@ArcPrime126_XBL said:

@Teak2112_MLBTS

Can definitely agree on this being the time to tinker. I just think the steps they took with live series this whole year were maybe misguided (that's just my opinion though).

I'm certainly not in love with the final product this year, I've played half as much as last year and last year was a drop off from prior. The way they have treated TA has a lot to do with it, as does all the spotlight and deluxe packs.

If I recall, Yount exchange needed 83+...it did allow non live series but it also didn't let us dump our silvers and bronzes.

The old TA style worked well, where people could dump their junk in exchanges to get quick progress.

Can definitely agree on this being the time to tinker. I just think the steps they took with live series this whole year were maybe misguided (that's just my opinion though). Perhaps if this wasn't the same year they placed card caps it would be easier for me to get behind. I did like that they tried exchanges earlier this year with Robin Yount and I think it was an Austin Wells WBC card this year. Those did include every live card though, maybe they could have repeated that and just adjusted how much each of those cards points were towards the redemption.

Glad for your response, since my initial reaction to this was probably just that, overreactive. I already did claim them as exchanges since I had bought a ton of 89+ diamonds when they were at quicksell, then naturally forgot about them. It does make the Vault packs better and we are likely going to get 10 of those in the coming content this Friday. Thanks again for the response!

@Teak2112_MLBTS said:

@ArcPrime126_XBL said:

As has been stated, the devious part comes from this never being a thing before.

I think its quite possible that this came about because everyone complains about pulling Hunter Greene or Glasnow

So now SDS is saying 'hey, here is something to do with these cards you hate getting'

Also keep in mind 2K this year has an exchange system that is massively popular and has people claiming its the best iteration of myteam in years, that could be an inspiration too.

I don't think this was done with the ill intent everyone claims. I think was simply them trying something different in response to the complaints about getting dupes, much like the spooky variants.

This is the time of year to tinker with stuff. Easy answer is if you don't like it, dont engage in it. If no one does these exchanges then they wont be back next year, and the final collection will likely let you skip Finest anyway.

I think the easiest way to solve the Glasnow issue in Vault packs and others is to make the odds of pulling something worthwhile better. In saying giving us something to now to do with Glasnows and others would be a lame excuse for these exchanges.

@ArcPrime126_XBL said:

As has been stated, the devious part comes from this never being a thing before.

I think its quite possible that this came about because everyone complains about pulling Hunter Greene or Glasnow

So now SDS is saying 'hey, here is something to do with these cards you hate getting'

Also keep in mind 2K this year has an exchange system that is massively popular and has people claiming its the best iteration of myteam in years, that could be an inspiration too.

I don't think this was done with the ill intent everyone claims. I think was simply them trying something different in response to the complaints about getting dupes, much like the spooky variants.

This is the time of year to tinker with stuff. Easy answer is if you don't like it, dont engage in it. If no one does these exchanges then they wont be back next year, and the final collection will likely let you skip Finest anyway.

Play modes
Earn packs
Pray you get lucky
Repeat until you can buy the card you actually want or earn enough Live series diamonds for these exchanges.

I do have about 200K in stubs but I am not spending that because I have a feeling that if they release a 99 Ted Simmons or Lou Brock that they will be in a pack and I will need those stubs. Or maybe even if we get our Cardinal Finest in a pack instead of a program.

They know nobody saves diamond dupes. They know every Vault pack has a Tyler Glasnow. This is a way to make you collect live cards again.

Now, it doesnt really work cause lots of people have a million+ stubs...so they'll just buy the Live.

Can you imagine if you couldnt buy Live Series to do this - if you had to pack them? (Will never happen, I know). All the Day One people would lose their mind - the people who cant do a grind as intended, but must get all stuff Day One.

@PapaRick68_MLBTS said:

I got Messick and Diaz through the exchanges. Funny thing is Glasnow and Yamamoto were the (not so) secret weapons here.

I was just thinking that when I did the exchange for Messick (only guy I really wanted). I guess Thing 1 and Thing 2 come in handy now.

