[QUOTE=eliseomo;16833958]Thanks for the answers! I'm inclined with selling between ST and a season hot streak, not to extend further than the All-Star game. Ok, so I also have the Topps golds for both of them, which I don't plan on selling for now. But if I were to sell, which ones would you sell first: Pink Chromes or Golds?
(disclosure: These were all pulled from packs purchased at either Wal-Mart or Target, so my cost is low)
[img]https://i.imgur.com/dSSQMbW.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]

Nice Goldies! Golds are hobby royalty. Hang onto those as long as you can. Pink Chromes, "X this" and "Debut that's" will come and go...true Flagship royalty is precious. Take this from the guy that sold his original 3x Tatis Gold 10s...way too soon! I wont make that mistake again on a big boy talent.

[QUOTE=Hollywood42;16833838]I was thinking about this a little bit in the Acuna thread yesterday. I agree for sure that Soto will have the better overall bat, and it may be pretty clear unless Acuna can cut the strikeouts down and reverse the trend of his BA going down year to year. Of course offense is the individual skill that matters most to card prices, but there are a few things that Acuna has a leg up on Soto on that could level the playing field-

-Acuna is way more well rounded. Soto may be the better hitter, and he may even be significantly better. But Acuna has great defense and speed, obviously people generally don't care too much about that, but it closes the gap between him and Soto in the real world which I can see translating to card prices. Plus of course more likely to make some highlight reels outside of just offensively, and a 40/40 season would be big too

-Acuna has a significantly better team around him. Soto does of course already have a WS under his belt, but what have you done for me lately? The Braves are a legit World Series contender right now and should be very good for the foreseeable future. That lends to further hype, and if they make some deep playoff runs and/or win a title, will be a big deal. Especially if Acuna has some big postseason moments

-Acuna is way cheaper right now. US250 PSA 10 is around $200 whereas US300 PSA 10 is around $300. Long term won't matter what they're at today of course, but the debate has always been Acuna vs. Soto, so it's a little surprising there's such a big price difference. Perhaps that's aided by Acuna having the bat down

Idk if any of that matters, and honestly not sure what point I was trying to make with all that, but I do find it interesting[/QUOTE]


On the field, I think your assessment is fair. I see both as huge talents and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch them get better. I hope they stay in the same division. Props to the Braves for getting Acuna locked up.

However, one factor about Soto I don't see brought up much int he Acuna thread is the difference in non-On Demand RCs between the two. Soto didn't get a rookie until Archives and his wax rookie autos are very limited. In the long run, that will give him a leg up on Acuna valuewise even if they both continue on their current superstar path.

not sure why people still talk about US250 and US300 both being RCs

[QUOTE=okumeister;16833921]With his RC stuff getting out of hand, the 2nd & 3rd year stuff looks more and more tempting to me.
They are still quite cheap.[/QUOTE]


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[IMG]https://media4.giphy.com/media/AY8066qV520KY/giphy.gif[/IMG]


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Agree with Brandon, sell the pinks and keep the golds.

I think the difference in the two bats is eventually going to be too large for speed and defense to overcome in the hobby. I see Soto eventually living 0.200 in OPS above Acuna. That's a lot. So much of Acuna's game relies on athleticism. What happens when he realizes that the stolen bases aren't worth the increase in injury risk? I can see Acuna pulling a Mookie and dropping down to the 15 SB range after a while (or an injury or two).

Arthur

In their prime, Pujols/Cabrera or Griffey Jr.? That's how I see the two players (Soto/Acuna) are different...each special in their own ways. How that translates into hobby love/card values collectors have/will decide down the road. Acuna stuff took the early lead...and now Soto's stuff are now catching up. Who will end up on top? Collect both and you can't lose right?

[QUOTE=ThoseBackPages;16834137]not sure why people still talk about US250 and US300 both being RCs[/QUOTE]

because they know it irritates you

[QUOTE=AwesomeBrian;16834572]because they know it irritates you[/QUOTE]

you aint wrong!

