CGC Featured Card of the Month: 2024 Topps Cosmic Chrome #196 Shohei Ohtani

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Sport: Baseball

Set: 2024 Topps Cosmic Chrome

Card: #196 Shohei Ohtani

What makes it special? When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a record-breaking contract before the 2024 MLB season, many expected the Japanese star to be the missing link for the team's World Series title hopes. Expectations were through the roof, and yet Ohtani somehow exceeded the hype in what is considered one of the greatest individual seasons in baseball history.

After an already iconic pro career overseas where he won an MVP award and became a Japan Series champion, and several All-Star seasons with the Angels where he won a pair of MVPs but had little success in the playoffs, Ohtani began a new chapter with the Dodgers. The two-way star made an immediate impact in L.A., and it didn't take long for him to fill the one void in his awards cabinet: a World Series ring.

In what became one of the most legendary seasons by a baseball player ever, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to hit 50-plus home runs and steal 50-plus bases. He ended the season with a .310 batting average, an MLB-leading 54 home runs, 130 RBIs and 59 stolen bases. He became the only player to ever have a 50-50 season, which also earned him the unanimous NL MVP award as he helped Los Angeles win the 2024 World Series title.

Among Ohtani's lengthy list of accolades stemming from his 2024 heroics, he also became the first and only player to ever win three MVP awards unanimously, two consecutive unanimous MVP awards and a unanimous MVP award in both the American League and National League. This also made Ohtani only the second player in MLB history to win MVP awards in both leagues, joining Frank Robinson as the only other player to accomplish the feat.

Did you know? After winning his third MVP award in 2024, Shohei Ohtani became the first player in more than a decade to win the prestigious honor in back-to-back seasons. In this century, only Barry Bonds (2001-2004), Albert Pujols (2008-2009), Miguel Cabrera (2012-2013) and Ohtani (2023-2024) have earned MVPs in consecutive seasons, with only 14 players in the history of the majors reaching the feat of back-to-back MVPs. If the Dodgers star wins one more MVP, he'll join Bonds as the only other player to ever earn four or more of the awards; however, Ohtani will have a few more to go to tie Bonds' all-time record of seven career MVP awards.

Total graded by CGC Cards: Shohei Ohtani's 2024 Topps Cosmic Chrome #196 card includes a handful of different colored parallels. Of the base Topps Cosmic Chrome #196 version, there is one graded example of the standard card in the CGC Cards Population Report, as of early April 2025. CGC Cards has also certified five different parallels of the same card: Aqua Equinox Refractor (1), Purple Nebula Refractor (1), Green Space Dust Refractor (1), Nucleus Refractor (1) and Refractor (1).

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CGC Cards median grade: CGC Gem Mint 10

CGC Cards highest graded: Out of 6 total graded or authenticated examples, all 3 graded cards earned Gem Mint 10s, with an additional 3 cards receiving the Authentic designation.

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Sales highlights: No examples of the 2024 Topps Cosmic Chrome #196 base card have sold through Fanatics Collect. However, the Green Space Dust Refractor parallel certified as CGC Authentic realized $162 through Fanatics Collect in January 2025 (pictured above), the Purple Nebula Refractor parallel graded CGC Gem Mint 10 realized $115 through Fanatics Collect in March 2025, the Refractor parallel certified CGC Authentic realized $55 through Fanatics Collect in February 2025 and the Nucleus Refractor parallel certified CGC Authentic realized $29 through Fanatics Collect in January 2025.

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