Here is additional thought on all of this. SDS has kind of thrown the curveball of the 90+ Live Series pack at the end of 4th inning. Prices have already collapsed on Live Series (during a stub sale) and most people are not to the end of 4th inning yet. They have a business that is designed to get people to buy stubs. One of the biggest motivators for people to spend money on stubs has been to get Trout in order to get Chipper. What if Ohtani is the new Chipper? It isn't a direct correlation because you can skip two cards...but regardless, their desire may very well be for these rare cards to remain important for a period of time.
Agree. Typically when they release new packs in the store they don’t immediately start giving them away for free. They will want to sell these again I’d expect in a Flash Sale and so I wouldn’t think we’d see these cards again soon. But they could release 1-2 more cards that count towards the collection as I suspect that is more likely. Last year the Elite round of Ducks on the Pond stayed above 100K (and Chapman over 150K) for awhile and they didn’t even count towards a collection like the HRD and AS cards do.
If you need a leadoff hitter then the Marlins collection Dee Gordon is a decent affordable option. He doesn't have much pop, but he will hit singles and some doubles and give you speed on the bases. His PCI is huge and he has a quick smooth swing. Most of my other favorite players are the 42 cards. Goodrum, Gallo, Yordan and Dom Smith all rake for me (granted I've only played the CPU so far).