Baseball collecting guide
Shohei Ohtani2018 Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition #700
The Sapphire card at the end of the flagship checklist is its own Ohtani rookie target.
Someone searching for a 2018 Ohtani Chrome rookie can be looking at several very different cards. For a Sapphire collection, start with the number on the back. The target here is the unsigned #700 from Topps Chrome Sapphire Edition.
Why #700 matters
The 2018 Sapphire checklist draws on the 700-card flagship Topps set. It also lists a separate Ohtani autograph identified as AC-SO. A search result labeled “Sapphire rookie” can therefore describe a materially different card. In a player collection, keep an entry for #700 and a separate one for the autograph, even if the two listings share keywords and the same release year. 1 2
The player behind the card
The Sapphire rookie belongs to Ohtani’s Angels years. His first MLB season makes a good case for cataloging him twice in a collection organized by position: he hit 22 home runs and made ten starts on the mound. 3
With the Dodgers in 2026, Ohtani pitched 85⅔ regular-season innings. That total excludes the postseason. 4
The card’s season
2018 · Los Angeles Angels
MLB regular season
114 games · 93 hits in 326 at-bats, 22 HR. 10 pitching starts · 3.31 ERA. 3
Season snapshot · Nov 4, 2026
2026 · Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB regular season
139 games · 144 hits in 523 at-bats, 30 HR. 14 pitching starts · 1.79 ERA. 3
Look beyond the first scan
With a reflective card, ask for two photographs taken under different light. Check the corners against the edge of the card, then follow the reflection across the surface. If a visible line moves with the light or appears only on the holder, ask for another angle before treating it as a card defect. For a slabbed example, match the number and Sapphire wording on the holder to the certification record. 2
Read the dates behind the headline figure
PSA’s history of similar PSA 10 examples lists an eBay best offer of $11,500 on February 28, 2026, and another at $26,500 on June 17, 2026. These are PSA-reported observations, months apart. They give a reason to revisit the date of a valuation and to inspect which copies changed hands. Two results alone cannot tell a collector what a raw copy or a differently graded example should bring. 2
Documented prices
PSA estimate
$33,306 USD · PSA 10
Reference recorded Nov 4, 2026 for this grade.
View the PSA referenceA separate capture of this PSA certificate displayed $33,126. PSA’s update time is unknown; both figures are estimates, not sales.
Fanatics Collect sales history · Jan 30, 2025
$3,800 USD · PSA 10
The venue lists this dated result for the issue and grade. The sale format and fee treatment are unconfirmed.
See the dated sales-history rowCurrent eBay Listings
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Current asking prices are marketplace listings, not verified sales or appraisals.
Finding current exact-match listings…
Collector questions
Which search results should I keep?
Keep the unsigned Sapphire Edition #700 in the desired grade. Put other Ohtani Chrome numbers and autograph listings in separate searches.
How can a collector use two widely different results?
Compare their dates, photographs, grade and sale format. Then look for additional recent examples of the same card and grade before setting an offer.