You should know by now that Shohei Ohtani is having another historic year with dominating performances on both the mound and at the plate ... it's stuff that could only be called Ruthian -- and yet Babe Ruth didn't do it all at the same time.

Right now, on June 28, he leads the league in homers (28), RBI (64), slugging percentage (.654), total bases (200) and other offensive stats, while also having. 7-3 record on the mound with 127 Ks in 95 innings and a 3.02 ERA ... in short, he leads his team in pretty much everything. This kind of showing could mean serious headlines by year's end, too, with that home run pace alone.

The Japanese icon and pitcher-slash-DH's 2018 Rookie Cards are ones you should be thinking about right now as there's been a serious uptick in interest -- and it was already high. But, thanks to there being plenty of sets that year and with him in most of them, there's still a lot to choose from that's not priced out of many collectors' budgets. Things do get quite interesting with basic cards in slabs, too. (Prices should surprise you ... they did for me just prepping this.)

Ohtani, who had a ton of cards during his career in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan starting in 2013, appears on literally thousands of unique baseball cards -- he'll probably hit around 15,000 by year's end or this time next year. More than 3,000 of those are from 2018 alone. His time in MLB releases started almost immediately as he never needed MiLB time and arrived in almost everything in the 2018 lineups from Topps, Panini America and elsewhere -- Rookie Cards, parallels, autographs, memorabilia you name it he's had it all since then. And there will be plenty more to come, perhaps making those earlier cards feel more unique to some ... especially if they missed out.

For simplicity's sake here, we have carved out all of his Topps Now and several other small-set cards sold as online releases as well as Panini America's meaty lineup of Ohtani (about 30 basic RCs and tons more when it comes to hits and inserts). We've also punted all autographs and Relic cards to make this a starting point with the widest affordability and accessibility possible, though there are plenty of high-dollar cards in this roundup.

Keep reading for a rundown of Shohei Ohtani Rookie Cards ... and it won't even be all of his stuff you could dabble with from that key year as there are plenty of cards with RC logos that don't fall under the definition.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Inside the Mike Trout Topps Transcendent party, "last-box mojo" in the NFL, one over-delivering WWE box and plenty more in today's edition.

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Have you seen the latest cool or interesting items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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GONE FISHING ... CAUGHT THE BIG ONE
The Item: Mike Trout 2018 Topps Transcendent Collection Emerald autograph (/15)
The Price: $599 Buy-It-Now (or best offer)
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This guy is one of the big names found in not one but two 2018 Transcendent Collection releases from Topps last year and he's the star of the VIP party that high-rollers will attend this year, too. While everything is low-volume in this ultra-high-end brand, there are a few guys who can be found more than others -- Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Ichiro Suzuki for sure as Trout is the main star in the standard version's extra inclusions, while the two Japanese stars are the only players found in the Asian edition.
Similar Pieces: Check out Topps Transcendent autos here
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for Transcendent boxes and sets

Keep reading for four more interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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Houdini's got a big break planned for Christmas Day over on BlowoutTV and he wants you to have a shot at a free spot.

It's a $100,000 break of 2018 Topps Transcendent Collection boxes -- a mix of the standard-edition as well as the Japanese edition. It's a break that's still filling here but should be ready in time for Tuesday afternoon (approximately  4 p.m. Eastern).

How can you get in on the action for free? Keep reading ...

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing Today: Showing off big cards, pondering a 100-percent Hall of Famer, big pulls and high-end case breaks in today's edition.

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There are more than a few reasons that the biggest high-end baseball card release of the year, 2018 Topps Transcendent Collection, is the biggest release yet in its the three-year history of the brand.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto are three rookie reasons it's kind of a big deal. A Superfractor autograph in every box is another. Then there are the booklet or patch cards to be found as well as the cut autographs and memorable sketch cards also found every single time one of the 83 pricey boxes gets cracked.

But the biggest reason?

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Have you seen the latest cool or interesting items on eBay? If not, you just might see some of those here every week as we're launching a weekly version of our eBay Buzz pieces that pop up from time to time. We’ll spotlight some items that have a story or just wow us with how much interest it might have — and we’re not just talking baseball cards, either.

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A SUPER SELLER SO FAR
The Item: 2018 Cryptozoic Supergirl Season 1 Melissa Benoist autograph (Supergirl version)
The Price: $480 after 11 bids with five-plus days remaining
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This latest arrival and the first for The CW series has a number of autographs to watch but none are bigger than those signed by Supergirl herself -- and Melissa Benoist actually has at least three different cards for collectors to look for. So far, three of her autos have sold for $999.50 or more on eBay and her rare dual-wardrobe cards found in this one -- what looks like one blue suit swatch and one red cape swatch -- also has pushed $800. This one is a live auction so it should be interesting to see how this one ends. The other big sales have been Buy-It-Now or Best Offer sales -- and the asking prices are higher than $1,000 for the active auctions right now
Similar Pieces: Other Supergirl Cryptozoic items on eBay
The BlowoutCards.com Hunt: Click here for Supergirl boxes (when available)

Keep reading for other interesting items in this week's roundup ...

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What: 2018 Topps Transcendent Collection baseball cards
Arrives: Dec. 14
Box basics: 54 autographs -- and plenty more -- per hand-crafted wooden box
Checklist: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: Topps' biggest high-end baseball brand -- what it calls "a collecting experience for the ages" and "the pinnacle of high-end collecting" -- returns for a third season with a tribute of sorts to 1983 for its 35th anniversary as part of a set spotlighting the biggest stars in MLB today. Topps also will have one of the biggest stars in the game on hand for the annual Transcendent party, too, with an invitation to that event in every box.

So, what comes in this one? Keep reading for more info and a full gallery of images released so far.

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