[QUOTE=oddstuff;16834501]In their prime, Pujols/Cabrera or Griffey Jr.? That's how I see the two players (Soto/Acuna) are different...each special in their own ways. How that translates into hobby love/card values collectors have/will decide down the road. Acuna stuff took the early lead...and now Soto's stuff are now catching up. Who will end up on top? Collect both and you can't lose right?[/QUOTE]

I think Acuna and Soto aren't even close enough to compare as far as performance on the diamond is concerned. The only reason people are comparing them is because they have a RC in the same set and Acuna, for a brief period, sold for more. I think even the Braves GM would take Soto without much of a second thought.

[QUOTE=Hollywood42;16833838]I was thinking about this a little bit in the Acuna thread yesterday. I agree for sure that Soto will have the better overall bat, and it may be pretty clear unless Acuna can cut the strikeouts down and reverse the trend of his BA going down year to year. Of course offense is the individual skill that matters most to card prices, but there are a few things that Acuna has a leg up on Soto on that could level the playing field-

-Acuna is way more well rounded. Soto may be the better hitter, and he may even be significantly better. But Acuna has great defense and speed, obviously people generally don't care too much about that, but it closes the gap between him and Soto in the real world which I can see translating to card prices. Plus of course more likely to make some highlight reels outside of just offensively, and a 40/40 season would be big too

-Acuna has a significantly better team around him. Soto does of course already have a WS under his belt, but what have you done for me lately? The Braves are a legit World Series contender right now and should be very good for the foreseeable future. That lends to further hype, and if they make some deep playoff runs and/or win a title, will be a big deal. Especially if Acuna has some big postseason moments

-Acuna is way cheaper right now. US250 PSA 10 is around $200 whereas US300 PSA 10 is around $300. Long term won't matter what they're at today of course, but the debate has always been Acuna vs. Soto, so it's a little surprising there's such a big price difference. Perhaps that's aided by Acuna having the bat down

Idk if any of that matters, and honestly not sure what point I was trying to make with all that, but I do find it interesting[/QUOTE]

Another view:

Acuna may be better than Soto in terms of defense and speed, but less so than people think.

Acuna is not a league leading defender--more like above average. Maybe even barely above average, depending on which metric you look at. And he benefits from playing center field--a premium defensive position. How? Because center fielders get a positive "positional" contribution to their defensive nerd stats (the defense component of WAR). It's expected that Acuna will be moved to a corner outfield spot as soon as this next season, when the Braves call up Christian Pache. Will Acuna still look as good on defense when his defensive WAR gets the positional *deduction* for playing a corner outfield spot, like Soto gets? That remains to be seen. Sure, Acuna has some highlight catches, but Soto has a few of those on youtube too. One in the World Series.

Acuna fans (and even Acuna himself) have talked a lot about 40/40 or even 50/50, but it hasn't happened yet, and Acuna stole only 8 bags last season (while Soto stole 6). I think this could be a trend we'll see going forward. When Acuna was pushing for 40 steals he ran into a lot of outs on the bases, and ultimately he got hurt. Neither of those are good things for a team that expects to contend. I don't see Acuna running wild on the bases again like he did in summer of 2019. He'll still get 25 to 30 bags, most likely, which is what he was on pace for in 2020. Maybe even into the 30s, if he can keep his efficiency up. But the 40/40 hype may very well be a thing of the past. Meanwhile, Soto will get 10 to 20 bags of his own (his 2019 and 2020 pace), as he'll be on base all day every day.

Speaking of contention, the Nats still have the pitching horses they had two years ago when they won it all. Those horses didn't show up in the weird 2020 season, but there's no reason to believe Washington's window has closed permanently. The Braves had a better lineup than the Nats had in 2020, but Atlanta's still only hoping and dreaming their pitchers can become a championship level staff. Seems like a different young starter takes a step forward each year for the Braves, only to take a step back again.

And it's important to note that the Braves lineup has a Marcel Ozuna-sized hole in it now. Washington's "big three" of Turner, Soto and Bell is probably even better than Atlanta's big three of Acuna, Freeman, and Albies, though the supporting cast in Atlanta is probably a little better than what the Nats have. The offseason isn't over yet, of course, so either or both teams could still add more firepower. It's impossible to say which of these two teams will go further in the playoffs this year.

Regarding the key flagship cards, US250 is not Acuna's only rookie year flagship base card. He has the bat down short print in Series 2 and the complete set card, #698. Soto wasn't in Series 2 at all, and he wasn't in the complete set. This means US250 has competitors to its title of being Acuna's Flagship RC (many, including our own TBP, consider it a pretender to the throne), whereas there is no dispute for Soto: US300 is it. This means US300 will probably always be valued higher than US250 even if they are considered the same level of player.

