FLOAT 100 · Trading cards · No. 100
2018 Topps Update Shohei Ohtani #US285 RC (Rookie Debut)
Topps saved a 'Rookie Debut' card for the two-way player America had doubted all spring, and it reached stores three weeks after he went under the knife for Tommy John surgery and three weeks before he was named Rookie of the Year.
- Year
- 2018
- Maker
- Topps
- By price in trading cards
- 94 of 100
Create a free account to see every recorded price and every grade.
Create a free account- Card
- 2018 Topps Update #US285, Shohei Ohtani, Rookie Debut (RD) subset
- Released
- October 22, 2018
- Set
- 300-card Topps Update base set
- Other Ohtani cards in the set
- US1 (base rookie, with photo variations) and US189 (Highlight)
- Parallels of US285
- Rainbow Foil and Gold (numbered to 2018), plus set-wide parallels down to a one-of-one Platinum
- His flagship-set rookie
- 2018 Topps Series 2 #700, released June 13, 2018
- This entry
- Base US285 graded PSA 10 (Gem Mint)
- 2018 season
- 22 HR and .925 OPS as a hitter; 4-2, 3.31 ERA as a pitcher; AL Rookie of the Year
Update, and the Rookie Debut subset
The 2018 Topps Update set, released October 22, 2018, has a 300-card base checklist with a 'US' prefix. Scattered through it are Rookie Debut cards, marked 'RD': US104 Juan Soto, US191 Gleyber Torres, US252 Ronald Acuña Jr. and US285 Shohei Ohtani among them.
Ohtani appears in the set three times: on US1, a base rookie card that also comes in photo variations; on US189, a Highlight card; and on US285, the Rookie Debut. Every card in the set has parallels: Gold numbered to 2018, Rainbow Foil, Vintage Stock numbered to 99, Independence Day to 76, Black to 66, Memorial Day Camo to 25, and a one-of-one Platinum.
US285 is not Ohtani's first Topps flagship card. That is #700 in 2018 Topps Series 2, which came out on June 13, 2018. The record for this entry is the Update Rookie Debut card, not #700.
The two-way gamble
Shohei Ohtani was born on July 5, 1994, in Mizusawa, now part of Ōshū, in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. His mother was a national-level badminton player in high school, and his father played amateur baseball in Japan's industrial league. He stayed local for high school, at Hanamaki Higashi, then pitched and hit for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters from 2013 to 2017, winning the 2016 Japan Series and the Pacific League MVP that year.
He signed with the Los Angeles Angels on December 9, 2017, for a $2.315 million bonus. Four days later it emerged that he had a first-degree sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The Angels said they would use him both as a hitter and a pitcher.
On Opening Day, March 29, 2018, he singled in his first at-bat as the designated hitter in Oakland. On April 1 he won his pitching debut with six strikeouts in six innings; on April 3 he hit his first home run; on April 8 he took a perfect game into the seventh inning and struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings. A Grade 2 UCL sprain put him on the injured list on June 8, and he returned as a hitter in July.
He finished with a .285 average, 22 home runs, 61 RBI and 10 steals, and went 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 10 starts. He joined Babe Ruth as the only players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 home runs in a season. On September 3 it was revealed he needed Tommy John surgery, performed October 1. Three weeks later this card reached stores, and on November 12 he was named American League Rookie of the Year.
What came after
Ohtani won the American League MVP unanimously in 2021 and again in 2023. After the 2023 season he signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the largest in professional sports history at the time.
Unable to pitch in 2024 while recovering from a second elbow injury, he became the first player in major league history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, won the unanimous NL MVP and won the World Series in his first postseason. In 2025 he returned to the mound, set a Dodgers record with 55 home runs, won a second straight unanimous NL MVP, was named NLCS MVP after a Game 4 in which he hit three home runs and threw six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, and won a second straight title. He is the only player to win multiple MVP awards in each league.
The PSA 10 market
PSA 10 copies of US285 change hands nearly every day. Public sales trackers in late September 2026 showed PSA 10 copies selling mostly between about $490 and $610, and one tracker recorded its most recent PSA 10 sale at $490.57 on October 2, 2026, down 15 percent over 30 days. Those records do not say whether each sale was an auction or a fixed-price sale, so they are not charted here.
Asking prices run higher than recent sales: on October 3, 2026, a fixed-price listing at a U.S. marketplace offered a PSA 10 copy at $820. PSA's own price guide, a reference value rather than a sale, listed the PSA 10 at $140, far below where copies were actually trading.
When identifying the card, check the number (US285) and the 'RD' Rookie Debut designation on the PSA label. The Gold parallel is serial-numbered to 2018 and the Rainbow Foil has a foil finish; both are separate cards with their own prices, and the base US1 and Highlight US189 are different cards altogether.
The numbers
- 2018 batting (age 23)
- 104 G, 367 PA, 326 AB, 59 R, 93 H, 21 2B, 2 3B, 22 HR, 61 RBI, 10 SB, .285 BA, .361 OBP, .564 SLG, .925 OPS
- 2018 pitching
- 4-2, 3.31 ERA, 10 G, 10 GS, 51.2 IP, 63 SO, 22 BB, 1.161 WHIP
- 2018 award
- AL Rookie of the Year
- 2024 batting (50-50 season)
- 159 G, 54 HR, 130 RBI, 59 SB, .310 BA, 1.036 OPS
- 2025 batting
- 158 G, 55 HR, 102 RBI, 20 SB, .282 BA, 1.014 OPS
- MLB batting through 2026 (9 seasons)
- 1,153 G, 1,194 H, 310 HR, 750 RBI, 176 SB, .281 BA, .948 OPS
- Honors
- MVP 2021, 2023 (AL), 2024, 2025 (NL), all unanimous; World Series 2024, 2025
Timeline
Shohei Ohtani is born in Mizusawa, Iwate, Japan.
Wins the Japan Series and the Pacific League MVP with Nippon-Ham.
Signs with the Los Angeles Angels for a $2.315 million bonus.
MLB debut: singles in his first at-bat on Opening Day in Oakland.
Wins his pitching debut.
2018 Topps Series 2 is released with Ohtani's flagship rookie, #700.
Undergoes Tommy John surgery.
2018 Topps Update is released, including the US285 Rookie Debut card.
Named American League Rookie of the Year.
Unanimous American League MVP.
Second unanimous AL MVP; signs a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers after the season.
First 50-homer, 50-steal season in MLB history; unanimous NL MVP; World Series champion.
Returns to pitching, hits a Dodgers-record 55 home runs, wins a second unanimous NL MVP and a second straight title.
The world in 2018
The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII for their first Super Bowl title.
A mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, kills 17.
President Trump meets North Korea's Kim Jong-un in Singapore.
Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | $820 | Asking price, not a salePSA 10, fixed-price listing at a U.S. marketplace. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, 2018 Topps Update Shohei Ohtani #US285 RC (Rookie Debut) is number 94 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 (100 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Ohtani's high school coach said he was a fast enough swimmer to have competed at the Olympics.
- In his second major league start on the mound he took a perfect game into the seventh inning.
- This card went on sale three weeks after his Tommy John surgery.
- In 2018 he joined Babe Ruth as the only players with 10 pitching appearances and 20 home runs in a season.
- He is the only player to win multiple MVP awards in both the American and National leagues.
- PSA's price guide value for a PSA 10 has lagged far behind what copies actually sell for.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026