Shohei Ohtani loves putting together historic performances. And every time he does, it seems like his baseball cards are doing the same.
According to Beckett’s Andrew Harner, the Shohei Ohtani Topps Now Card commemorating his unforgettable NLCS Game 4 has become the first card from the series to unlock Opal Chrome parallels. With a print run that blew past the 250,000-card threshold, this dual-image piece of cardboard is breaking new ground in the collecting world.
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The Shohei Ohtani Topps Now Card That Unlocked Chrome History
Topps introduced a tiered Chrome parallel system for their 2025 Topps Now Baseball series, and very few cards have even scratched the surface of these unlockable tiers. The Ohtani card in question (#884 of the season) finished with a massive print run of 253,309 cards, making it the first to cross into Opal Chrome territory.
So what exactly did that unlock? According to Topps, collectors will now see Opal Chrome parallels numbered to /50, /25, /10, and /5. That’s significant because most 2025 Topps Now cards haven’t even reached the basic Chrome parallel level (which kicks in at 50,000 prints).
At 100,000 prints, you unlock Chrome cards numbered to /25 or fewer, and if a card somehow reaches 500,000 prints, a one-of-one White OpalFractor enters the equation. This Ohtani card landed squarely in the sweet spot between premium rarity and attainability.
What makes this even more impressive is that collectors who ordered the card also have chances at pulling Foil parallels, Relic versions, or Auto Relics. The dual-image design itself captures the full significance of Ohtani’s historic NLCS Game 4 performance, too.
Ohtani’s Ridiculous NLCS Game 4 Performance Broke Every Mold
Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS wasn’t just good. It was the kind of once-in-a-lifetime showing that makes you question if you’re watching a video game or real life. Ohtani tortured the Milwaukee Brewers on the mound and in the batter’s box as he helped the Los Angeles Dodgers clinch their second straight National League pennant.
On the mound, Ohtani allowed just two hits and three walks across six shutout innings while striking out 10 hitters. That was enough in itself, but then he turned around and also became just the 12th player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a postseason game. Even the way he went about doing it was eye-popping. All of his homers traveled at least 400 feet that night. His first dinger was a leadoff shot to give the Dodgers an immediate lead, while another traveled 469 feet (it’s one of the longest postseason homers of the Statcast era).
Think about the sheer impossibility of that stat line. Double-digit strikeouts as a pitcher. Three homers as a hitter. In the same game. In the playoffs. It’s the kind of performance that will be talked about forever, and Topps knew exactly what they had on their hands when they rushed this card to production.
The Ever-Growing Shohei Ohtani Card Collection
If you’ve been following the baseball card market, you know that Ohtani cards of all kinds are everywhere right now. I mean, jeez — he’s been the subject of more baseball cards than just about any active big leaguer.
For collectors looking for more affordable entry points into Ohtani’s 2025 collection, there are some excellent options beyond this historic Topps Now card. Card #721, which celebrated him becoming the first player with 50 home runs and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher, had a print run of 62,411. Similarly, card #527 commemorating his 1,000th career hit (print run of 52,589) gives collectors another chance to own a milestone Ohtani card without breaking the bank.
The trio card featuring Ohtani alongside teammates Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki during the 2025 Tokyo Series came very close to unlocking Chrome parallels with 99,226 prints, as well.
Ohtani’s Topps Now Dominance Continues a Record-Setting Trend
This isn’t Ohtani’s first rodeo when it comes to Topps Now records. The man literally owns the highest-printed Topps Now card in history. The 2024 card celebrating his 50/50 season had a print run of 653,737 cards.
What’s fascinating about Ohtani’s Topps Now journey is how it mirrors his real-world impact on the game. He’s appeared on more than 30 different Topps Now cards in 2025 alone.
Being the first to unlock the Opal Chrome parallel in 2025 felt almost inevitable. When you’re rewriting record books on the field with the kind of regularity that Ohtani does, it makes perfect sense that his cards are doing the same thing.
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