A Shohei Ohtani card, appearing at first glance to have an autograph and patch, sold for $854 on Thursday night at Goldin.
Considering how red-hot the market for all things Ohtani has been in the wake of his historic 50-50 season, that might seem like a bargain.
Until you read the fine print.
Beneath larger text describing “on-card autographs” and relics placed in the 2019 Topps Definitive Collection set, four lines of text explain: “THE FRONT OF THIS CARD IS A REPRODUCTION OF A HISTORIC TOPPS BASEBALL CARD. IT DOES NOT CONTAIN AN ORIGINAL AUTOGRAPH AND/OR RELIC. ANY AUTOGRAPH AND/OR RELIC DEPICTED IS A REPRINTED COPY OF THE ORIGINAL SIGNATURE AND/OR RELIC MATERIAL.”
Wait, what?
The card is not, in fact, a Shohei Ohtani card. It’s a Shohei Ohtani card … card.
Released in 2021, this insert called “Topps Through The Years,” has been one of the hobby’s strangest — and potentially most misleading — cards on the market.
Intended to celebrate the 2019 Topps Definitive release, which includes actual autographs and actual relics, this card includes neither. When the card is listed online, the scan appears identical to the original card, with the only difference being a border around the image and “Topps Through the Years” written beneath.
The record for the card came in August, when a PSA 10 sold for nearly $2,000.
Not technically a reprint considering it is labelled as an insert, PSA slabs it simply as 2021 Topps Through the Years. Nothing about that is explicitly incorrect. But, misleading? It’s hard to argue otherwise.
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After all, look at a card such as the 2021 Topps Chrome 1985 Shohei Ohtani. Released the same year, by the same company, also an insert commemorating a past card: A PSA 10 sold the same day as the faux autograph patch card for less than $50 on eBay. Unlike the Topps Through the Years card, this insert displays no images of an autograph nor relic.
Now, how do we know the price tag isn’t due to a factor other than image of the patch and autograph?
Well, the card that sold Thursday at Goldin offered only the following information in the title: “2021 Topps Through the Years #17 Shohei Ohtani — PSA Mint 9.” That’s standard for the auction house, which lists the same title provided by PSA on the slab.
One day prior, a PSA 10 copy of the same card sold for $455. A major difference? The seller listed it as a reprint.
The actual 2019 Topps Definitive card (with an actual on-card autograph and real relic), most recently sold in May for $3,500.
Considering it’s not a true reprint, what obligation do auction houses such as Goldin or authenticators such as PSA have to flag the highly relevant information regarding the card’s features?
Should it be on PSA to buck its standard practices and slap some kind of added warning onto the label?
Or should the auction house be expected to clarify things for collectors, even though the card is labeled accurately in the listing?
The answer is unclear, however, what is obvious is the potential for a very expensive mistake.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.