Topps, Fanatics announce Tokyo Series trading cards and merchandise as demand grows in Japan

New York Times

27-02-2025

Ahead of MLB's 2025 Tokyo Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs on March 18-19, Topps and parent company Fanatics have announced a merchandise collection and trading card sets created in collaboration with one of Japan's most famous artists, Takashi Murakami. It's a move that reflects the rapidly growing demand in Japan for all things MLB fueled by the popularity of Shohei Ohtani and other Japanese stars now playing Stateside, and it's something to which trading card collectors in particular should pay close attention.
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The Nike merchandise collection features shirts, hats and select player jerseys (Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman from the Dodgers and Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and Dansby Swanson from the Cubs) that bear Murakami's signature floral and anime-inspired designs. They go on sale March 7 through Fanatics and Complex's website, and will also be available at Dodger Stadium, Wrigley Field, the Tokyo Dome and MLB's flagship store in New York City.
On the trading card side, Topps is releasing two sets tied to the Tokyo Series. First there will be 2025 Topps Series 1 Baseball — Tokyo Game Exclusive releasing on March 1 that will only be available at certain physical locations around Tokyo and on Topps' Japanese website (at least until it hits the secondary market). It will include Murakami-designed base card variations numbered to five, plus several additional inserts not found in the standard Series 1 release.
Murakami variation:
World Tour Domination:
Tokyo Nights (not to be confused with The Lonely Island's Oakland Nights, which also deserves an insert set at some point):
Stars of Japan Autographs:
History of Japanese Baseball:
Then on March 7 there will be a 25-card Topps x Murakami MLB Tokyo Series Matchup set released through Complex's website, LA store and locations in Tokyo. That set aligns more closely with the Murakami-designed merchandise release.
The chase card for each set is a redemption for a Murakami and Ohtani dual autograph card. Each product will have one.
Just as Topps and Fanatics pursued broader cultural appeal beyond the sports landscape in the U.S. last year with apparel and a baseball card set in collaboration with rapper Travis Scott, this new effort with Murakami seems to be a Japan-focused twist on the same concept.
In addition to all that, Topps will also have a three-story interactive experience in the Shibuya District of Tokyo that will be open to the public from March 13-16. It will include 'a gamified environment' that incorporates trading cards and memorabilia of Japanese legends like Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki. It will also feature a floor dedicated solely to Ohtani memorabilia, including a base from his 50/50 game and a game-used bat from the 2024 World Series.
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So why are they doing all of this? Because they're trying to keep up with rising demand. Ohtani and the Dodgers beating the New York Yankees in the World Series last year set viewership records in Japan, even though the games aired in the morning there. According to SportsPro, MLB broadcasts in Japan have seen an increase of viewers in each of the last four season. And Fanatics says they've seen this growth first-hand, too.
Ohtani merchandise has made up a staggering 57 percent of Fanatics' total MLB sales in Japan over the last five years, according to the company, while their Dodgers merchandise sales in Japan have increased 2,000 percent year over year since he joined the team. In 2021, when Topps first produced a Japan-exclusive edition of its flagship baseball card set, the company's card sales totaled $1.5 million. In 2024, that grew to $22.6 million, with $2 million of that coming from sales in Japan of an Ohtani 50/50 set produced to commemorate his historic season. That set generated $7 million in sales globally.
That 57 percent figure raises the question of whether Japan's interest in MLB can be broadened beyond Ohtani with time or if his singular star power will not be replicable.
Topps says it expects a '10x increase in sales and collectors (in Japan) over the next five years.' That probably won't happen through Ohtani products alone. In 2025, Topps plans to release more than six Japanese-specific products for the country's baseball league (NPB), soccer league (JLeague), and 'a Japanese-market specific MLB product with Ohtani.'
Even if U.S.-based collectors never get their hands on these cards, all of this could eventually have an impact that reaches across the Pacific. The sports card market is increasingly a global one, and if the Japanese collector base can continue to grow in a meaningful way, it will have a tangible effect on what was once an insular hobby within the U.S. It could mean greater demand for cards, at first for those of certain players, like Ohtani, the other Japanese stars and maybe even their MLB teammates. But beyond that it could also bring new ideas and innovations to the space, and serve as another step in expanding a community in unique ways.
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(All images: Topps/Fanatics)