@x-814-x-MAFIA-x_PSN said:

@Dolenz_PSN said:

I agree with the aspect that there has been no precedent set so that we think to ourselves "I should save all of my duplicate live series diamonds".

How many Tyler Glasnow's have been pulled and sold for their quick sell value because stubs have always been more important than exchanges when it comes to getting cards.

My hope is that no team has their only Finest card locked behind this nonsense

My concern is will the exchange cards be needed for ANY Collection.

They might be, and like I said above, this is ~ how much it'll cost to get the exchange cards. This value is actually dropping a bit now, as some of the 85s are getting closer to QS. I ran this assuming 3,333 per card.

• Wood (500k): 25 cards, about 83,325 stubs
• Turang (400k): 20 cards, about 66,660 stubs
• Diaz (300k): 15 cards, about 49,995 stubs
• Messick (200k): 10 cards, about 33,330 stubs

While I don't like this exchange strategy, let's not overreact. These aren't expensive cards, and are cheaper than some of the weekly Spotlight cards that were needed for collections. It's just a different format (albeit an annoying one), so people are going a bit crazy.

Also, what people aren't taking into account... the demand for the LS cards is going up and there are pretty huge gaps between buy and sell prices. While people complained, I passively flipped for 200K profit (even while getting "account restricted" notifications every 10 orders).

@Dolenz_PSN said:

I agree with the aspect that there has been no precedent set so that we think to ourselves "I should save all of my duplicate live series diamonds".

How many Tyler Glasnow's have been pulled and sold for their quick sell value because stubs have always been more important than exchanges when it comes to getting cards.

My hope is that no team has their only Finest card locked behind this nonsense

My concern is will the exchange cards be needed for ANY Collection.

@Dolenz_PSN said:

It will also be interesting to see if the supply gets low for good exchange candidates and how much they inflate when everyone decides that they have to have that final collection reward.

Live series supply is very high, I don't think there will be any big inflation.

Even early in the year when everyone was trying to do LS collection 85s hit quick sell in the first week.

The pack card rare rounds will be the ones that end up being expensive

@Teak2112_MLBTS said:

@Dolenz_PSN said:

My hope is that no team has their only Finest card locked behind this nonsense

The Mets likely only two finest cards are in a significantly worse place than these. McLean is more expensive than any of these, and Soto is far more than their combined price.

83K is not an expensive card by 2026 standards, very far from it actually.

And again, thats if you want to spend stubs. Getting live series diamonds is not uncommon.

That does not change my opinion. There were 11 cards I believe in the program itself. Multiply that by three programs and there is no reason all 30 teams should not have at least 1 card in one of the programs.

So my statement stands that I hope that no teams only Finest card is locked behind the exchange (or in a pack for that matter).

It will also be interesting to see if the supply gets low for good exchange candidates and how much they inflate when everyone decides that they have to have that final collection reward.

@Dolenz_PSN said:

My hope is that no team has their only Finest card locked behind this nonsense

The Mets likely only two finest cards are in a significantly worse place than these. McLean is more expensive than any of these, and Soto is far more than their combined price.

83K is not an expensive card by 2026 standards, very far from it actually.

And again, thats if you want to spend stubs. Getting live series diamonds is not uncommon.

The Ultra packs will end up being the bigger bottleneck.

That works out to about 58K per card on average, but it's not split evenly since each tier needs a different number of 85s:

• Wood (500k): 25 cards, about 83,325 stubs
• Turang (400k): 20 cards, about 66,660 stubs
• Diaz (300k): 15 cards, about 49,995 stubs
• Messick (200k): 10 cards, about 33,330 stubs

Like yeah, this format stinks and I don't feel like buying 70 Aroldis Chapman cards, but I guess it's similar to having to buy cards in packs for other collections. I'm sitting on 3.2 mill with almost all the cards, so for me it doesn't really matter. It's more of an inconvenience than anything else.

So nah, I don't like it, but I also wouldn't call it "predatory." That's a bit of a stretch.

How many Tyler Glasnow's have been pulled and sold for their quick sell value because stubs have always been more important than exchanges when it comes to getting cards.

My hope is that no team has their only Finest card locked behind this nonsense