In 2025, Topps introduced the Gold Logoman for the 2024 MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year Award winners, and they are upping the ante for 2026.
Coming in 2026, Topps Chrome Baseball will feature Back-to-Back Dual Gold Logoman Autograph relics specifically for Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers, Aaron Judge of the Yankees, and Tarik Skubal of the Tigers.
Collecting on SI was given an exclusive first look at the Shohei Ohtani card as well as an interview with Mike Mahan to discuss the program.
Mike Mahan on the Concept of the Back-to-Back Dual Logoman
Mike Mahan, the CEO of Fanatics Collectibles, joined me for a few minutes to discuss the concept of the Back-to-Back Dual Logoman Autograph Relic and how the idea came about.
One of the things Mahan noted was, “to create cards for the best athletes worthy of their achievements.” Mahan noted that while rookie cards will remain some players’ best or most expensive cards, Fanatics would like to be able to continue to innovate to make sure the biggest and best athletes continue to have cards worthy of what they do on the field.
Here is a special first look at the Shohei Ohtani card collectors will be chasing.
A few things to note about the card: The card is vertical with two autographs for Ohtani. One in English and the other in Kanji. Each Gold Logoman on the patch is from the specific year he won the MVP award, so one will be from 2024 and the other will be from 2025. It is unclear if Judge or Skubal will sign twice, or if this was specific to Ohtani (Ed. Note; the news of the Kanji inscription came after the interview with Mahan took place).
So, the natural follow-up question about the program came up: would this continue if Ohtani kept winning consecutive MVPs?
Mahan jokingly told me, “I’m not breaking any news today,” but Mahan did say he didn’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to continue, but was not committing to the idea on the spot.
Will This Program Head to Other Sports?
Given that Fanatics has the license for MLB, NBA, NFL, Premier League, Bundesliga, and more, could we see these back-to-back award winners patches move to other sports?
Mahan didn’t rule it out, especially with the success we’ve seen across the big three with the Gold Logoman or Gold Shield sales so far. He also mentioned that Topps and Fanatics have been lucky that the leagues have been so open to trying new ideas.
As we recently saw with the World Cup, Lionel Messi was wearing four custom patches in the World Cup Final, presumably all of which will end up in cards when Topps takes over the World Cup license in 2031 (or beyond).
How Much Could The Ohtani Be Worth?
Keeping in mind that the 2025 Topps Chrome version of Ohtani sold for $3 million, I’ve been wondering what a Back-to-Back Dual Gold Logoman Autograph Relic with patches from MVP season as well as the Kanji autograph could go for.
After talking to a few people around Sports Cards Nonsense, the consensus was somewhere north of 1.5x the 2025 version, somewhere in the $4.5-6 million range.
When asked about how the team feels knowing these cards carry such a premium, Mahan smiled and said, “Good. Real good.”
As they should.
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Brendan has worked for various platforms, including The Washington Post, SB Nation, NBC Sports Washington, and more, covering everything from college basketball to fantasy football and betting. An avid collector as a kid, he got back into collecting in 2021 and is a dedicated soccer, football, and basketball collector.
