Comparing Shohei Ohtani's Japanese rookie cards vs. MLB rookie cards
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Shohei Ohtani is one of the best baseball players of this generation, and likley of all time. His value as an athlete and in the realm of collectibles is as high as it's ever been. He's won back-to-back World Series rings with the Los Angeles Dodgers in his first two years with the franchise, while also securing the NL MVP both times.
While most recognize Shohei's rookie season to be in 2018 when he joined the Angels, his first true season of professional baseball was in 2013 when he played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball.
This has led to conversations regarding his rookie status on both years, and which season should really hold more weight in his rookie card market. To understand the debate more, it's important to know the distinctions between both of Shohei's rookie card years.
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Flagship Ohtani Releases
Shohei Ohtani's rookie cards from his first MLB season were distributed by Topps, whereas his 2013 NPB releases were made by Baseball Magazine or BBM in Japan.
Topps' flagship drops have always been Series 1, Series 2, and Update. BBM's closest equivalent are the 1st Version, 2nd Version, and Fusion sets with releases spread throughout the year.
Ohtani's most popular and sought-after NPB rookie card is from BBM 1st Version which, thanks to its design, collectors call the 'Red Wing' . The main chases from Topps, on the other hand, come from Bowman Chrome and Topps Chrome, both of which are considered a step above in both price and desirability.
High-End Ohtani Cards
Shohei was still a young, up-and-coming prospect in 2013, but even at a young age there was a lot of hype surrounding him. BBM rewarded the soon-to-be superstar with short print rookie autos in sets such as Icons and Genesis.
By 2018, Ohtani was already a household name even before his first-ever MLB game. Following a season worthy of the AL Rookie of the Year award, Shohei also dominated the card market with incredible rookie autos from Topps' most exquisite product like Diamond Icons and Inception.
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Ohtani Card Populations
The print runs for Shohei Ohtani's 2013 BBM season and his 2018 Topps debut are practically incomparable. Even without looking for exact numbers, you would have a strong feeling that there were more Ohtani RCs printed in 2018 than five years earlier.
While the exact population would be almost impossible to determine, GemRate's database for graded cards gives solid insight on the huge numerical difference in Ohtani RCs from 2013 and 2018.
To give a rough idea of just how many Shohei Ohtani Topps 2018 cards are out there, 34,000 copies of his base card from 2018 Bowman were graded by PSA. Copies of Ohtani's 2013 BBM 1st Version rookie card have only been graded 829 times—the most of any release that year.
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Ohtani Base Card Value Comparison
Any rookie card of Shohei Ohtani's, be it from 2013 or 2018, is already worth a pretty penny at this point in time. There are still significant price differences between the two years, however, especially when general popularity among collectors are considered.
For instance, a PSA 10 copy of his 2013 BBM 1st Version 'Red Wing' recently sold for $11,200 on eBay. A PSA 10 Topps Chrome 2018 Pitching Refractor, which has a 69% gem rate out of more than 2,600 graded copies, has a recent comp of $2,225.
The 2013 rookie card wins in price by almost a whopping $9,000 thanks to its scarcity compared to Topps' releases.
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Ohtani Rookie Auto Value Comparison
Auto RC cards are still a different story altogether. Ohtani's 2013 BBM facsimile autos have recent sales ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 in various grades, but his Topps signatures still hold the most value.
A 2018 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor /250 which received PSA 9 AUTO 10 dual grades just sold for $22,200 on Fanatics Collect. This shows that while pristine versions of Ohtani's Japanese rookie cards beat out most Topps Chrome and Bowman drops, his autos still have a long way to go.
