MOAR MANDATORY RONALD AND TRAE

I POSTED TODAY'S COMC PICKUP OUT OF ORDER SO INSTEAD LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT A RONALD AND TRAE PAIR I GOT AT THE LCS A LOOOONG TIME AGO AND STUMBLED UPON WHILE SORTING

2019 FINEST RONALD ACUÑA JR.

HOLY FRIJOLES THIS IS A GOOD LOOKING CARD. THE TEAM COLORS POP, THERE'S A GOOD LOOKING PHOTO AND THE SWOOSHY ELEMENTS OF THE DESIGN FIT PERFECTLY WITH RONALD'S SWING. IT'S SO GORGEOUS I FORSOOK MY USUAL DOLLAR LIMIT AND PAID A BUCK TWENTY-FIVE FOR THIS ONE. WHICH IS HONESTLY A BARGAIN, I REMEMBER WHEN EVERY BASE ACUÑA CARD WAS FIVE BUCKS AT THE CARD SHOWS. DON'T EVEN ASK ABOUT A ROOKIE CARD, HOO DOGGIE. NOW THAT THERE ARE A HALF YEARS WORTH OF RONALD CARDS OUT THERE THINGS HAVE CALMED DOWN A BIT. BUT NOT MUCH ESPECIALLY WITH THE YEAR HE'S HAVING

FINEST FRUSTRATES ME BECAUSE I LOVE THE WACKY DESIGNS BUT IT'S KINDA SCARCE AND PACKS ARE HORRIFICALLY EXPENSIVE AND THERE AREN'T A LOT OF CHEAP SINGLES FLOATING AROUND. THIS ONE'S AN EXTRA GOOD VERSION OF FINEST, IT HIT NUMBER 5 ON NIGHT OWL'S RANKINGS. I'VE BEEN TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF CUTTING BACK ON A LOT OF MY LESS-ESSENTIAL COLLECTIONS BY PUTTING TOGETHER A BINDER WITH A PAGE WORTH OF BASE CARDS PER SET FOR EACH BRAND. I SHOULD START WITH FINEST, A PAGE WITH THIS CARD SURROUNDED BY A CARD FROM THE ORIOLES, A'S, PIRATES AND ROCKIES FOR THE FULL TEAM COLOR RAINBOW WOULD LOOK FANTASTIC

2021-22 PANINI CHRONICLES XR TRAE YOUNG

BACK WHEN I WAS REVIEWING CHRONICLES DESIGNS I SAID I HAD NO IDEA WHAT AN XR WAS, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A FIB BECAUSE I ALREADY HAD THIS XR CARD OF TRAE. IN MY DEFENSE, I DID NOT SEE THIS AS AN XR CARD BUT AS A 'COOL SHINY TRAE' CARD. IT REALLY DOES REMIND ME OF NEWFANGLED SPX CARDS THOUGH, AND THAT'S NOT A BAD THING. THIS ONE LOOKS A LOT BETTER THAN THE BASEBALL VERSION ALTHOUGH THE RED TEAM COLOR SPLASH IS DOING A LOT OF HEAVY LIFTING. I ALSO LIKE THE RAYS RADIATING FROM TRAE AS IF HE IS A HOLY RELIC, WHICH HE IS. PATRON SAINT OF LOGO THREES

THE BACK OF THE CARD LOOKS BETTER THAN USUAL FOR PANINI, THOSE EXTRA SPLASHES OF RED AROUND THE TEXT HELPS A LOT. ANYTHING TO COVER UP ALL THAT DREARY GRAY. THE CARD NUMBER SHOCKED ME THOUGH, HOW IS A CHRONICLES SUBSET A 400 CARD SET??? TURNS OUT PANINI DOES THIS SET CHECKLIST DIFFERENTLY FROM THE BASEBALL VERSION AND KEEPS SEQUENTIALLY NUMBERING THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT SUBSETS MAKING A GIGANTIC 725 CARD BASE SET. I CAN'T THINK OF ANYONE WHO WOULD EVER BUILD THE THING BUT IT'S NICE THAT IS AN OPTION. THE HAWKS' SEASON IS OVER BUT THE CRAZY OFFSEASON HAS JUST BEGUN. TRADE FANTASIES ARE RUNNING WILD ON TWITTER AND IT'S NICE THAT THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER FRANCHISES OUT THERE THAT ARE JUST AS DYSFUNCTIONAL AS THE HAWKS THAT ARE STARTING TO PANIC LIKE THE MAVS, GRIZZLIES AND BUCKS. I LOOK FORWARD TO TRAE PLAYING WITH LUKA, JA AND GIANNIS ONCE THE DUST SETTLES FROM ALL THE OFFSEASON TRADES. HOPEFULLY FOR THE HAWKS 😬