Heading into the 2018 season, there was plenty of attention surrounding the Shohei Ohtani Rookie Card and autograph lineup.
He was one of the most hyped players to arrive in the majors in some time. Ohtani also arrived with a large fanbase thanks to his years as a superstar in Japan beforehand. So collectors in Japan were already very familiar with Ohtani cards.
Now it’s time for major league cards.
By the time his rookie season with the Los Angeles Angels came to a close, collectors had a lot of Ohtani Rookie Cards, inserts and autographs to choose from.
Here is where you will find a detailed Shohei Ohtani Rookie Card breakdown as well as highlights of other cards.
The Ohtani RCs are listed alphabetically. The ones in this section are limited to those with the ‘RC’ designation in the Beckett Baseball Card Database and Price Guide. Inserts and parallels are not included.
GETTY IMAGES
2018 Bowman RC #49
The regular Shohei Ohtani Rookie Card in 2018 Bowman Baseball is a fairly straightforward affair. It’s simple, doesn’t draw attention to itself and is readily available. So in the big picture, it’s going to be one of the more affordable choices out there. The parallels bring some color and added scarcity. But the big interest in the set comes from the Bowman Chrome Shohei Ohtani autograph that’s found in packs. It’s an insert and not a traditional RC, but that hasn’t stopped it from going for thousands early on and even tens of thousands for some of the rarest Refractors. The one-of-one Superfractor Autograph fueled a lot of buzz throughout the hobby and beyond. It was found in June by a California collector.
Parallels:Sky Blue (/499), Purple (/250), Blue (/150), Green (/99), Gold (/50), Orange (/25), Red (/5), Platinum (1/1), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)
2018 Bowman Chrome RC #1
An affordable Shohei Ohtani RC, this one is found in the hobby-only 2018 Bowman Chrome.
It has the Chrome shine and a good amount of parallels but the product is more focused on autographs and prospects. So it’s somewhat on the overlooked side. The card also has a variation with Ohtani pictured carrying an equipment bag.
Parallels:Refractors (/499), Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/5), Superfractors (1/1)
2018 Bowman Platinum RC #34
The 2018 Bowman Platinum Shohei Ohtani is one of the Angels star’s wilder looking Rookie Cards. Besides the colorful graphics dancing in the background, the card comes printed on foil. It’s not a scarce card but the product was an exclusive to Walmart. Like many of Ohtani’s 2018 cards, there’s a variation short print where he’s pictured carrying a bag.
Parallels:Ice, Sky Blue, Purple (/299), Blue (/150), Green (/99), Orange (/25), Red (/10), Foilfractor (1/1)
2018 Bowman’s Best RC #1
2018 Bowman’s Best closed out the baseball card season. Coming on the heels of Bowman Draft, it’s probably not surprising that Best is somewhat overlooked as many prospectors are moving on to the latest draft picks. But for those who like chromium and the Bowman name, there’s more color and design elements than Bowman Chrome. There’s still a parallel rainbow, too, but it’s not as large.
Parallels:Refractors, Atomic Refractors, Purple Refractors (/250), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/10), Superfractors (1/1)
2018 Classics RCs #7, #13
Found in the anthologystyle 2018 Panini Chronicles.
Parallels:Timeless Tribute (/199), Timeless Tribute Gold (/99), Timeless Tribute Red (/25), Timeless Tribute Purple (/10), Timeless Tribute Green (/5), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1), Timeless Tribute Platinum (1/1)
2018 Diamond Kings RCs #73 and #76
2018 Diamond Kings has a pair of Shohei Ohtani Rookie Cards in the base set, one with him pitching and the other with him batting. Neither is a short print or part of a subset so both get the RC tag and are held on equal footing as far as value goes. Diamond Kings takes an artistic approach with both the images and the canvas-style stock the cards are printed on.
In addition to a full slate of parallels, both cards have four different variations in the set. And those have parallels too.
Parallels:Artist Proof Red, Blue Frame, Red Frame, Artist Proof Gold (/99), Gray Frame (/99), Brown Frame (/49), Artist Proof Blue (/25), Green Frame (/5), Artist Proof Masterpiece (1/1), Black Frame (1/1)
2018 Donruss RC #281
You’re not going to pull the 2018 Donruss Shohei Ohtani Rated Rookie from packs you find at the store. That’s because it’s exclusive to wrapper redemption packs. Packs were available in exchange for 24 empty wrappers, the equivalent to a hobby box. So it wasn’t hard, although supplies were somewhat limited. In each pack was three cards, one Ohtani, one Gleyber Torres and one Ronald Acuna. While there are no parallels, a variation is available with Ohtani’s name written in Japanese.