In our newest round of Better Than a Box, we are going to pit Toronto Blue Jays young superstar Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. up against a Box of 2023 Topps Archives Signature Series.
At just 24 years old, Vlad Junior has already entrenched himself as one of the best young hitters in the big leagues. His 48 home runs in 2021 led all of baseball. That same season he was voted the All Star game MVP becoming the youngest in history to receive the honor.
In his last two full seasons (2021 and 2022), Guerrero, Jr. averaged over 180 hits, 40 plus home runs and over 100 RBI, all while keeping himself at the top of the AL MVP discussion each year.
Born to play the game, Junior is the son of legendary hitter and Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad Two is off to a strong statistical start to the 2023 season.
We will pick a nice rookie card, an autographed card, a jersey card and a solid memorabilia card of the two time All Star for your consideration.
The box of cards were pitting the young superstar against isn’t really a box at all. It’s a one and done, hit or miss encapsulated autograph in the one card box of 2023 Topps Archives Signature Series. Of course, all of the big names are promoted in the product but finding anyone of note seems to have become more rare as each season passes by. Boxes are selling for right around $70-$80.
Here are four Vladdy Jr. selections you can get for about the same cash outlay.
The Rookie Card
The rookie card of choice for this piece is a PSA 10 2019 Topps Chrome Update RC of the Blue Jays slugger. Topps Update and Topps Chrome Update carry much weight in the hobby and although this card came from a massively overproduced season, there’s still room for movement upward and the card will always be a worthwhile addition to a rookie or player collection. For a typical price of right around $25, this is a no brainer.
The Autographed Card
The autograph card comes from Leaf’s 2022 In The Game series. Although the ITG product is unlicensed, Leaf really does try to make creative higher end products. With the lack of license, the value isn’t always there but that’s good news for you as we can pick up this VGJ cut autograph with a legitimate game used ticket for a very reasonable price. Recent sales have been in the $25-$30 range.
The Jersey Card
The jersey card of choice hails from the 2022 Topps insert set Major League Materials and features a piece of game-used memorabilia. For under $10, this fits our budget perfectly.
The Numbered Card
It’s getting tougher to find early Vladdy Bowman issues that are both somewhat limited in nature and yet have a reasonable price tag. This Silver parallel from his minor league days fits the bill, numbered to 499 and you shouldn’t need more than $15 to own one, at least for now.
So there you have it. Would you rather have four really solid cards of one of the best young superstars in the game or would you rather take your chances with the one and done Topps Signature Series baseball box? The choice is yours.
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