Rare Shohei Ohtani card leads 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball Murakami sales
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In the run-up to the release of 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball, it was anticipated that among the top chase cards in this year's Chrome set would be ultra-rare variation cards designed by renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
The artist has collaborated with Topps before to much acclaim, and that fact, combined with Murakami's reputation and the limiting of the cards themselves to just three copies, suggested that these cards would be highly sought-after. A few weeks since release, let's take a look at some of the sales of these Murakami designs and some of the listings that have made their way to eBay.
JUST IN: Legendary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami designed ultra-rare cards for 2025 Topps Chrome.
— Topps (@Topps) July 18, 2025
Each card is limited to just 3 copies in existence 🌸 pic.twitter.com/F0WfBy1m4F
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Unsurprisingly, at writing, the top sale of a 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball Murakami Variation is for the third of three Shohei Ohtani offerings.
The first public sale of a 2025 @Topps Chrome Shohei Ohtani Murakami Variation /3 has popped up at $10,000 on eBay.
— Kasey (@KaseysCards) August 12, 2025
The card was originally listed at $20,000 or best offer 💰 pic.twitter.com/2gUm1Lvgf9
The card sold for $10,000 on eBay on August 9. One illustration of Ohtani's overwhelming popularity is that since release, the second-highest sale has come for fellow superstar Bryce Harper's Murakami variation, and it sold for just over $1,000.
Ben Rice's Murakami Variation card has sold for $999, while this Kristian Campbell RC fetched $888 on Aug. 10.
Two of the three Fernando Tatis Jr. cards have already sold, per Card Ladder, for $775 and $771.
Two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner Steven Kwan's Murakami variation sold on July 25 for $550.
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Andrew Benintendi's Murakami Variation sold for $299 on Aug. 6, the highest sale of a card of his since June 17.
While some big name players such as Kyle Schwarber and Jackson Chourio have found their way to eBay, it remains to be seen what sort of numbers the cards of stars such as Bobby Witt Jr. and highly touted rookies like James Wood and Dylan Crews fetch.
While it will be interesting to monitor the continued market reaction to these 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball Murakami Variation cards, there's no doubt they're among the most valuable of the new release, and they most certainly pop right out of the hand.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.
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