Earlier this month one of the card shops I used to frequent in Japan, CAPS, closed up shop. I was going to write a post about that, but the best I could do was a little throwaway line. The shop was interesting though. If you wanted a certain Japanese oddball card, they were the most likely to provide it. BUT you'd have to invest entire days to searching through their inventory to see if they had what you wanted. As cool as it sounds it wasn't always ideal as it was kind of a dingy shop as the place reeked of tobacco smoke (as did their cards), and every binder/box was covered with dust. But you tolerated it because their prices were cheap. Also, the shop was located on the 7th floor of a shady apartment building where one of its tenants threw shit (actual human fecal matter!) at the walls in the hallway. Just wanted to share that with you all.
Even so, I'll miss CAPS. Now the only "go-to" card shop in Japan for me is Bits and their tragic flaw is that they only deal with recent/newer stuff, meaning that with CAPS' closure I'm now cutoff from Japanese vintage. Technically the city still has two other card shops as well, but they're more for box breakers (ie not me).
Meanwhile back here in the states, the card shop I've gone to the most since I returned stateside is closing up shop this month (on Saturday the 30th in fact).
The card shop in question is Chameleon Cards & Comics. I've blogged about them a few times. They were a great source of dime box singles for all of these past six years. They were also always stocked with 1975 Topps cards for some reason. Apparently NYC-based collectors have '75 Topps out the ying-yang.
As sad as CAPS closing down was, this one kinda hurts even more. Chameleon was the only card shop I could get to conveniently (ie with one subway ride) here in US. As it stands, I know of three other card shops, but one is in the suburbs and I need a car (or bike) to get there. There's another one in uptown Manhattan but that one never had any inventory that interested me or made me think that the time I spent getting there was worth it. There's also a third in midtown but that one's more for box breaking and gaming cards than for anything else.
It's not a total shock though. Chameleon was a card and comic store right smack dab between Wall Street and Bowling Green, the rent around there is nuts (note, Topps HQ is also around the vicinity) and I guess Chameleon couldn't keep up.
But damn, losing a shop I had easy access to that provided me with so much stuff I actually needed/used for my collection all these years really stings. And that's to say nothing of the cool staff there that will unfortunately have to find new jobs now.
Anyway my last trip to the shop was Thursday. By that point the store was pretty much empty. The only card things left were some discounted boxes/packs, some supplies, a few singles in the showcase and (incredibly on-brand for them) about three-dozen '75 Topps cards being sold for 50 cents each (note, the pictures above was from a past '75 Topps bargain bin, not the current one). Much to Night Owl's dismay I passed on them like I did with the ones that came before.
I thanked the folks for the service they've given me all these years, then left.
CAPS off to you Chameleon.
(Yes, that is how this blogpost ends, with a terrible pun).
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.
You folks are in for a treat today, let me tell you.
Card #1
We're starting off strong with one of my favorite Ichiro Suzuki cards. This Diamond Heroes card from 2000 that features him running away from an explosion. Apparently BBM let Michael Bay design card sets.
The blurb at the bottom mentions how there's a lot of hope that Ichiro will become the first NPBer in history to hit for a .400 average. In years past he'd been able to sustain a .400 average until early June. Would he finally be able to do it in 2000? Unfortunately he couldn't as he only hit a measly .387. He then later came to America in 2001.
Card #2
Here's a Calbee card of Ichiro. One I've always been partial to because it's got a cool motion effect going on where Ichiro is the only moving as everything else appears to be a blur/stuck in time.
The card mentions how Ichiro had won the batting crown six consecutive times and established the NPB record for OBP for the first time in three seasons in 1999. The card finishes off by modestly saying that Ichiro's expected to have a good season in 2000. Refer to what I said back in card 1 to see how that went.
Card #3
Finshing off with a rare oddball item of Ichiro issued by Konami.
This is from the 2006 Konami Powerful MLB set. A physical board/card game that I've been meaning to blog about forever but was always too lazy to. I pulled this Ichiro out of a pack myself (Ryan from This Card Is Cool was there as my witness) back in Japan and I was very hyped to get this. And yes, these cards had foily and x-fractory parallels. Your collections are incomplete.
And that was a Ichiro-rific edition of three cards.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
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
Here we see the return of Miss Emma Jasmine. One of my favorite models. And when I say model I don't mean she's a gravure model (although most of the stuff I've got of hers is from the gravure shoots she did in 2016), but rather that she's a fashion model.
