Ohtani’s superhero status has spilled over into the collectables world. In fact, Ohtani’s trading cards keep rising as demand grows and values soar. Known for his incredible ability to both pitch and hit, Ohtani continues to break records. At the same time, his cards have experienced an unprecedented rise in popularity, transforming them from collector must-haves into prized investments.
A plethora of social media posts, online marketplaces and post-pandemic popularity in cards has further fueled the value of Ohtani’s cards. Platforms like eBay have allowed collectors to easily buy and sell his cards, while also driving up their demand and value. At the same time, Topps has capitalized on Ohtani’s success by releasing limited-edition sets and numbered cards featuring his autograph and relics.
“When Ohtani burst onto the scene [with the Anaheim Angels], he was a total unknown,” said Justin Shump, head of buying at Arena Club. “Coming to the Dodgers last season, a team that’s very marketable and in a city that’s a melting pot, Ohtani became a marketing machine.”
Arena Club, an online marketplace and grading company that has former New York Yankees great Derek Jeter as a founding partner, has put an 2018 Topps Chrome Shohei Ohtani Gold Refractor autograph card inside its Diamond Slab Packs. The digital repacks sell for $1,000 each.
“Repacks are fun. People like it,” Shump said. “We want to do it in a safe and transparent way.”
Even before the Dodgers won the World Series last fall, prices for some Ohtani’s cards had risen because of his historic season. In 2024, Ohtani became the first Major League Baseball player to join the 50/50 club when he hit 54 home runs and recorded 59 stolen bases in a single season, prompting Topps to produce a special Shohei Ohtani 50/50 set.
Following the feat, Topps issued a card commemorating Ohtani’s 50/50 season, selling over 650,000 copies. The Topps Now card, which sold for just $12 each, generated nearly $8 million in sales for the company. Topps recently announced Ohtani would be the 2025 Series 2 Baseball cover athlete.
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Other hobby companies also capitalized on Ohtani's historic feat, with Goldin selling the baseball he hit for home run No. 50 for $4.3 million, a record for game-used baseballs.
Card Ladder, which tracks the value of cards, said Ohtani’s value had seen a growth rate of nearly 770 percent since 2018. Last December, Ohtani’s 2018 Topps Transcendent ’52 Superfractor rookie card sold for $246,440 at Goldin’s December Elite Auction.
The sale of that card was not an isolated case. Last year, several rare Ohtani cards sold for top dollar at auction. Ohtani’s 2018 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor signed rookie card sold for $533,140, while his 2018 Topps Chrome #1/1 Autograph Sapphire Superfractor rookie went for $336,000.
OHTANI’S RISE
An initial hobby surge for Ohtani’s cards began shortly after his arrival in the major leagues in 2018. As a rookie, Ohtani was already a sensation. His ability to hit home runs as well as hurl fastballs as a pitcher caught the attention of collectors. Ohtani’s talent, coupled with his international appeal and marketability, created a perfect storm that sent demand for his cards and other memorabilia surging.
While soccer and Formula One cards have benefited from an international fanbase, baseball has often struggled. As the first true international superstar in baseball since Ichiro Suzuki, Ohtani has captured the attention of fans outside the United, into Japan and across Asia.
Another measure of popularity is grading. Data from PSA for this past offseason shows that half of the top 20 most-collected current MLB players are international athletes—with three of the top 20 hailing from Japan. The data, based on total cards graded among active players, shows Ohtani at the top of the list, while his Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Cubs’ starting pitcher Shota Imanaga are also both very popular going into this season. Rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki, who also hails from Japan and signed with the Dodgers this past winter, narrowly missed the list and placed No. 21.
PSA President Ryan Hoge said he’s “not surprised” by these grading figures.
“Demand for Shohei Ohtani cards has been consistently growing and reaching new heights for years now,” he said. “He’s been the most-submitted athlete in the baseball category to PSA since 2023, and the value of his cards continues to climb as he keeps making history. This offseason only reinforced his elite status in the hobby … proving just how fervent collectors are right now.”
Among both active and retired baseball players PSA has graded most, Ohtani is No. 2 all time, behind only Ken Griffey Jr.
“With a gap of just over 138,000 between Griffey and Ohtani cards graded all time, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Ohtani take the top spot by the season’s end, especially as he continues breaking records and highly sought-after cards of his continue to be manufactured and enter the market with a regular drumbeat,” Hoge added.
Ohtani’s most graded card is his 2018 Bowman base rookie, which has been graded over 30,000 times—with almost 13,000 graded a 10.
“Ohtani’s Bowman rookie card represents a key moment in his career, with variations featuring him both as a pitcher and a hitter,” Hoge said. “Aside from being a key rookie card from a flagship set, the 2018 Bowman base card is easily accessible for collectors at all levels, and this has added to its appeal in the market for seven years and counting now.”
Between November 2024 and February, PSA graded 87,300 Ohtani cards. A distant second was Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, another hobby favorite, at 50,600 cards.
A baseball signed by Ohtani and three other Japanese stars who played in the Tokyo Series—Sasaki, Yamamoto and Imanaga—sold for $59,999.99 at Fanatics. The ball, which was not used in a game, features the 2025 Tokyo Series logo. Overall, Fanatics said the Tokyo Series generated $40 million in merchandise and trading card sales, a new company record for a special event.
Other hobby companies have also seen a surge in sales and interest in Ohtani collectibles. eBay also experienced a surge in interest in Ohtani and the other Japanese stars during the Tokyo Series with searches for Ohtani, Yamamoto and Imanaga increasing by double digits during the series. After Ohtani hit his first home of the season, fans searched for “Shohei Ohtani” nearly 1,700 times per hour.
As long as Ohtani continues to break records and dazzle fans, it is likely his baseball cards and other memorabilia will remain some of the most sought-after treasures in the collecting world, maintaining a level of popularity not seen for a baseball player in decades.
“Looking ahead to 2025, this momentum isn’t slowing down,” Hoge said. “If he returns to dominate as a pitcher this season while continuing to be the game’s most dominant offensive force, we could see yet another surge. If anything, we may still be at the start of a long-term Ohtani collecting boom.”
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Clemente Lisi
