Shohei Ohtani Rookie Base Project

[tlschwerz]

I'm not sure if it was because the Twins were connected to him, or I was just enamored with his two-way ability and excited about what it means for baseball. At any rate, relatively early on in the season I decided I wanted to collect one of each base Topps rookie and send them in to PSA (more for display/protection than value).

Now that the calendar has turned to 2019, we won't see another RC logo on an Ohtani card (barring a mistake by Topps). At this point, with some cards at PSA and others waiting to go out, I have compiled something like 75-80 cards.

Assuming my math is correct, there's 25 pack possible RCs. That number includes both Transcendent offerings but excludes all Topps direct products. This means Ginter X, TBT, Now, On Demand, etc. I did snag one of each TBT, On Demand, Montgomery Set, etc online rookie base, but only did the key Topps Now cards (Rookie Cup, ROY, and Signing Day).

It has been a blast. I have about 20 or so that I need to sub in January. It was way more money that I intended to sink into it, but I managed to acquire one of every SP and SSP as well as all of the obscure offerings as well (New Era, Trading Card Day (Angels and Hobby Store), Factory Set variations, etc.

Not sure that there's a point of this other than it was a blast. Hope he continues to compete on both sides of the field extremely well, simply for the fact that it's been a thrill to watch.

[nbalinks]

If he comes back pitching like the ace of the staff in 2020, Ohtani mania may return. I’ve picked up some regular base rookies for my son as Shohei is his favorite player.

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by nbalinks

If he comes back pitching like the ace of the staff in 2020, Ohtani mania may return. I’ve picked up some regular base rookies for my son as Shohei is his favorite player.

I think the TJ worries are somewhat overblown as we've gotten to a point where it's hardly a death sentence for pitchers. Shoulder issues are the downfall, but at his young age, he should return to a reasonable level on the mound. If he's able to continue hitting like he did this year, and do both going forward, it will be fun to watch for quite some time.

[base set]

My favorite is the Angels Future Stars insert in Archives - his most classical Rookie Card but with no RC logo - Perfect!


(Some Topps Direct products come in packs - Ginter X, minis)

[splitrockgamer]

Subscribed to see pictures in the future. Cool idea!

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by base set

My favorite is the Angels Future Stars insert in Archives - his most classical Rookie Card but with no RC logo - Perfect!


(Some Topps Direct products come in packs - Ginter X, minis)

I liked some of the inserts, but stayed away from them as it was already an incredible amount of cards. I didn't count the products you mention as part of the 25 base I noted, but did pick them up. Did not grab the minis yet as I stayed away from non-full size cards. That said, with the low print run, I am thinking of making an exception for the S2 and US1 mini

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by splitrockgamer

Subscribed to see pictures in the future. Cool idea!

I should get scans on them started in this thread. So far I have one batch from PSA back, one there that should return soon, and then hopefully the final submission go out in Jan

[base set]

I liked the Heritage "Rookie Performers" insert in HHN, but the totally un-necessary RC logo just ruins a nice well crafted artistic insert.

[yrocks2001]

Originally Posted by tlschwerz

I'm not sure if it was because the Twins were connected to him, or I was just enamored with his two-way ability and excited about what it means for baseball. At any rate, relatively early on in the season I decided I wanted to collect one of each base Topps rookie and send them in to PSA (more for display/protection than value).

Now that the calendar has turned to 2019, we won't see another RC logo on an Ohtani card (barring a mistake by Topps). At this point, with some cards at PSA and others waiting to go out, I have compiled something like 75-80 cards.

Assuming my math is correct, there's 25 pack possible RCs. That number includes both Transcendent offerings but excludes all Topps direct products. This means Ginter X, TBT, Now, On Demand, etc. I did snag one of each TBT, On Demand, Montgomery Set, etc online rookie base, but only did the key Topps Now cards (Rookie Cup, ROY, and Signing Day).

It has been a blast. I have about 20 or so that I need to sub in January. It was way more money that I intended to sink into it, but I managed to acquire one of every SP and SSP as well as all of the obscure offerings as well (New Era, Trading Card Day (Angels and Hobby Store), Factory Set variations, etc.