And I don't see them being considered the same level of player.

Acuna's ceiling is a guy who's a poor man's version of Trout: good but overrated on defense, lots of steals early in the career, but with a downward trend (which happens to all players), and a very good hitter (if he can get the batting average back up) with lots of strikeouts. The kind of guy who feasts on mediocre pitching in the regular season, but is a little vulnerable in the playoffs against playoff-level pitching. That's not a bad ceiling! "A little bit less than Trout" is a ceiling that the vast majority of players could only dream to have.

Meanwhile, Soto's ceiling is being the best hitter in the post WW2 era. Better hitter than Trout, and even a little bit better than peak Bonds, as he puts up Bonds-ian numbers, but without the 'roids. And playoff tested. One World Series ring so far, with several postseason home runs and game-winning hits against the best pitchers in the game.

Acuna may get more contributions to (or fewer deductions from) his nerd stats (i.e., WAR) from defense and baserunning, as compared to Soto, but there's more than one path to 10+ WAR. Bonds had 12.7 WAR in 2002 and 11.9 WAR in 2004, and in each of those seasons his "contribution" from baserunning was negative and his "contribution" from defense was negative.

And in terms of narratives---which are what *really* drive fan interest and card prices---"Almost as good as Trout was" or even "40/40 season" pale in comparison to "Best hitter in our lifetime".

That's why I'm all in on Soto. Just my opinion.

2018 Wax will be the real winner

PSA 10 RC vs Hobby Box

if the RC gets to $500 in a PSA 10, then then Hobby Boxes at $1K are CHEAP

you will always have more PSA 10s in the future

once the wax is cracked, tis gone forever

[QUOTE=ThoseBackPages;16834669]2018 Wax will be the real winner[/QUOTE]

Mountains and Mountains of Yellow Update boxes, left on the shelves. I'll never forgive myself.

[QUOTE=brewtown107;16834659]Another view:

Acuna may be better than Soto in terms of defense and speed, but less so than people think.

Acuna is not a league leading defender--more like above average. Maybe even barely above average, depending on which metric you look at. And he benefits from playing center field--a premium defensive position. How? Because center fielders get a positive "positional" contribution to their defensive nerd stats (the defense component of WAR). It's expected that Acuna will be moved to a corner outfield spot as soon as this next season, when the Braves call up Christian Pache. Will Acuna still look as good on defense when his defensive WAR gets the positional *deduction* for playing a corner outfield spot, like Soto gets? That remains to be seen. Sure, Acuna has some highlight catches, but Soto has a few of those on youtube too. One in the World Series.

Acuna fans (and even Acuna himself) have talked a lot about 40/40 or even 50/50, but it hasn't happened yet, and Acuna stole only 8 bags last season (while Soto stole 6). I think this could be a trend we'll see going forward. When Acuna was pushing for 40 steals he ran into a lot of outs on the bases, and ultimately he got hurt. Neither of those are good things for a team that expects to contend. I don't see Acuna running wild on the bases again like he did in summer of 2019. He'll still get 25 to 30 bags, most likely, which is what he was on pace for in 2020. Maybe even into the 30s, if he can keep his efficiency up. But the 40/40 hype may very well be a thing of the past. Meanwhile, Soto will get 10 to 20 bags of his own (his 2019 and 2020 pace), as he'll be on base all day every day.

Speaking of contention, the Nats still have the pitching horses they had two years ago when they won it all. Those horses didn't show up in the weird 2020 season, but there's no reason to believe Washington's window has closed permanently. The Braves had a better lineup than the Nats had in 2020, but Atlanta's still only hoping and dreaming their pitchers can become a championship level staff. Seems like a different young starter takes a step forward each year for the Braves, only to take a step back again.

And it's important to note that the Braves lineup has a Marcel Ozuna-sized hole in it now. Washington's "big three" of Turner, Soto and Bell is probably even better than Atlanta's big three of Acuna, Freeman, and Albies, though the supporting cast in Atlanta is probably a little better than what the Nats have. The offseason isn't over yet, of course, so either or both teams could still add more firepower. It's impossible to say which of these two teams will go further in the playoffs this year.

