The content update today mostly deals with adding to programs already in progress with a Topps Now update and some added XP to the Halladay and Friends Program. We also got the third roster update in Diamond Dynasty with some relatively big changes in it. However, the big news is the looming content drops next week that will involve the first mega collection, and a new program that will feature one player from every team. We’ll cover the updates first then get into some speculation on the content drops.
Headliners Set 17 All-Star Willie Mays
The first Willie Mays card of the year was the Rookie version from an early event. I am still using that card here and there even though it’s technically nothing special. In other words, I have high hopes for this All-Star Willie Mays because it’s much better in pretty much every way that’s not speed. He is much more balanced here, and you still get elite defense in center field on top of all the other greatness Mays brings to the table. As an All-Star card and a known commodity in DD at this point, the price should settle in somewhere a little south of 20K stubs.
The odds on Headliners packs to pull a diamond are 1:10 (as always), albeit that diamond might not be All-Star Willie Mays. In addition, this year you can buy one pack of the Headliners choice pack, which gives you 1:3 odds of pulling a 90+ overall diamond (and of course costs more stubs).
Third Roster Update
Aaron Judge and Manny Machado are the big notables in terms of diamonds making moves, and then we still get our usual mix of transitions between some of the tiers, albeit this has the fewest number of players changing between diamond and gold so far.
Going 90+
- Manny Machado
New Diamonds
- Paul Goldschmidt
- C.J. Cron
- Shane McClanahan
- Jazz Chisholm
Leaving Diamond
- Francisco Lindor
- Walker Buehler
Baseless Speculation
Okay, so with that out of the way, what’s going on next week? We know we are getting the “Takashi Okazaki collection for a legend hitter” on May 31, and then on June 3 we are getting “30 players in the next Featured Program” in DD, and the “BIG Legends & Flashbacks” collection. With the 30 players, I imagine this program will look somewhat like the Faces of the Franchise Program that kicked off DD this year. You’ll be able to get X number of players (maybe 12 again), and then you’ll need to buy the rest. Since it’s 30 players, it’s also likely going to be a “new” series we get here. I have seen some folks say it could be Future Stars, and that’s probably going to be correct. We’re far enough away from the Prospects Series players, and we usually get Future Stars somewhere between a quarter and halfway through the cycle. SDS usually does not double dip here, so it will likely also be 30 new prospects, which is always fun.
As for the mega collection, it’s interesting that they will dabble first with a smaller Okazaki collection before getting to the jumbo collection. Any big collection they’ve usually hyped up in advance generally involves collecting cards from most player series in the game. You can usually avoid doing one collection (and maybe if you want to finish this day one that will be skipping Future Stars because it will be fresh that day), but otherwise it involves getting cards from most other series.
With that being said, I always remind people you don’t need to finish the collection day one. If you’re just collecting Okazaki cards, well, either way those cards are going to increase in price up until (and probably through) when the collection comes out. What I would say is if you have stubs now, go start buying some cards. Even if you’re not interested in the mega collection, the collections do drive prices up for specific players and series. So it’s best practice to start snagging some cards from series with a smaller pool of players sooner than later if you want to get out ahead of that sort of thing.
The bottom line here is that the upcoming schedule looks great. The new program is still maybe just taking the place of Team Affinity 2, but it’s still going to be a heck of a week between a new huge program, Lou Gehrig Day, the Okazaki collection, and then the mega collection. It will be the busiest week since launch, and it’s probably what DD needs coming off the Halladay program that most people are over already.
