Shohei Ohtani’s baseball card is on sale for 600,000 yen per card … 48 million yen at the US auction site | Smart FLASH[光文社週刊誌]

Angels Shohei Ohtani (27) was selected as “No. 1” in the baseball card series sold by the US trading card company “Topps”.

As for the baseball cards released by the company, the first “No. 1” card to be issued that year will be decided by fan voting. Players who are both popular and talented have been selected, including Jackie Robinson, the first black major leaguer, and Nolan Ryan, the world’s strikeout king.

[Related article: Shohei Otani “Uruuru Hitomi” to Yu Darvish is too innocent! I can’t even get rid of the longed-for dull]

Otani won the honor with the “2022 Series 1 Baseball” to be released in February. Otani, who plays as a dual wield, is printed on the package that has already been announced.

When this feat was reported, the topic boiled in Japan as well. Hiroyuki Sakai, the manager of “MINT Ikebukuro”, which handles various trading cards, says:

“Since the package was announced, the reservation phone has been ringing. The price has not been decided yet. Normally, a 24-pack set (14 pieces in one pack) costs about 10,000 yen, but Otani The player was selected for the package, so maybe there will be a premiere and it will cost 12,000 yen. “

Baseball cards have made many enthusiasts enthusiastic, both domestically and internationally. Sakai says that trading card prices have skyrocketed in recent years.

“Trading cards have become a global boom since the beginning of the Corona disaster. The number of mail-order customers has increased dramatically due to the influence of stay homes. Not only sports but also Pokemon are soaring. increase”

Under such circumstances, it is natural that Otani’s card, which showed overwhelming success as a dual wield last season, attracted attention with 46 home runs and 156 strikeouts.

Among the Otani cards sold at the MINT Ikebukuro store, the maximum amount is 600,000 yen. It was published in 2016 during the Nippon-Ham era, and has a handwritten signature on the card series “GENESIS” of Baseball Magazine.

“There are two types of Otani rookie cards issued by Baseball Magazine in 2013, the pitcher version and the fielder version. Otani was popular at the time of the rookie, but initially, both the pitcher version and the fielder version are 800 yen. That was about 15,000 yen in the year I challenged the major (2018).

However, Otani made a big success last season, so the price soared at once. From what I saw, the pitcher version jumped to 50,000 yen and the fielder version to 120,000 yen. I never imagined it would be such a price. “(Same as above)

Even in the United States, the home of baseball cards, Otani’s cards are traded at high prices. At the world’s largest auction site, eBay, a rare card produced in a limited edition in 2018, when Otani made his major debut, is priced at about 48 million yen.

Behind the success of Otani, the Otani card also became an unrealistic existence.

(SmartFLASH)