✹The PERENNIAL Shohei Ohtani Thread✹

[NYRE2PECT]

Awesome cards, True and Bits - phenomenal!

[SaveMeTheGum]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Is this type of price jump concerning? I am not a high end buyer, but this type of jump does not seem sustainable. The last thing I want is for there to be an Ohtani card market bubble that pops (and hurts the whole entire card market).

How does this compare to a 2009 Mike Trout BCA /150 PSA 10 at its peak?

History often repeats itself. These prices are as sustainable as Ohtani's performance and health (as we learned with Trout). If he can continue putting up nonsensical video game stats and playing 150+ games a year, prices will continue to rise. Though there is definitely some world series, mvp and pitching expectations built into these prices as well -- so he needs to deliver on that too. Definitely a gamble, but so far this one continues to pay off.

[Mister2Bits]

Originally Posted by PFF100

Sheesh!

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

LOVE IT!!!!!!!

i am trying to go chromium free going forward.

Originally Posted by Trueblue

I love the all-star reds! Very nice card

Originally Posted by NYRE2PECT

Awesome cards, True and Bits - phenomenal!

Thanks guys. Only a few more to try and get and have a good lead on both of them.

The All-Star cards are awesome and the Black / Gold / Red parallels are cool companions to the Gold / Black / Camo / Indy flagship runs I've been working on.

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Is this type of price jump concerning? I am not a high end buyer, but this type of jump does not seem sustainable. The last thing I want is for there to be an Ohtani card market bubble that pops (and hurts the whole entire card market).

How does this compare to a 2009 Mike Trout BCA /150 PSA 10 at its peak?

It's entirely possible it's an outlier. It only takes 2 people in a bidding war to drive it into the stratosphere. I wouldn't take any one data point as the gospel truth.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by hammertime

It's entirely possible it's an outlier. It only takes 2 people in a bidding war to drive it into the stratosphere. I wouldn't take any one data point as the gospel truth.

While I agree with this completely, I will also reiterate that ohtani 2018 cards have been underpriced for some time now. At some point they are going to go to the next level.

[TGCollector]

Originally Posted by BoSoxFan1999

LOL that is $40k over the previous sale in April on Goldin.

Not the same card. Last #BCRASO did 45.6K in October. If you look at other high end stuff since October, that puts this right on pace with a lot of other sales.

Whether you think the hitting image should command that much more than the pitching image, that's a different convo.

[Trueblue]

Ohtani's increases have been a result of batting-only over the last 1.5 seasons. If he announced today that he will never pitch again and exclusively bat, do you think his prices would drop? Heck, they might go up since he can focus 100% on batting and start stealing more bases again.

Would like to remind everyone that most of Dodger nation and the world (now actually paying attention to the record of Sho's team) has never seen the two-way experience live. Once they see the eye popping strikeouts and lasers/bombs in the same game, you bet the adrenaline is going to get pumping like it did for us in 2018-19 and 2021-23. The difference is, he has 100x the number of eyeballs on him. This fanbase increase is showing clearly with his consolidation cycles shortening to a few years (2021 spike) to a few months (2024 spike). This may sound self-serving, but I do think there's still a lot of room left.

[ThoseBackPages]

i too believe there is plenty of "meat on the bone" as far as Ohtani (and Judge) goes for the hobby.

with each passing year as more and more "cant miss prospects" actually wind up hobby missing (shocking i know, but we are all guilty of it to some degree) it turns more eyeballs to Ohtani/Judge.

[ThoseBackPages]

something that overall bothers me is the "prices are already baked in" talk.

thats hogwash and heres why..... here in 2025 EVERYTHING hobby wise costs more than it did in the old days (pre pandemic). Wax (at release) is at all time highs yet it all seems to sell quite well immediately. Things cost more now, that means singles cost mroe now especially the good stuff.

i get it, it sucks that prices are higher but if you want to own something pay up or sit it out. will some stuff be "cheaper" in 2028? Absolutely. Will it be the card(s) that YOU want to have in your collection? THAT is the question

[seanrs1]

At some point in the near future the average collector is going to be priced out of Ohtani RC autos. That market may go to the moon. Will be interesting to see what the low and mid end Ohtani RC market does in the future.