Regarding the key flagship cards, US250 is not Acuna's only rookie year flagship base card. He has the bat down short print in Series 2 and the complete set card, #698. Soto wasn't in Series 2 at all, and he wasn't in the complete set. This means US250 has competitors to its title of being Acuna's Flagship RC (many, including our own TBP, consider it a pretender to the throne), whereas there is no dispute for Soto: US300 is it. This means US300 will probably always be valued higher than US250 even if they are considered the same level of player.

And I don't see them being considered the same level of player.

Acuna's ceiling is a guy who's a poor man's version of Trout: good but overrated on defense, lots of steals early in the career, but with a downward trend (which happens to all players), and a very good hitter (if he can get the batting average back up) with lots of strikeouts. The kind of guy who feasts on mediocre pitching in the regular season, but is a little vulnerable in the playoffs against playoff-level pitching. That's not a bad ceiling! "A little bit less than Trout" is a ceiling that the vast majority of players could only dream to have.

Meanwhile, Soto's ceiling is being the best hitter in the post WW2 era. Better hitter than Trout, and even a little bit better than peak Bonds, as he puts up Bonds-ian numbers, but without the 'roids. And playoff tested. One World Series ring so far, with several postseason home runs and game-winning hits against the best pitchers in the game.

Acuna may get more contributions to (or fewer deductions from) his nerd stats (i.e., WAR) from defense and baserunning, as compared to Soto, but there's more than one path to 10+ WAR. Bonds had 12.7 WAR in 2002 and 11.9 WAR in 2004, and in each of those seasons his "contribution" from baserunning was negative and his "contribution" from defense was negative.

And in terms of narratives---which are what *really* drive fan interest and card prices---"Almost as good as Trout was" or even "40/40 season" pale in comparison to "Best hitter in our lifetime".

That's why I'm all in on Soto. Just my opinion.[/QUOTE]


[IMG]https://media2.giphy.com/media/P0RWkdsRpK7ss/giphy.gif[/IMG]
Well said


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Acuna will always play RF unless Pache gets hurt because he’s already probably one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball and he just came up a couple months ago.

I love the Braves, I love Ronnie, and I hate Soto. But the value of my collection of Soto vs Acuna is probably 80 to 20. Soto is by far the better bat. And the hobby cares about the bat.

Just pulled an Orange Optic Rated Rookie /199 from a 2018 Chronicles box. Giddy up!

Arthur

Couple of counterpoints just for the sake of discussion. And I say all this having cards of both (more of Soto) and liking both (Soto moreso than Acuna)

Defensive stats are pretty fickle, but I certainly wouldn't use dWAR to try to measure defensive value, for the exact positional difference you listed. In my opinion, DRS, UZR, and OAA are the best we have currently. In DRS Acuna ranks 8th among qualified outfielders over 2018-2020 with +20. Over that same span in UZR he's middle of the pack at 26th of 50 with +1.8. In OAA he has pinballed year to year, ranking in the 81st percentile in 2018, then down to the 29th percentile in 2019, and back up to 82nd this year

Soto, on the other hand, ranks 45th of 50th in DRS over the same span with -15. UZR he's 44th with -7.6. His yearly percentile ranks in OAA happen to be pretty much exactly opposite of Acuna, 7th in 2018, way up to 91st in 2019, then way back down to 11th in 2020. Strangely in 2019 when Soto was 91st percentile in OAA, he had 0 DRS and -0.7 UZR. And same year when Acuna ranked so poorly in OAA, he had +11 DRS and +2.8 UZR. So I'm not really sure what causes that

But overall, Acuna pretty clearly blows Soto out of the water defensively. Maybe Acuna's just a pretty good defender and not world class, but he's way above Soto, and certainly seems to be well above average. That said, I doubt there's anyone that will go this in depth into a defensive comparison, so none of this probably ends up mattering, but I do think you're underselling Acuna defensively, especially when compared to Soto

