I’m confused about 2018 Topps Acuna 698

ringer

Where exactly does the 2018 Acuna 698 come from? Packs? Boxes? Factory sets? And does the bat up and bat down come from different sources? I know down is SP but is the source different from bat up? I have been looking at sone factory sets but I want them only if they contain the Acuna but I've been getting mixed messages.

ReggieCleveland

The #698 Bat Down SP is only available in Series 2 wax. The Bat Pointing Up image has two versions -- #698 which is found in all factory sets and #US250 which is found in Update.

There is a slight difference between the two Bat Pointing Up cards (aside from the card numbers). The factory set version has the RC logo on the right side of the front of the card while the Update version has it on the left side of the front of the card.

Hope that helped.

Arthur

parthur1607

To give a little perspective on the rarity of that card.... In 2018 I bought a case of 2018 Series 2 jumbo hobby boxes (6 boxes per case/10 packs per box/50 cards per pack/3,000 total cards). Out of 3,000 cards I found 2 of the bat down. Luckily they both graded gem 10. That case at the time was $570.00. You can barely buy 1 box for that price now. If the odds at 1:1,500 then it would cost you almost $1,500 just to buy 3 boxes and there is no guarantee there would be one of those cards in there. Point being....you could buy an already graded PSA 10 Acuña bat down for somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000. On the flip side of that....if you bought 3 hobby boxes, or however many you choose to buy, you will pull other good rookies also (Ohtani is lightning it up so far this year so maybe his cards increase in value). Go to cardboardconnection.com and look up the checklist for 2018 Topps series 2 and you can see what other rookies were in that series. Then you can weigh your options.

ringer

Thanks all. What you write is what i thought but a few have been selling factory sets that have told me Acuna is not in them. The bat up is fine i just don’t want someone else in 698.

76collector

@parthur1607 said:
To give a little perspective on the rarity of that card.... In 2018 I bought a case of 2018 Series 2 jumbo hobby boxes (6 boxes per case/10 packs per box/50 cards per pack/3,000 total cards). Out of 3,000 cards I found 2 of the bat down. Luckily they both graded gem 10. That case at the time was $570.00. You can barely buy 1 box for that price now. If the odds at 1:1,500 then it would cost you almost $1,500 just to buy 3 boxes and there is no guarantee there would be one of those cards in there. Point being....you could buy an already graded PSA 10 Acuña bat down for somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000. On the flip side of that....if you bought 3 hobby boxes, or however many you choose to buy, you will pull other good rookies also (Ohtani is lightning it up so far this year so maybe his cards increase in value). Go to cardboardconnection.com and look up the checklist for 2018 Topps series 2 and you can see what other rookies were in that series. Then you can weigh your options.

I just sold a hobby box of these for 435. My thoughts were exactly what you pointed out. The odds of hitting that card didnt seem in line with how much the box has appreciated in price. So I put that money into some 2018 topps update instead which has a TON of possible hits.

Jeff

ringer

Here is one i was looking at. Yes or no on the Acuna?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353454517434

blurryface

@ringer said:
Here is one i was looking at. Yes or no on the Acuna?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353454517434

yes w the possibility of the foilboard. which is a bad arse card, imo

blurryface

imo, i would be going for the all star or limited edition sets. no where near the print run of the reg bat up.

ReggieCleveland

@parthur1607 said:
To give a little perspective on the rarity of that card.... In 2018 I bought a case of 2018 Series 2 jumbo hobby boxes (6 boxes per case/10 packs per box/50 cards per pack/3,000 total cards). Out of 3,000 cards I found 2 of the bat down. Luckily they both graded gem 10. That case at the time was $570.00. You can barely buy 1 box for that price now. If the odds at 1:1,500 then it would cost you almost $1,500 just to buy 3 boxes and there is no guarantee there would be one of those cards in there. Point being....you could buy an already graded PSA 10 Acuña bat down for somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000. On the flip side of that....if you bought 3 hobby boxes, or however many you choose to buy, you will pull other good rookies also (Ohtani is lightning it up so far this year so maybe his cards increase in value). Go to cardboardconnection.com and look up the checklist for 2018 Topps series 2 and you can see what other rookies were in that series. Then you can weigh your options.

You get two SSPs per case, between 698 Acuna and 699 Torres. So you could get two Torres, one Torres and one Acuna, or two Acuna. All boils down to how lucky you feel.

Also, PSA 10 Bat Downs are now selling in the $3,500-$4,000 range.

Arthur