In the time since my last エマジャズ post her career's taken pretty interesting turns. For one thing she started appearing on TV a lot more. She appeared in one role in a Japanese drama but for the most part she's been featured on "variety shows" often featuring food. She's also got her own cooking show (on local channels I believe). Hey, that's more screen time than most people get on TV.
On her main Instagram she posts a lot of what looks to be behind-the-scenes-ish photos from her most recent shoots. Meanwhile she also has two other accounts (one, two) just for food. One of which uses the handle "die with food". Good advice.
Card #2
Showed off this card in my initial "Tired" post, and here it as again. Another QUO card of Miss Jasmine. I'm cornering the market folks!
As you can see, my collection has gotten to a point where I've got the corresponding magazine pages promoting these same QUO cards.
Card #3
This last one isn't a card but I've already bent the rules before anyway so screw it lol.
This is the last Emma Jasmine magazine I needed for my "collection". This was the December 12th, 2016 edition and I remember being super pissed because it was released one week before my last trip to Japan and by the time I got to Japan these were already out of print. Damnit!
Well thanks to one of my collecting buds in Japan I finally got this.
Thanks to this particular issue, I can now confirm that I have a QUO card from every magazine issue she's appeared in. Yes!
Now if only her polaroid autographs would also pop up.
So best of luck to Kondo-san on her career, wherever she decides to take it next.
Also if you're wondering why this was an all Emma Jasmine post (besides the obvious), it's because tomorrow (March 16th) is her 24th birthday.
瑛茉ジャスミンさん誕生日おめでとうございます。
And as always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
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
This isn't a card per-se. It's technically a bunch of stickers. Very unique ones (how many sticker sheets do you see offering both home AND away jersey motifs?!) at that.
This Kyuji Fujikawa sticker is from 2006 and made by Lotte. It was one of those stickers you'd get that came along with a chocolate wafer treat (the kind that kills Portlandians). I bought one and pulled this myself in Japan 13 years ago when I was on summer vacation. Oh how the time flies. This is one of the cards* I've got a lot of attachment to in spite of me not being a Tigers fan or really having any real ties to Fujikawa.
The back is fairly nice and looks like a baseball card. It comes with Fujikawa's stats from the previous year, some nice bits about Fujikawa himself (no blood type though), and the best part is that the rows of "HOME RUN!, HIT!, OUT!" you see on the top and bottom is for playing a game with friends. I'm pretty sure no one actually did, but what a fun little thing to add regardless. Reminds me of Hot-Button baseball. This is a sticker that I truly think went the extra mile to be as fun, collectible and unique for children (and man-children) as it could be given the limitations placed on it as a sticker sheet. I commend Lotte and the people who designed this. This type of extra-credit creativity is extremely refreshing.
Card #2
Joe "Akaoni" Stanka here enjoyed a 17 year career as a pitcher across multiple levels of competition in baseball. In the states Stanka was basically a career minor leaguer who got a brief cup of coffee with the Chicago White Sox in 1959. He signed with the Nankai Hawks before the 1960 season and went on to have a pretty short but good career in Japan. His peak came especially in the 1960-64 seasons where he led the league in starts or complete game shutouts. 1964 especially proved to be a career year for him as he put up 26 wins en route to an MVP award.
In fact this card in particular commemorates how during the 1964 season he won 11 games in a row from June 20th to August 19th. He had 15 complete games that season too. His .788 winning percentage won him MVP honors, and he and the Hawks won the Nippon Series Championship that year against the Hanshin Tigers.
The 6'6 righty was in Japan until 1966 before retiring. The late Joe Stanka passed away last year at the age of 87 but remains one of the most winningest foreigners in the NPB to this day with 100 career NPB wins.
Card #3
If you're a Yomiuri Giants fan then Tatsunori Hara's been a figure in your orbit for almost 40 years. Hara was originally a third baseman/outfielder/first baseman for the Giants and spent his entire 15 year career as a player with the Giants (and ONLY the Giants). Following his playing career he spent some time as a writer and even some time as a baseball analyst. But in the late 90's he started being a coach in the Giants org and by 2002 he was promoted to being their manager.
Manager Hara's had three separate stints as the Giants manager but for the most part he's delivered as he won the Nippon Series in 2002, 2009 and 2013. He's led his team to a total of five Nippon Series appearances and during his 12 year (non-consecutive) stints as the Giants manager his team finished in first place seven times.