[QUOTE=brewtown107;16834659]Acuna is not a league leading defender--more like above average. Maybe even barely above average, depending on which metric you look at. And he benefits from playing center field--a premium defensive position. How? Because center fielders get a positive "positional" contribution to their defensive nerd stats (the defense component of WAR). It's expected that Acuna will be moved to a corner outfield spot as soon as this next season, when the Braves call up Christian Pache. Will Acuna still look as good on defense when his defensive WAR gets the positional *deduction* for playing a corner outfield spot, like Soto gets? That remains to be seen. Sure, Acuna has some highlight catches, but Soto has a few of those on youtube too. One in the World Series.[/QUOTE]

Agreed

[QUOTE=brewtown107;16834659]Acuna fans (and even Acuna himself) have talked a lot about 40/40 or even 50/50, but it hasn't happened yet, and Acuna stole only 8 bags last season (while Soto stole 6). I think this could be a trend we'll see going forward. When Acuna was pushing for 40 steals he ran into a lot of outs on the bases, and ultimately he got hurt. Neither of those are good things for a team that expects to contend. I don't see Acuna running wild on the bases again like he did in summer of 2019. He'll still get 25 to 30 bags, most likely, which is what he was on pace for in 2020. Maybe even into the 30s, if he can keep his efficiency up. But the 40/40 hype may very well be a thing of the past. Meanwhile, Soto will get 10 to 20 bags of his own (his 2019 and 2020 pace), as he'll be on base all day every day. [/QUOTE]

Their window certainly isn't closed permanently, but they have a lottttt of question marks. Scherzer is one of the best pitchers of this generation but is turning 37 this year and won't have very many years left. Strasburg is fantastic when healthy, but 2019 was the first time he's been healthy for a full season since 2014, and he's turning 33 this year after missing basically the entirety of last year. I do like Corbin and hope he can bounce back this year. If all 3 of them stay healthy they'll have a good rotation, but there's a lot of question marks. The Braves rotation of Fried, Morton, Anderson, and Soroka isn't without questions either, but they have every opportunity to be as good or better than the National's rotation

The lineup is the big difference between the two IMO. Soto and Trea are great, but then you're hoping Josh Bell can be consistent and that Robles, Kieboom, Yan Gomes, Starlin Castro, and Andrew Stevenson(?) give you enough everywhere else. Compare that to the Braves who even after losing Ozuna have Acuna, Freeman, Ablies, Dansby, then we'll see what we get from Riley/d'Arnaud/Pache. Obviously it can change as there's still a lot of quality hitters out there, but I honestly don't think there's any competition between the Nats lineup and the Braves right now

I don't agree with the bold at all, there's no way I can put Josh Bell in the same discussion as the other 5

[QUOTE=brewtown107;16834659]Speaking of contention, the Nats still have the pitching horses they had two years ago when they won it all. Those horses didn't show up in the weird 2020 season, but there's no reason to believe Washington's window has closed permanently. The Braves had a better lineup than the Nats had in 2020, but Atlanta's still only hoping and dreaming their pitchers can become a championship level staff. Seems like a different young starter takes a step forward each year for the Braves, only to take a step back again.

And it's important to note that the Braves lineup has a Marcel Ozuna-sized hole in it now. [B]Washington's "big three" of Turner, Soto and Bell is probably even better than Atlanta's big three of Acuna, Freeman, and Albies[/B], though the supporting cast in Atlanta is probably a little better than what the Nats have. The offseason isn't over yet, of course, so either or both teams could still add more firepower. It's impossible to say which of these two teams will go further in the playoffs this year.[/QUOTE]

Agreed

[QUOTE=brewtown107;16834659]Regarding the key flagship cards, US250 is not Acuna's only rookie year flagship base card. He has the bat down short print in Series 2 and the complete set card, #698. Soto wasn't in Series 2 at all, and he wasn't in the complete set. This means US250 has competitors to its title of being Acuna's Flagship RC (many, including our own TBP, consider it a pretender to the throne), whereas there is no dispute for Soto: US300 is it. This means US300 will probably always be valued higher than US250 even if they are considered the same level of player.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't spend much time arguing this, that's all fair, though I have a ways to go still before I'll talk about Soto potentially being the best hitter of our lifetime. And I care less about how much WAR each player ends up with, I'm just talking generally overall as players an hobby values. I don't know if everything I've said makes up the difference between the bat of Acuna and Soto, but I do see Acuna has a clearly more well rounded player with much better opportunity for team success in the near term. Again, that may not matter at all for card prices in the long term, we see what Trout's prices are despite never getting to the playoffs. I just think it's an interesting discussion and has been awhile since I've gotten into an in depth player comparison, enjoyed doing this :)

[QUOTE=brewtown107;16834659]And I don't see them being considered the same level of player.

