David Davidov said he stood for 20 seconds in shocked silence when a longtime customers Facetimed him this summer to show off a once-in-a-lifetime prize that had come from his strip-mall store west of Boca Raton. It was a unicorn in the world of baseball trading cards: a 2026 Shohei Ohtani Topps Chrome card, the only one made. It features the Los Angeles Dodger's signature in both English and Kanji, characters used in the Japanese writing system. In the center of the card there are two game worn Major League Baseball logo jersey patches marking Ohtani's consecutive National League MVP awards in 2024 and 2025. It's become one of the world's most expensive sports cards. The person who scored the card later sold it to the online network Secure Collectibles for $11 million.
People come to Boca Sports Cards all the time to buy a pack of baseball cards, which can range from $7 to $500, but since the unicorn emerged, Davidov said his business, in the Sandalwood Plaza shopping center along State Road 7, has welcomed a revolving door of new and old customers and the phone hasn't stopped ringing as others hope to capture some magic of their own. "It's crazy to believe that you had a box sitting here in the shop that had a card that's worth $11 million," he said. Who is Shohei Ohtani? Shohei Ohtani is a 32-year-old Japanese player who many say is a once-in-a-generation talent. As far as Davidov is concerned, Ohtani is the GOAT — the Greatest Of All Time. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar stands out for his dominance as a pitcher and as a hitter, even earning comparisons to Babe Ruth. Ohtani has appeared in six All-Star games, has received a number of awards including the 2021 Major League Player of the Year, 2024 Major League Player of the Year and four MVPs. He's led the Dodgers to two back-to-back World Series championships and this season Ohtani holds a .297 average and has 26 home runs and 76 RBI. On the mound, he's made 14 appearances and has a 8-2 record with a 1.79 ERA, a 0.95 whip and 95 strikeouts for a Dodgers team that is favored to win a third consecutive World Series. What's the big deal about trading cards? Trading cards were not always the money machine that they have come to be known as. Cards used to be a passing phase, meant for Little Leaguers to compare themselves to the professionals and to allow friends to trade with one another to get favorite players they might be missing. In 1952, Topps — a player itself in the world of trading cards since the 1930s — was coming up with innovations to get people to buy their cards, one of them being saving select star players, like Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson for a second series of higher-numbered cards. When they approached candy shops to sell them the product, the many owners of these community spots balked, pointing to their unsold stock.
So the boxes went unsold and unshipped so to clear them out, Topps loaded them onto a barge and dumped them into the ocean. With so many cards sitting at the bottom of the sea, those that survived became a rarity and a number of Mickey Mantle cards began to fetch high prices. How high? A 1952 Mantle card set the record at $12.6 million in 2022, according to the auction house Sotheby's. Having learned the lesson that scarcity draws people to the cards, Topps has gone as far as to create the scarcity themselves, like the solo Ohtani card. The hobby expanded beyond baseball in the '90s, Today, most sports have their own cards, as do videogames and Japanese anime characters. Top sellers include those for Pokémon, based on the videogame of the same name and Magic the Gathering, with more trading card variations coming out over the years.
FIRST LOOK: Shohei Ohtani's back-to-back Gold Logoman dual autograph card. This card features two Gold Logoman patches and two on-card autographs. The patches in this card are game-worn and dated to some of Shohei’s best performances. The first patch was worn in a two home-run… pic.twitter.com/PBK5eemphP — Topps (@Topps) July 21, 2026 What makes the whole thing so appealing differs for each collector. In recent years many have gotten into the hobby for the chance to capitalize on rare cards. "It's always about trying to chase a big hit. … There are unique cards that are being put into these boxes and cases today that are getting people to chase these cards, big cards that have a lot of chances to sell for a lot of money," said Davidov. "It's like a lottery ticket, pretty much." That's exactly what happened to this collector who turned a Jumbo Hobby Box of cards, which sells around $300 to $400, into an $11 million pay out. The high prices don't stop at baseball, Pokémon cards can range in the thousands of dollars and as for sports, Davidov said the newest chase will come from a release of Topps basketball cards this week. "(The set) features the debut patches of the rookies from 2025 and the Cooper Flag is going to be the big chase in that one and that's probably, in my opinion, going to fetch at least $5 million." For all your collectible trading card needs Boca Sports Cards is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 9825 Marina Blvd #400 in Boca Raton. Arianna Otero covers breaking news for the Palm Beach Post. Contact her via email at AOtero@gannett.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Shoni Ohtani baseball card bought at Boca store sells for $11M