2018 Bowman Chrome Shohei Ohtani RC Auto (Blue Refractor /150)

A chrome set and a 21-player autograph list

Bowman Chrome is the chromium-stock version of Topps' Bowman line, the brand built around rookies and prospects. The 2018 edition was released September 26, 2018, with a 100-card base set and a 100-card prospect set. Hobby boxes held 12 packs of five cards and promised two autographs each.

The Rookie Autographs checklist ran to 21 major league rookies, among them Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr., Gleyber Torres, Rafael Devers and Ozzie Albies. Each was issued unnumbered and in Refractor parallels numbered to 499, 150, 99, 50, 25 and 5, plus a one-of-one SuperFractor. Ohtani's card is coded BCRA-SO in the set checklist, though some auction listings print it as CRA-SO.

The Blue Refractor is the third rung on that ladder: a blue-tinted chromium finish, a serial number out of 150 stamped on the card, and an autograph written directly on the surface rather than on a sticker. The front shows Ohtani at the plate with the rookie shield, the Angels logo and Bowman Chrome branding.

The two-way player from Japan

Shohei Ohtani was born July 5, 1994. He wanted to go straight from high school to the major leagues, but the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters drafted him in 2012 and won him over in part by promising to use him both as a pitcher and as a position player. He debuted for them at 18 on March 29, 2013, and won the Japan Series with them in 2016.

The Fighters posted him after the 2017 season. Because he was under 25, international signing rules capped his bonus, and on December 9, 2017, he signed with the Los Angeles Angels for a $2.315 million bonus. Days later it emerged that he had a first-degree sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

His first spring training went badly. He gave up three home runs in 2 2/3 innings against major league hitters and batted .125, and several newspapers said he needed time in the minors. Instead he singled in his first at-bat on Opening Day, March 29, 2018, won his pitching debut on April 1, and homered in three straight days. On April 8 he took a perfect game into the seventh inning and struck out 12.

A rookie season that ended in surgery

Ohtani finished 2018 hitting .285 with 22 home runs, 61 RBI and 10 stolen bases, and went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 10 starts. He joined Babe Ruth as the only players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 home runs in a season. But a Grade 2 elbow sprain put him on the injured list in June, and on September 3 the Angels announced he needed Tommy John surgery. He had it on October 1, five days after Bowman Chrome went on sale, and was named American League Rookie of the Year on November 12.

So the card reached collectors at an uncertain moment. Its subject was the most talked-about rookie in the game, with a reconstructed elbow and no guarantee he could keep doing both jobs. Injuries limited him again in 2019 and 2020.

Then he answered the question. In 2021 he hit 46 home runs, struck out 156 batters and won the American League MVP. He won it again, unanimously, in 2023, signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers that December, became the first player with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season on September 19, 2024, and won National League MVPs in 2024 and 2025, along with World Series titles both years.

From five figures to six

Ohtani's rookie autographs moved with his career. An ungraded Blue Refractor sold for $14,850 in December 2023. By late 2025 graded copies had entered six figures: copy #024/150, graded PSA 10, sold for $118,300 at auction in November 2025.

In 2026 the market for the Blue Refractor kept climbing. BGS 9.5 copies sold for $144,000 in March, $156,000 in April, $219,600 in June and $204,000 in July. PSA 10 copies brought $295,200 in March and $268,400 in September.

Copy #121/150 shows how collectors work the top of the market. Graded BGS 9.5 with a 10 autograph, it sold for $219,600 in June 2026. Three months later the same serial number appeared in a PSA 10 holder with a PSA/DNA 10 autograph and sold for $390,400, the highest price reported for this version.

The rarer versions of the same card sit higher still. On September 19, 2026, a Red Refractor numbered 2/5, graded BGS 9.5 with a 9 autograph, sold at auction for $2.44 million including a 22 percent buyer's premium after 42 bids. A one-of-one 2018 Bowman Chrome SuperFractor of Ohtani was reported sold privately for $3.365 million.

How to identify it

Check four things: the BCRA-SO card code, a blue Refractor finish, a serial number out of 150, and an on-card blue ink signature across the lower front. The base Rookie Autograph has no serial number, the regular Refractor is numbered to 499, and the Green, Gold, Orange and Red versions are numbered to 99, 50, 25 and 5.