Of course it's important to remember that the Giants are the Japanese (George Steinbrenner era) New York Yankees. They're the team with the asshole owner nobody likes who spends every yen in existence on the best players other teams have to offer. Of course their power has been absolutely neutralised now because the best players in Japan tend to either play in Pacific League powerhouses like SoftBank or Nippon Ham, or they come to the states to play in the big leagues.
Still, Hara's in the Japanese Hall of Fame and I'll forever have a soft spot for him as the guy who managed Team Japan in the 2009 WBC, where they won it all!
Also one of my favorite baseball momentos is this Hara handkerchief that was given out for free at a department store (can't remember which) after the Giants won the Nippon Series title in 2009. Yes, they gave this out even in deep blue Chunichi Dragons territory lmao.
The gesture Hara's making there is his siganture clenched fists "グー" pose. Every time a player performs well he greets them at the dugout with a double fist bump.
Awesome. Not crazy about the Giants but can't hate Hara too much lol.
And that was another edition of three cards. Three non-Dragons at that. This is new territory for the 3 Cards series folks!
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
This hobby can grow stale very quickly. At least it does for me. Opening packs isn't as exciting or fun as it used to be back when I first started. Getting new cards I needed for my collection from eBay/COMC/wherever isn't as fun as it used to be back when I first did so. The hobby still has fun aspects like TTM and IP autos as well as the wonders of a dime box/bargain bin dive. But I'm always eager to try something new.
Enter NPNs.
I've seen other collectors like LV do NPN's over the years and I've always wanted to give it a try. Going so far as to bug other collectors to send me the NPN addresses on the back of packs they got (sorry Your Lordship).
But unfortunately I was never able to get anything. Maybe my envelopes weren't selected or maybe too many people entered before I could and the supplies always ran out, or maybe I just wasn't lucky. Whatever the reason, my NPN experience was empty for a long time.
Until last month (the last day of February to be more precise). I had basically just gone an entire month without buying any baseball cards and it seemed as though my reward were three NPNs straight from Topps. Kind of ironic, but okay.
Right off the bat I had a hunch these were going to be from the Stranger Things set. For one thing I never get anything back from baseball stuff. And for another I immediately sent out the maximum number of NPN request letters to Topps last year after I got the retail ST cards. I was so caught up in the excitement from the set that I thought "I AM GOING TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF THIS GOD DAMNIT, DO YOU HEAR ME?!". I figured that if any set was going to take away my NPN-virginity, it'd be that set.
Lo and behold, I was right.
According to the blurb on the boxes/packs, these are inserted at the same odds as they are for packs. In that sense I think I managed to beat the odds as I got three sticker cards in three packages. Meanwhile the odds on them are one in every other pack (1:2).
The unfortunate fact is that I already had these thanks to SumoMenkoMan, but getting the mom who assured everyone that they could talk to her (seriously, most of Cara Buono's lines go like that in Season 1) isn't bad at all.
Also, Eleven and Mike are the OTP, can't think of two better characters/stickers to get in this set.
And that was my first NPN. This definitely opens a new door for me as a collector. In a way it's kind of like a TTM because I'm gambling on a shot at getting something back in return for the price of a forever stamp (technically two for TTMs but you get my point).
This hobby man, it's got quite a few tricks up its sleeve.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
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
Alright, we're going back to the vintage-ish stuff for this first card folks.
That's a beautiful full bleed shot featuring former Chunichi Dragon, Takamasa Suzuki.
Suzuki spent his entire 17 year career with the Dragons as a reliever/closer. Early on he was a pretty good closer who led the league in saves a few times, but later on he was entrusted more in middle relief. His roles varied, sometimes he was a long reliever in mop-up duty, other times he was the fireman there to snuff out any rally the opposing team had brewing.
The back of the card states that he's in his sixth year as a pro, meaning this card is from 1978. The blurb mentions that he's a fierce competitor and that even when opponents do damage against him he takes it all in stride.
Anyway Suzuki retired following the 1989 season and spent some time as a baseball analyst/announcer on the radio before taking up coaching. He hasn't coached since 2013 and since 2014 he's gone back to radio but still pops up every now and then at baseball events relating to retirees and the Dragons.
Card #2
Hey, our first Owners League card in this post! We're covering all the bases here!
