2018 Topps Gold Label
Where do you start collecting Shohei Ohtani Rookie Cards?
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.
Where do you start collecting Ronald Acuña Jr. Rookie Cards?
You should know by now that Ronald Acuña Jr. is having a historic year with the 30-30 Club already set to appear on his 2020 baseball cards -- and there's a serious chance he could become the youngest member of the elite 40-40 Club before the season is over, too.
But it's The Atlanta Braves outfielder's 2018 Rookie Cards that you should be thinking about right now as there's been a serious uptick in interest -- and there's still a lot to choose from that's not priced out of many collectors' budgets.
Acuña appears on more than 3,500 unique baseball cards since he arrived in prospect and minor-league sets back in 2016 and that number has gotten there rather quickly. Amidst his arrival and National League Rookie of the Year award-winning season last year, for example, he appeared on more than 1,700 new cards and more than 1,000 of those were made by Topps just last year.
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 Acuña RCs (those could be their own future rundown ... and likely will be). We've also punted all autographs and Relic cards from last year to make this a starting point with the widest affordability net possible -- though ink and parallels in the sets where he has basic RCs will get mentions. That said, even with this starting point, there's still a good mix of high-end and low-end cardboard -- and even the low-end stuff can generate some good Acuña Cash when professionally graded.
Keep reading for a rundown of Ronald Acuña Jr. Rookie Cards.
Blowout launches Black Friday Week ... now (updated)
Update: It's here -- and here's your direct link.
Who wants to wait until Friday? Blowout Cards simply isn't as we're doing the ol' Black Friday thing all week long -- and Black Friday Week begins in less than 12 hours from now.
It all starts on Monday at 7 a.m. Eastern with the biggest deals in the business on tap beginning at that time and lasting as long as they can. But you shouldn't shop and run early as each day will have new deals -- and reloads -- all day long and Buzz will have Buzz Box giveaways -- boxes of free stuff -- each day, too. (Look for details on those tomorrow morning about an hour after the sale madness begins.)
While you've seen Doorbuster deals with each wave of Black November right here all month long, there's even more to come.
Like what? Keep reading for a sneak peek at some of the new deals on the way ...
Buzz Break: 2018 Topps Gold Label baseball cards
From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.
The box: 2018 Topps Gold Label baseball cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com
Packs per box: 7
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 33
Class 1 set completion: 17 of 100 (17 percent)
Duplicates: 0Base cards – Mike Trout, Mariano Rivera, Jacob deGrom, Justin Upton, Joey Votto, Ted Williams, Gary Sanchez, Yu Darvish, Francisco Lindor, Adrian Beltre, Matt Olson, Miguel Sano, Jackie Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Aaron Judge
Rookie Cards (2) – Ronald Acuña Jr., Clint Frazier
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Oct. 19)
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: Pack-out oddities, Juan Soto Rookie Cards, big pulls, promo cards and "show off anything."
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Oct. 15)
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: Nothing but big pulls leading the way here to start off the work week.
Board Buzz: Must-read threads on Blowout Forums (Oct. 13)
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: Pondering the worst starting QB in the NFL and highlights from several big pulls from around the collecting world.
First Buzz: 2018 Topps Gold Label baseball cards
What: 2018 Topps Gold Label baseball cards
Arrives:Sept. 5Oct. 12
Box basics: One framed autograph per box (16 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click hereWhat's buzz-worthy: Topps' Gold Label returns with the familiar format for another season with Shohei Ohtani and plenty more among the possibilities.
Keep reading for more and a full gallery of images.
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