Acuna's ceiling is a guy who's a poor man's version of Trout: good but overrated on defense, lots of steals early in the career, but with a downward trend (which happens to all players), and a very good hitter (if he can get the batting average back up) with lots of strikeouts. The kind of guy who feasts on mediocre pitching in the regular season, but is a little vulnerable in the playoffs against playoff-level pitching. That's not a bad ceiling! "A little bit less than Trout" is a ceiling that the vast majority of players could only dream to have.

Meanwhile, Soto's ceiling is being the best hitter in the post WW2 era. Better hitter than Trout, and even a little bit better than peak Bonds, as he puts up Bonds-ian numbers, but without the 'roids. And playoff tested. One World Series ring so far, with several postseason home runs and game-winning hits against the best pitchers in the game.

Acuna may get more contributions to (or fewer deductions from) his nerd stats (i.e., WAR) from defense and baserunning, as compared to Soto, but there's more than one path to 10+ WAR. Bonds had 12.7 WAR in 2002 and 11.9 WAR in 2004, and in each of those seasons his "contribution" from baserunning was negative and his "contribution" from defense was negative.

And in terms of narratives---which are what *really* drive fan interest and card prices---"Almost as good as Trout was" or even "40/40 season" pale in comparison to "Best hitter in our lifetime".

That's why I'm all in on Soto. Just my opinion.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=HarryLime;16834910]Just pulled an Orange Optic Rated Rookie /199 from a 2018 Chronicles box. Giddy up!

Arthur[/QUOTE]


Stop opening those boxes

Arthur


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[QUOTE=Some Guy;16834941]Stop opening those boxes

Arthur


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

[IMG]https://i.gifer.com/OcwR.gif[/IMG]

[QUOTE=Hollywood42;16834917]Couple of counterpoints just for the sake of discussion. And I say all this having cards of both (more of Soto) and liking both (Soto moreso than Acuna)

Defensive stats are pretty fickle, but I certainly wouldn't use dWAR to try to measure defensive value, for the exact positional difference you listed. In my opinion, DRS, UZR, and OAA are the best we have currently. In DRS Acuna ranks 8th among qualified outfielders over 2018-2020 with +20. Over that same span in UZR he's middle of the pack at 26th of 50 with +1.8. In OAA he has pinballed year to year, ranking in the 81st percentile in 2018, then down to the 29th percentile in 2019, and back up to 82nd this year

Soto, on the other hand, ranks 45th of 50th in DRS over the same span with -15. UZR he's 44th with -7.6. His yearly percentile ranks in OAA happen to be pretty much exactly opposite of Acuna, 7th in 2018, way up to 91st in 2019, then way back down to 11th in 2020. Strangely in 2019 when Soto was 91st percentile in OAA, he had 0 DRS and -0.7 UZR. And same year when Acuna ranked so poorly in OAA, he had +11 DRS and +2.8 UZR. So I'm not really sure what causes that

But overall, Acuna pretty clearly blows Soto out of the water defensively. Maybe Acuna's just a pretty good defender and not world class, but he's way above Soto, and certainly seems to be well above average. That said, I doubt there's anyone that will go this in depth into a defensive comparison, so none of this probably ends up mattering, but I do think you're underselling Acuna defensively, especially when compared to Soto



Agreed



Their window certainly isn't closed permanently, but they have a lottttt of question marks. Scherzer is one of the best pitchers of this generation but is turning 37 this year and won't have very many years left. Strasburg is fantastic when healthy, but 2019 was the first time he's been healthy for a full season since 2014, and he's turning 33 this year after missing basically the entirety of last year. I do like Corbin and hope he can bounce back this year. If all 3 of them stay healthy they'll have a good rotation, but there's a lot of question marks. The Braves rotation of Fried, Morton, Anderson, and Soroka isn't without questions either, but they have every opportunity to be as good or better than the National's rotation