In terms of what is "baked in"....at this point I would say that he has a long and healthy career (making it through his current contract), is a two way player for at lest a few more years (I hope he can do it for the next 3-5 years before he becomes "only" a DH) and that he is a HOF. If he ends up winning a few more MVPs or WS everything is probably going to go to the moon.


For me personally, I am hoping to pick up some new cards in the off season. And if his RC cards double in price one day I may break even on my overall collection (look at my sig to see all the money I wasted during the covid peak).

[GabrielCards]

A really wise person once told me to try and collect the "Generational Inner Circle HOF players". So - with the unknown risk of staying healthy aside - that puts Ohtani and then Judge (after this year for sure) ahead of the pack. Now as for really young guys with a lot of hype - that's higher risk and it can pay off or be a losing endeavor. I happened to grab a big card of Jackson Merrill before this season. It's gonna take time to see how that pans out. But Ohtani and Judge are my clear top two most collectable players.

And with Ohtani currently in his turning age-31 season -- I think there is plenty (A LOT) of meat left on the bone for his best cards!

[LVDan]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

At some point in the near future the average collector is going to be priced out of Ohtani RC autos. That market may go to the moon. Will be interesting to see what the low and mid end Ohtani RC market does in the future.

Not sure what the "average collector" budget for a single card is as I'm a poor but a quick look at 2018 auto completed sales looks like the entry is in the 3k range?? Either:
A- I'm actually a SUPERPOOR and that isn't much for a ballcard
B- It's already happened and only the well off or well versed consolidators (like a few of y'all in here) are trading them currently
C-The "moon" for Ohtani is headed for the silly fb/hoops prices from a couple years back, which is entirely possible too. Even more remarkable for a sport seemingly losing traction in our culture as time goes by. If anyone is worthy of those kinds of numbers it's him.

[GabrielCards]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

At some point in the near future the average collector is going to be priced out of Ohtani RC autos. That market may go to the moon. Will be interesting to see what the low and mid end Ohtani RC market does in the future.

In terms of what is "baked in"....at this point I would say that he has a long and healthy career (making it through his current contract), is a two way player for at lest a few more years (I hope he can do it for the next 3-5 years before he becomes "only" a DH) and that he is a HOF. If he ends up winning a few more MVPs or WS everything is probably going to go to the moon.


For me personally, I am hoping to pick up some new cards in the off season. And if his RC cards double in price one day I may break even on my overall collection (look at my sig to see all the money I wasted during the covid peak).

I am still trying to figure out the best way to get one of his RC Auto cards before the end of the season!

[Trueblue]

Originally Posted by LVDan

Not sure what the "average collector" budget for a single card is as I'm a poor but a quick look at 2018 auto completed sales looks like the entry is in the 3k range?? Either:
A- I'm actually a SUPERPOOR and that isn't much for a ballcard
B- It's already happened and only the well off or well versed consolidators (like a few of y'all in here) are trading them currently
C-The "moon" for Ohtani is headed for the silly fb/hoops prices from a couple years back, which is entirely possible too. Even more remarkable for a sport seemingly losing traction in our culture as time goes by. If anyone is worthy of those kinds of numbers it's him.

It's C. And it's not the crazy prices from COVID. It's the MJ, Curry, Lebron, Magic tier that is typically five levels above any baseball figure. Routine six figure sales with some touching seven.

The thing is that Sho is not just a baseball player. He's a role model, a pop icon, a country treasure, and pride for an entire continent. A lot of brand new collectors are buying his cards because of the insane exposure he gets with Tea bottles, facial products, etc - combined with his massive number of social media posts about him picking up trash or serving drinks to his teammates after hitting a bomb. You could not design a more perfect robot than Shohei. Baseball puts him on the platform and stage, but Shohei puts on the show.

