RONALD ACUNA 2018 Topps 698 ALL STAR rarer than Bat Down rookie PSA 10 pop 318

Description: Winning buyer will receive the card described in the item title, a super rare graded Topps flagship All Star game variation rookie card of Atlanta Braves superstar outfielder, RONALD ACUNA. Acuna is the 2023 National League MVP in unanimous fashion, garnering all 30 first place votes!!This Acuna rookie card has the special All Star game silver foil stamp on the front of the card, found only in a limited edition of the 2018 Topps complete sets. A limited amount of these sets were made and sold at the 2018 All Star game fanfest in Washington DC to commemorate the All Star game. This card is unlike any of the other pack pulled or factory set pulled Acuna #698 rookie card as it has the silver foil All Star Game stamp. This All Star stamped version, in the long run, will prove to be a far rarer Topps flagship Acuna rookie card than the bat down version.The print run of this All Star version (estimated to be less than 3,000 cards) has an estimated print run, which is 1/6 (or more) LESS than the Bat Down 698 SP short printed rookie (estimated to be up to 20,000 cards). To date (as of 12/25/24), the graded population report continues to be in line with the print run estimates. It's been 6 years since the release of the bat down cards as well as the 2018 All Star game set.Here's PSA submission and graded gem mint 10 numbers over the past 2 years for the popular Bat Down Acuna rookie as well as the All Star Game (ASG) foil stamped Acuna:11/20/2022: 2381 Bat Downs submitted, 864 PSA 10s7/2/2023: 2532 Bat Downs submitted, 891 PSA 10s12/25/2024: 2883 Bat Downs submitted, 980 PSA 10s 11/20/2022: 380 ASG variation submitted, 274 PSA 10s7/2/2023: 398 ASG variation submitted, 286 PSA 10s12/25/2024: 448 ASG variation submitted, 318 PSA 10s Where are all the All Star stamped Acuna cards unless the print run for those cards are indeed highly limited??? That is a 6 to 1 ratio (2883 bat downs vs 448 All Star Game submitted), which may mean that the print run of the All Star game Acuna is indeed limited to only 3,000 cards!For every 10 bat down PSA 10 Acunas, there is only 3 PSA 10 All Star game (ASG) stamped version which this one is! In 6+ years, only 448 of the All Star stamped Acuna rookies have made it to PSA for grading. Why so little has made it to PSA? Because the All Star stamped Acuna may truly be a SP (unlike the bat down) with a super small print run, possibly 2000 cards!!The 2018 Topps All Star Game (ASG) factory sealed complete sets which is the only place this card can be found is pretty much non-existent any where (as of 12/25/2024, eBay only has 3 sellers of these ASG complete sealed sets)...and if you do find a set, there is no guarantee that Acuna card will be gem mint condition as the Acuna/Torres cards were hand inserted into the end of the set, possibly leading to one or more damaged corners. Here you are buying one that is already graded GEM MINT condition!Acuna, as a 25 year old in the 2023 MLB season, showed that he is fully back from his knee injury of 2021 (a season where he was on track for the NL MVP through 82 games before going down). Acuna is now in an exclusive statistical club all of his own, the 40/70 club as he slugged 41 hrs and stole 73 bases! In addition, he scored a MLB leading 149 runs and also led both leagues with 217 hits. He batted .337, 44 points higher than his previous best of .293 in his rookie season. The most amazing part of Acuna's season is that he reduced his strikeouts dramatically, striking out only 84 times in a full season. Acuna reduced his Ks to At Bats ratio down to 13% (in his 2022 season, that ratio was at 27%). Basically, Acuna became a better hitter, kept his awesome power intact and reduce his strikeouts by over 50% compared to 2022. Nobody in recent memory has ever had this tremendous improvement. A recent article by a projection specialist (ZiPS) projects that Acuna should reach the 500 homerun mark by his age 34 season...meaning he has an excellent chance to join the 600 hr club. Besides his amazing 2023 season, Acuna nearly pulled off the 40 hr / 40 stolen base feat in 2019 and he won the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year. In only his age 25 season in 2023, Acuna already has 161 homeruns and 180 stolen bases. 500 hr / 500 stolen bases seem very reachable, an exclusive club of one in MLB history...Barry Bonds!! Another good comparison for Acuna would be Willie Mays (who had 660 hrs / 338 stolen bases). Acuna's 2023 season (along with his 2018 rookie, 2019 breakout and 2021 first half seasons) shows that Acuna is ready to be the next "Mike Trout" in terms of being the best long term investment of baseball cards and collectibles. Note that the picture is the EXACT scan of the card winning buyer will be receiving!! Note that the picture is the EXACT scan of the card winning buyer will receive! This card has been professionally graded a PSA 10 (which is GEM MINT), by Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), one of the top two grading services in the sports card industry. Why buy a graded card by either Beckett Grading Services (BGS/BCCG) or PSA? Because Beckett and PSA are the top two 3rd party grading companies in the collectibles industry. Why buy a graded card in the first place? Because if you want your card to appreciate in value, the condition of the card is very important. Having the card sealed in the case & it's condition graded allows you to easily sell/trade the card online. CLICK HERE to get a look at our EBAY store which contains many other awesome sports cards!Shipping is $3.95 for the first card and $0.75 for each additional card in the United States. International orders go through eBay's Global Shipping program.A portion of the proceeds from this listing will be sent to the world relief organization World Help. I am partnering with them to build a deep bore water well in a 3rd world country. This water well will provide clean/usable water for a community of up to 1000 people! Thanks in advance for your contribution towards this cause.Update 8/16/20 - as eBay has required me to switch over to "managed payment", I will need to adjust each of my listings one at a time for the charitable contribution part. Though my listings now do not say so specifically about the charity contribution, I will continue to deduct 10% off every sale and send those proceeds to TWO different charities I am fundraising for. One charity, World Help, drills and installs water wells that provide clean/usable water for villages of up to 1,000 people per location in Africa. Fundraising recently completed funds needed for water well #3 so thank you to everyone that has purchased from this store over the last 4 years...you played a part in that! The other 5% will go to an orphanage call Nueva Esperanza Children's Home in Tijuana, Mexico. This orphanage cares for 30+ children and is run completely from donations from people. I have visited the orphanage 4 times over the past 10 years and it's a joy to see the children each time. So rest assure that 10% of your purchase is going to these causes.

Price: 950 USD

Location: Elk Grove, California

End Time: 2025-01-26T00:53:51.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.95 USD