Do not confuse it with the unsigned Blue Refractor of Ohtani's base card, #1 in the same set, which is also numbered to 150 but carries no autograph.

This entry tracks a copy graded BGS 9.5. One recent auction description counted more than 90 copies of this card in the grader's census, with just two graded higher than 9.5. The separate autograph grade on the label is part of each copy's identity and its price.

The numbers

2018 batting (card year)

104 G, 367 PA, 326 AB, 59 R, 93 H, 21 2B, 22 HR, 61 RBI, 10 SB, .285/.361/.564, 151 OPS+

2018 pitching (card year)

10 GS, 4-2, 3.31 ERA, 51 2/3 IP, 63 SO, 22 BB, 1.161 WHIP

2018 award

American League Rookie of the Year

2021 MVP season

46 HR, 100 RBI, 26 SB, .257/.372/.592; 9-2, 3.18 ERA, 156 SO in 130 1/3 IP

2024 MVP season

54 HR, 130 RBI, 59 SB, 134 R, .310/.390/.646; did not pitch

Career batting through 2026

9 seasons, 1,153 G, 1,194 H, 310 HR, 750 RBI, 176 SB, .281/.375/.574

Career pitching through 2026

7 seasons, 47-22, 2.83 ERA, 614 1/3 IP, 765 SO

Awards

MVP 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025; World Series champion 2024, 2025; 2018 AL Rookie of the Year

Timeline

1. Jul 5, 1994

   Shohei Ohtani is born.

2. 2012

   The Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters draft Ohtani with their first pick.

3. Mar 29, 2013

   Ohtani debuts for the Fighters at 18.

4. 2016

   Ohtani wins the Japan Series with the Fighters.

5. Nov 21, 2017

   MLB and Japanese baseball reach a posting agreement for Ohtani.

6. Dec 9, 2017

   Ohtani signs with the Los Angeles Angels.

7. Mar 29, 2018

   Ohtani singles in his first major league at-bat, on Opening Day.

8. Apr 1, 2018

   Ohtani wins his major league pitching debut.

9. Sep 26, 2018

   2018 Bowman Chrome is released, including the BCRA-SO rookie autograph.

10. Oct 1, 2018

    Ohtani has Tommy John surgery.

11. Nov 12, 2018

    Ohtani is named American League Rookie of the Year.

12. 2021

    Ohtani hits 46 home runs, strikes out 156 and wins his first MVP.

13. Dec 11, 2023

    Ohtani signs a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.

14. Sep 19, 2024

    Ohtani becomes the first player with 50 home runs and 50 steals in a season.

15. Nov 29, 2025

    A Blue Refractor auto, PSA 10, sells for $118,300.

16. Jun 28, 2026

    Copy #121/150, BGS 9.5 with a 10 autograph, sells for $219,600.

17. Sep 18, 2026

    Copy #121/150, now graded PSA 10, sells for $390,400.

18. Sep 19, 2026

    A Red Refractor auto, numbered 2/5, sells for $2.44 million.

The world in 2018

• Feb 4, 2018

  The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII.

• Feb 14, 2018

  A gunman kills 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

• Jun 12, 2018

  President Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore.

• Oct 6, 2018

  The Senate confirms Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, 50-48.

• Oct 10, 2018

  Hurricane Michael becomes the strongest hurricane on record to hit the Florida Panhandle.

• Oct 28, 2018

  The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 2018 Bowman Chrome Shohei Ohtani RC Auto (Blue Refractor /150) is number 16 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (59 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• After a rough first spring training in 2018, several newspapers said Ohtani needed time in the minors; he singled in his first big league at-bat instead.
• Ohtani had Tommy John surgery five days after 2018 Bowman Chrome went on sale.
• In 2018 Ohtani joined Babe Ruth as the only players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 home runs in a season.
• Copy #121/150 sold for $219,600 as a BGS 9.5 and, three months later in a PSA 10 holder, for $390,400.
• A Red Refractor of the same card, one of five, sold for $2.44 million in September 2026.
• Ohtani's $700 million contract deferred $68 million a season until after the deal ends.