Not sure that there's a point of this other than it was a blast. Hope he continues to compete on both sides of the field extremely well, simply for the fact that it's been a thrill to watch.

Not sure if it qualifies as Topps Direct or if it's in scope for you but I fully expect there will be a set given out at the Transcendent Japan party with Ohtani and RC logo cards numbered to 50.

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by yrocks2001

Not sure if it qualifies as Topps Direct or if it's in scope for you but I fully expect there will be a set given out at the Transcendent Japan party with Ohtani and RC logo cards numbered to 50.

I did consider that there would be a giveaway at one or both of the Transcendent parties. I will probably end up skipping them with this rationale:

The parties will take place in 2019, no longer his rookie year.

Unless that cards are a part of a set, they'll be randomly inserted as well as random cards themselves, like those handed out last year. If that's the case, it's really a hodgepodge and not much to compile a checklist off of.

I feel like I covered both Transcendent products by securing a base card from each.

[salthill]

Did you sneak in a Living Set card? It’s on demand, but has the RC logo - plus it looks great!

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by salthill

Did you sneak in a Living Set card? It’s on demand, but has the RC logo - plus it looks great!

I did, absolutely. I picked up pretty much all of the On Demand, TBT, Rookie Cup, etc types. Mainly stayed away from Topps Now.

[tlschwerz]

[tlschwerz]

[tlschwerz]

[tlschwerz]

In looking through these again as they come in, I can't help but feel like Topps did an incredible job with some of these images. The SP stuff especially looks really nice.

[splitrockgamer]

This is seriously so cool, I kind of want to maybe do this for Royce Lewis (I hope he wont be as spendy) could you PM me a ball park of what you spent?

[ThoseBackPages]

AWESOME!

[base set]

I think a lot of people have a same question - just how many Shohei Ohtani RC logo cards are there?

This would count all unique image+design cards - including photo variations, and inserts - but not parallels of the same image+design. (So if the same image was used on another design, they would each count; dunno if that happened with Ohtani but it does with some players)

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by splitrockgamer

This is seriously so cool, I kind of want to maybe do this for Royce Lewis (I hope he wont be as spendy) could you PM me a ball park of what you spent?

I might feel dirty adding it all up, as it's much more than I initially intended. I plan to do this with Royce for his rookie cards (hopefully in 2020) when he reaches the bigs. It should be substantially less expensive as he should'nt have nearly as many cards.

The SPs and SSPs ran me a bit much, and then I was paying about $10 per card on a PSA bulk sub. I tried to stay patient on some of the rare cards as they obviously drop in value further out, but you also then deal with sellers looking to get top dollar as opposed to comps.

I'd imagine when all is said and done (have a final batch of roughly 25 cards yet to go in), I'll probably have cleared $1,200 or so.

One of my family members is a cabinet maker and he made me a case that will display PSA slabs, as well as having a storage box at the bottom for all the extra cards. I'll upload a picture soon.

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

AWESOME!

Thanks Eric, and appreciate the purchase a couple weeks ago!

[salthill]

Nice photos too. It’s not easy to avoid glare and reflections off slabs.

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by base set

I think a lot of people have a same question - just how many Shohei Ohtani RC logo cards are there?

This would count all unique image+design cards - including photo variations, and inserts - but not parallels of the same image+design. (So if the same image was used on another design, they would each count; dunno if that happened with Ohtani but it does with some players)

I can certainly add up everything I've got when all is said and done. That should be a true answer from a Topps perspective. I made sure to grab every online only offering as well, outside of the majority of Topps Now cards. Those are cataloged on the Topps site I believe though, and should be an easy number to find.

[tlschwerz]

Originally Posted by salthill

Nice photos too. It’s not easy to avoid glare and reflections off slabs.

I do a terrible job with scanning apps, so my pool table has become my card organizing area. Flip on the big pool table light and use the trusty iPhone camera.

[tlschwerz]

Here's that case