The refrain sounded all too familiar within the Anderson household, especially to Kari Anderson. Her husband Pete Anderson and their 13-year-old sons Colton and Henry approached dinner time with a distraction: an online baseball card box break that they had bought into, but were unsure when the vendor would begin ripping open the packs on the livestream.

None of them would’ve imagined the anticipation leading to what is now set to become the most expensive Shohei Ohtani card in history.

All Kari could muster was a sarcastic “great,” knowing more packages of cards would soon arrive at the family’s Rosemount, Minnesota doorstep. That meant more clutter within the house thanks to her three resident card enthusiasts.

In a break, the organizer pre-sells the rights to different groupings of cards (sometimes by team, player, etc) to participants from a set number of packs or boxes and then ships out those card groupings to their new owners. This time, Pete purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in a “pick your team” break involving 2025 Topps Chrome Baseball, a sought-after spot since the biggest chase card in the set was a one-of-a-kind autographed Ohtani card bearing the gold MLB logoman patch he wore on his jerseys this past season to mark his 2024 NL MVP win.

So the family sat down for dinner at home, not knowing when Whatnot vendor Bargain Breakers would commesnce ripping open the packs on their stream since they had to wait for the different team spots to be filled. As the family cleared the dishes to wrap up dinner, Pete’s phone started buzzing and never stopped with notifications streaming in from other Whatnot users. He couldn’t believe what he saw as the card was still on the screen. Paul scurried the boys over to his phone to watch the ongoing joyful aftermath of the card being pulled from a pack.

The Andersons landed the autographed Ohtani gold Logoman card. Technically, they secured the redemption card to be turned in to Topps to receive the Ohtani card (the same process as the 11-year-old boy who hit the Paul Skenes MLB Debut Patch card last year). A redemption card is put into a pack in cases like this as a way to preserve the condition of the actual card, given its extreme value.

The Shohei Ohtani 1/1 autographed Topps Chrome Gold Logoman patch card. Photo: Fanatics Collect

“(Pete) was trying to explain to me how it was a bigger deal and he got this special card,” Kari said. “I kind of rolled my eyes, and he told me I was taking the fun out of it. And we went on with our night, per usual. I had no idea the extent of it or anything until days or weeks, or even months later. Here today, now it’s still kind of crazy that this is a card that we acquired.”

Before receiving the actual Ohtani card, the Andersons decided to put it up for auction with Fanatics Collect. The price trampolined quicker than maybe anyone anticipated within the first 24 hours of the auction launching on Dec. 6, with the card reaching bids of $1 million-plus. With 46 bids in, the card currently stands at $1.26 million (including the buyer’s premium) as the auction is set to end either late Thursday night or early Friday morning, depending on how long the extended bidding period lasts.

“(Kari) had mentioned to me how it wasn’t real until the auction started,” Pete said. “And then it started going up $200,000 and then $300,000. And then (the price) doubles within the day and she said that she got a little misty-eyed when she was watching the auction.”

It will be the second Ohtani card to ever reach at least $1 million among publicly known sales, according to Card Ladder (an online trading card sales database). The first occurred when Ohtani’s 2024 Topps 50/50 Dynasty Black MLB Logoman patch autographed one-of-a-kind card sold for just over $1 million in March through Heritage. That card featured the logo patch Ohtani wore on his pants the night he became the first member of the 50/50 club. The market for Ohtani cards wasn’t even close to an apex during the time of that sale. Ohtani’s Card Ladder index, which tracks the overall market for his cards, is up more than 200 percent within the last year. The Dynasty Black MLB Logoman autographed card would likely sell for a much higher price now than nine months ago.

This was the first season that MLB’s MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year award winners wore the gold patches. The patch in the Andersons’ card came from Ohtani’s uniform in the April 29th matchup between the Dodgers and Miami Marlins. Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a home run that day.

This Ohtani card will be the 25th public sale of a sports card to soar north of $1 million in 2025. Here are the top five publicly known card sales from this year:

$12.9 million: 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant dual NBA Logoman patch autographed one-of-one card, PSA 6 grade (Aug. 23 via auction at Heritage)
$10 million: 2006-07 Upper Deck Exquisite Michael Jordan/LeBron James dual NBA Logoman patch autographed one-of-one card, ungraded (Sept. 26 via private sale)
$4.7 million: 2018-19 Panini Flawless Luka Doncic NBA Logoman patch rookie autographed one-of-one card, ungraded (Sept. 26 via private sale)
$4.25 million: 2003-04 Upper Deck Exquisite LeBron James rookie patch autographed card numbered to 23, PSA 9 card/10 auto grade (Aug. 21 via private sale)
$4.03 million: 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card, SGC 3 grade (Oct. 24 via auction at Heritage)

Fanatics Collect vice president Kevin Lenane said, from an auction house standpoint, there’s nothing better than combining a family who thoroughly enjoys collecting cards and loves the hobby with one of the most unique and valuable cards ever printed.

“Honestly, it’s the best part of my job,” Lenane said. “The same thing with the Skenes card. Getting to meet with a family who appreciates the hobby. The money is meaningful. It’s just a fun experience to have.”

While the Andersons wait to see where the final price of the card lands, school friends regularly ask Henry and Colton for auction updates.

But will this be enough for Kari to flood the porch with packages of her own cards and fill the house with more sports cards after this experience?

“That would be the dream for me!” said a wishful Paul.

“I don’t know that it’s a hobby for me,” Kari said. “I appreciate that it’s a bonding experience for them and I think that’s great. And the fact that we had such a high experience with it so quickly is amazing. I really don’t think you can top it. 
So… it’s just… Right away from it. It’s just…

Paul jumped back in, saying, “Ride the wave!”

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