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Dan Hadjducky, ESPN
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, the only player in MLB history to unanimously win the MVP award multiple times, has conquered new ground.
Since the beginning of 2023, PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), a major sports trading card grading company, has received more applications for Otani card grading (270,177) than any other athlete, retired or active. announced.
In high-end collecting, authenticators and graders evaluate surface quality, centering, corners and edges to assign a grade to a card on a scale of 1 to 10 that increases or decreases the card's value. For both modern and vintage (pre-1980) cards, the difference between an 8 and a 9, and the company grading the card, can mean thousands of dollars.
Last year, the collectibles market Goldin sold two 2018 Bowman Chrome Ohtani Rookie Autograph Gold Reflectors at different prices in less than a month. On March 29th, one of his cars, graded 9.5 by Beckett Grading Services, sold for $46,800 including buyer's premium. On April 26th, PSA 10 was sold for $97,200.
Since the beginning of 2023, PSA has increased by Michael Jordan (252,803), Kobe Bryant (94,339), LeBron James (89,787), and three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. (75,035) received more applications than Ohtani. Since the end of the 2023 MLB season, Ohtani has had more cards submitted (83,384) than the next four most submitted active MLB players combined: Corbin Carroll (25,317), Gunnar Henderson (20,054), Julio Rodriguez (15,766), Jackson Holiday (15,384).
Jordan has historically been one of the most submitted athletes in trading card history. In 2022, Jordan's PSA submissions (144,140) were nearly twice as many as Ohtani's (79,900). But so far in 2024, Ohtani has had 19,645 more cards submitted than Jordan.
“Historically, Michael Jordan trading cards have been the gold standard in collectibles for a generation,” said PSA Chairman Ryan Hoge. “Ohtani passing Jordan as the athlete with the most games played in a notable period is a huge moment for the hobby. It is at a level that cannot be reached.”
When it comes to active athletes across sports, Ohtani's PSA submissions nearly exceed the combined total of the next three most-submitted athletes: Rodriguez (102,272), Trevor Lawrence (96,728), and James. .
“We are witnessing a paradigm shift here,” Hoge said.
