Steve Aoki had a moment he’ll never forget after he pulled a super-rare Shohei Ohtani rookie card during a livestream with Hardscope.
The card is one of 99 ever made and is estimated to be worth up to $40,000.
Aoki was unboxing cards with influencer Matcrackz for the first episode of Hardscope’s new collectibles show.
Early in the video, Aoki made his intentions clear that he was looking for the Ohtani card by saying at the 16-minute mark of the video, “Shohei, are you here with us?”
Instead, Aoki pulled an autographed LaMonte Wade card.
It was 40 seconds later that his dreams came true.
Aoki pulled the card and immediately erupted in excitement and was screaming, “We got him! Shohei the great!”
“This is probably one of the greatest pulls of my life! Like, I’ll never forget this experience!” Aoki said.
Aoki is a big fan of Ohtani, as he’s been regularly seen watching him play, including during the World Baseball Classic last spring, when he had the chance to watch Ohtani take batting practice for Team Japan.
While Aoki was ecstatic to pull his dream card, it’s not the most expensive piece in his collection, as he has a Tom Brady “2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Autograph” one that he spent over $770,000 on.
The Brady card has a Beckett autograph grading of 10, while the card is graded at a mint nine.
Aoki’s collection also features a triple autograph card that features Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. As well as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and more rare Ohtani cards.
When the COVID-19 pandemic happened in 2020 is when Aoki began collecting cards, as he had a rare moment where had time off from the road.
Last May, Sports Illustrated reported that Aoki’s collection includes more than 35,000 cards and that he’s moved a significant portion of his collection to “PSA’s Vault for storage, digitization, and eventual liquidity.”
