Shohei Ohtani came to Major League Baseball with massive hype in December 2017, and a burning question in trading card circles early in 2018 surrounded when his first rookies would appear in packs. One of those early appearances came in 2018 Bowman Baseball, and collectors could not wait to try to uncover examples of his “1st Bowman” Chrome Rookie Autograph card. And that was before he was a two-time World Series Champion, four-time MVP and the founding member of baseball's 50/50 Club.
Featuring a photo of Ohtani following through on his windup, his hard-signed rookie autograph has a slate of eight parallels, including this stunning /100 Atomic Refractor. Atomic Refractors originated with the Bowman’s Best brand in 1996 and first appeared on Bowman Chrome cards in 2011 as an insert parallel. In 2018, the Atomic Refractor and its crystal-like design gained widespread use on Bowman Chrome cards for the first time, giving Ohtani’s rookie auto plenty of sparkle. Today that same pattern is used on popular Topps Chrome Sapphire cards and Panini Cracked Ice parallels.
No copy of this card in the BGS registry has a higher grade than this Gem Mint 9.5. Subgrades include 10 for Surface and 9.5s for Corners and Edges. The autograph has been graded a 10.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 02/10/2026.