[NYBBFAN]

Originally Posted by LVDan

Not sure what the "average collector" budget for a single card is as I'm a poor but a quick look at 2018 auto completed sales looks like the entry is in the 3k range?? Either:
A- I'm actually a SUPERPOOR and that isn't much for a ballcard
B- It's already happened and only the well off or well versed consolidators (like a few of y'all in here) are trading them currently
C-The "moon" for Ohtani is headed for the silly fb/hoops prices from a couple years back, which is entirely possible too. Even more remarkable for a sport seemingly losing traction in our culture as time goes by. If anyone is worthy of those kinds of numbers it's him.

B and C can both be true. The “average” collector, whatever that is, has been priced out of Ohtani RC autos for a few years now.

[ThoseBackPages]

i am of the belief that "the average collector" does not specifically collect autos, nevermind four figure cards

[Asian62150]

His Topps Now RCs are priced relatively cheap, especially considering the PRs. I've picked up a few of the kanji RCs and some rarer Now stuff like the Golds.

The autos are also relatively affordable. I get that Now is niche but a 9.5/10 just sold for $4500. That's not bad for a licensed, on-card auto RC /99. Honestly, I'd rather have that and $75K in my pocket than the Blue BCA.

But those BCAs are pretty nice...

[boxbuster7]

Topps now is trash imo

the autos are nice though. That I'll agree with

[Twalk1975]

We will hopefully get an epic WBC next year. Japan, the US, DR, and even Venezuela could all have pretty stacked teams.

[Rage]

Even the pajama auto train has left the station, watch out!

[atk825]

One thing I learned from looking at prices of cards from my childhood is that it’s best to keep it simple. The things that have aged the best? Like key vintage cards and Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey. Shohei Ohtani is very much in that class. And has surpassed Trout in lore. He has as many MVPs and has just done things Trout has never done. Pitching and hitting. 50/50. Won a World Series. And is the dude in Japan. So it’s just a much bigger market. Who knows what is sustainable but he’s locked in a pretty high level for his cards going forward.

[Asian62150]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

Topps now is trash imo

the autos are nice though. That I'll agree with

There are definitely some cards that didn't need to be made but I wouldn't say it's all trash. Even the somewhat obscure cards (like animals running onto the field) are ok every once in awhile. It's a fun set, especially if you go to a game and there's a card made of it for whatever reason.

I have the entire collection of Cubs World Series Now cards. And the Bryzzo auto relic is a card I'll keep in my PC probably forever.

Like I said, it's niche but it has its moments (pun intended).

[atk825]

Originally Posted by Asian62150

There are definitely some cards that didn't need to be made but I wouldn't say it's all trash. Even the somewhat obscure cards (like animals running onto the field) are ok every once in awhile. It's a fun set, especially if you go to a game and there's a card made of it for whatever reason.

I have the entire collection of Cubs World Series Now cards. And the Bryzzo auto relic is a card I'll keep in my PC probably forever.

Like I said, it's niche but it has its moments (pun intended).

Early Topps Now is crazy. Like some of the 2016 cards that had some of the lower print runs go for wildly high prices. I think an Addison Russell did $900. Because there’s like a 3-400 PR and there’s just enough Cubs fans chasing the 2016 Cubs run.

[seanrs1]

If Babe Ruth= Michael Jordan
Ohtani=LeBron???

[boxbuster7]

Originally Posted by Asian62150

There are definitely some cards that didn't need to be made but I wouldn't say it's all trash. Even the somewhat obscure cards (like animals running onto the field) are ok every once in awhile. It's a fun set, especially if you go to a game and there's a card made of it for whatever reason.

I have the entire collection of Cubs World Series Now cards. And the Bryzzo auto relic is a card I'll keep in my PC probably forever.

Like I said, it's niche but it has its moments (pun intended).

They just make too many damn cards. if it was like 1 per day it would be way cooler.

what is the pajama auto?