3 Cards (Vol 8)

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.

Card #1

A BBM card showing up on one of these posts was inevitable. I'm just glad I managed to prolong it for so long, also that I was able to start off with my second favorite first pitch card from my recent haul

This is a first pitch card from 2017 BBM Fusion featuring former AKB48 member, Tomomi Itano. Who, for the record, was my favorite AKB member. Itano first joined AKB48 as a 14 year old back in 2005 but later got her break as the group itself ascended into Japan's popular consciousness in the late 2000's/early 2010's. Itano was one of the popular early members and I think there was an entire year where she endorsed every single product in the country. Anyway she stayed with the group until 2013.

After that she's tried to be a solo entertainer both in the music industry and as an actress. Making songs you and I have never heard of, and acting in TV shows and movies that even the people who watched them forgot about.

Still wish "Tomo-chin" the best though.

Card #2

This "Up Next" insert is very foily and scans kinda poorly. It features former Chunichi Dragons first round draft pick, Hiroshi Suzuki.

Suzuki is (in my mind) the Dragons' modern day equivalent of J.B. Cox or Jacob Lindgren. The guy drafted pretty highly with the expectation of being an impact player sooner rather than later. Dude had ties to the Dragons before the draft and so his selection wasn't so out of left field, plus he was still pretty young (21) for a guy who was getting drafted out of the industrial league. I'm still pretty disappointed that they lost out on Shosei Nakamura, but hey they got their top fallback option. I'd hate to be that dude, but the expectation for him is probably to see if he can replace the recently retired Takuya Asao. Not the shoulder-injury prone Asao Dragons fans have been seeing for the past four seasons mind you, but peak MVP Asao.

Card #3

You know what, now that the can of worms with the label BBM written on its side has been opened, we might as well go with some of my favorites, ie the exclusives/promotional stuff.

One of my favorites that I'm glad I can talk about now was this "Book Store Special Card" of Yota Kyoda. Kyoda was the Dragons' second round draft pick in the 2016 NPB Player Draft and went on to be the league Rookie of the Year in 2017. Unfortunately he suffered a case of the yips in 2018 and took steps back. That said, he's still young and talented enough to make something of himself. Especially when he inevitably leaves the Dragons in some fashion a few years down the line.

In true BBM parallel fashion the card itself is beautiful in person, but scans like dogshit. It's got a sick "cracked-ice"/atomic refractor shine going on, along with a gold facsimile autograph to boot. On top of it all the sepia-toned background is what I think really makes this card pop. What I like even more is that Kyoda himself isn't altered by a sepia filter and left alone. I much prefer that to the sepia refractors we get from Topps.

The back of the card has your typical player profile, including how Kyoda's blood type is O. The blurb right above his stats (as of 5/27/2018) states that he's going to become a shortstop who's going to be one of the faces of the league (oof, I think BBM jinxed him). Along with a line about his heroics against the Hiroshima Carp on 5/15/2018. Followed by another line about how he had a really nice series against the Hanshin Tigers.

Kyoda's still young enough and talented enough that I think he can carve out a nice career for himself. He should be/is a polished college bat with solid glovework. A lot of his game is still developing, but I think he'll be just fine in the long run.

Alright, BBM's here. Anything goes from here on out.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).