The lineup is the big difference between the two IMO. Soto and Trea are great, but then you're hoping Josh Bell can be consistent and that Robles, Kieboom, Yan Gomes, Starlin Castro, and Andrew Stevenson(?) give you enough everywhere else. Compare that to the Braves who even after losing Ozuna have Acuna, Freeman, Ablies, Dansby, then we'll see what we get from Riley/d'Arnaud/Pache. Obviously it can change as there's still a lot of quality hitters out there, but I honestly don't think there's any competition between the Nats lineup and the Braves right now

I don't agree with the bold at all, there's no way I can put Josh Bell in the same discussion as the other 5



Agreed



I wouldn't spend much time arguing this, that's all fair, though I have a ways to go still before I'll talk about Soto potentially being the best hitter of our lifetime. And I care less about how much WAR each player ends up with, I'm just talking generally overall as players an hobby values. I don't know if everything I've said makes up the difference between the bat of Acuna and Soto, but I do see Acuna has a clearly more well rounded player with much better opportunity for team success in the near term. Again, that may not matter at all for card prices in the long term, we see what Trout's prices are despite never getting to the playoffs. I just think it's an interesting discussion and has been awhile since I've gotten into an in depth player comparison, enjoyed doing this :)[/QUOTE]

Great stuff! People, both fans and in the collecting world, have short term memories as well and jumps on the hottest train it seems. If we turn back the page to the late summer of 2019, I'm pretty sure everyone, or at least the majority, were all over Acuna stuff when he was in the midst of the 40-40 run. Soto, coming off a 2020 short season .351 batting title, has everyone extrapolating his short season stats into a full 162 game 2021 season. I just want to see a full season this year as Acuna, Soto and Tatis battle each other for team wins and personal stats. Then we'll see how the collecting world reacts.

So true :p and I agree, it almost doesn't even make sense to compare the two since they're pretty different types of players. I definitely am looking forward to sitting back and watching the trio you mentioned duke it out. It is fun to compare everyone, but you gotta remember to sit back and appreciate the show too!

[QUOTE=oddstuff;16835004]Great stuff! [B]People, both fans and in the collecting world, have short term memories as well and jumps on the hottest train it seems.[/B] If we turn back the page to the late summer of 2019, I'm pretty sure everyone, or at least the majority, were all over Acuna stuff when he was in the midst of the 40-40 run. Soto, coming off a 2020 short season .351 batting title, has everyone extrapolating his short season stats into a full 162 game 2021 season. I just want to see a full season this year as Acuna, Soto and Tatis battle each other for team wins and personal stats. Then we'll see how the collecting world reacts.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=oddstuff;16835004]Great stuff! People, both fans and in the collecting world, have short term memories as well and jumps on the hottest train it seems. If we turn back the page to the late summer of 2019, I'm pretty sure everyone, or at least the majority, were all over Acuna stuff when he was in the midst of the 40-40 run. Soto, coming off a 2020 short season .351 batting title, has everyone extrapolating his short season stats into a full 162 game 2021 season. I just want to see a full season this year as Acuna, Soto and Tatis battle each other for team wins and personal stats. Then we'll see how the collecting world reacts.[/QUOTE]

True! Buy them all right now! It’s an exciting time to be a fan with so much young talent in the game!! Hopefully we get close to a full season this year and the owners/players Union can avoid any labor stoppages in 2022z

[QUOTE=Some Guy;16834941]Stop opening those boxes

Arthur


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

I love 18 Chronic!

Or at least I used to, until this thread made the product triple in price in just one month!

[QUOTE=NCWolf;16835623]I love 18 Chronic!

Or at least I used to, until this thread made the product triple in price in just one month![/QUOTE]


Chronic - les

[IMG]https://media2.giphy.com/media/s5CJw8UPITK6I/giphy.gif[/IMG]


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[QUOTE=NCWolf;16835623]I love 18 Chronic!

Or at least I used to, until this thread made the product triple in price in just one month![/QUOTE]

No freaking joke. You goobers out there gobbled them up and now they're fetching prices that rival ungraded Topps. Sheesh you guys.

[B][SIZE="3"]I got this Red Prizm /99 for $115 back in August[/SIZE][/B]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/3racod3l.jpg[/img]

[B][SIZE="3"]And this Blue Prizm /149 for $66 back in September[/SIZE][/B]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/wOlakTMl.jpg[/img]

Now thanks to you all, I can't get more. Stop going after non-licensed card you idiots. No one likes them! heh........... ;)