Anyway this is a cool card of Yomiuri Giants great, Tetsuharu Kawakami. His nickname was 打撃の神様, which basically translates to "The God of Hitting". So yeah, everybody arguing whether Babe Ruth or Ted Williams is the greatest hitter of all time has been wrong forever, that honor goes to Kawakami. Although to be fair during his playing days he was known more as "Red Bat" because he swung with a literal red bat.
Actually much like Ruth, Kawakami was originally a pitcher. During his days as an amateur/scholar he was known for being an impressive southpaw. Eventually he tried doing both pitching and hitting but ultimately ended up converting to first base full time following an injury to the Giants' 1B at the time. From 1939 to 1942 he dominated the competition, leading the league in hits, doubles, triples, total bases, home runs, RBI, batting average, OPS and OBP at various times during that span. Keep in mind that he was still a pitcher during that time so he was basically putting up Mike Trout levels of production while pulling a Shohei Ohtani.
After 1942 he went to fight in the Pacific War and following the end of that war he went home to take care of his family by taking up a life as a farmer. But of course the story doesn't end there, as the Giants found themselves in a playoff race and wanted their star hitter back. Kawakami asked for 30,000 yen, which adjusted for inflation and converted into USD would be more than $10,900 USD. That doesn't seem like much now but back then? In post-WWII Japan? That's some serious coin right there. Of course the Giants wanted to win so they paid the player what he wanted.
Kawakami returned to pro baseball and went on to establish records, such as being the first to have 1,500 career hits and later 2,000 career hits. Once the Nippon Series became a thing in 1950, Kawakami, the man who once famously said that he sometimes saw pitches that looked like they stopped right in front of him, and his Giants won the first three Championship titles in 1951, 1952 and 1953. Get this, in 1951 he only struck out SIX times in 424 at-bats. He and the Giants won the title again in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958.
Unfortunately by 1958 Kawakami's best years were long behind him and he decided to retire. The future was (and would still continue to be) bright for the Giants though because in 1958 they had a young 22 year old rookie named Shigeo Nagashima. And a year later they'd get a 19 year old rookie named Sadaharu Oh. Both Nagashima and Oh would go on to be NPB legends and carry on the new Giants dynasty for the entire 60's and 70's. Kawakami stuck around during most of that new dynasty as a coach/manager BTW.
I found researching Kawakami to be quite fun. Even after his active playing days ended he stuck around as a manager/coach for a few years before leaving that part of baseball in the mid 70's. After that he did some work as an analyst and baseball writer, but apparently spent a lot of his free time golfing (what is it with baseball players and golf?). He lived a pretty long life, living to the age of 93 and passed away in 2013. Leaving behind a Hall of Fame career that got overshadowed by the same players he passed the baton to.
Card #3
Alright so how do I finish off this post that's largely been about a Dragons legend and The God of Hitting? Simple, by talking about my favorite Dragons legend who is considered a God in his own right.
Notice how earlier I said the Kawakami-led Giants won the Nippon Series for the entire 50's minus 1954 (they lost in '59 too BTW). Want to take a guess as to who did win the Nippon Series in 1954?
Hell yeah, my favorite NPB legend of all time Shigeru Sugishita and the 1954 Chunichi Dragons won it all that year!
Who else but the God of Forkballs could contain the God of Hitting for one year?
Sidenote, I would kill to see a matchup between the two Gods.
But yeah, this was the only hit-oriented Sugishita pickup I made. I love this autograph and made a mental note to acquire it before I went to Japan because I just love the design. It's got this cool woodgrain look (although it doesn't feel like it), and the part where the signature is supposed go is brighter but not in a distracting or forceful way like it is with most autographs. Here it's a lot more natural. The fact that the autograph is on-card makes it that much better. Sidenote, the fact that EPOCH uses on-card autographs is said to be their "appeal". Because BBM's autographs are pretty much always stickers. This is where EPOCH swooped in. Because of this BBM's said to start testing out on-card autographs too (although not really if their offerings being same is any indication). So if you were curious about what the point of EPOCH existing and printing cards was, there you go. It's to provide on-card autographs to the market.
Yes it's numbered. Yes it cost me north of $50 USD. But you know what? It's a HoF/God autograph. It's worth every last yen.
BTW, Sugishita recently made a public appearance again by showing up to the Dragons' Spring Training Camp in Okinawa. The God of Forkballs was also accompanied by former MLBer Hideo Nomo. Sugishita showed up wearing a wind-breaker and to give advice to a young core of pitchers that really need all the help they can get. Also, Nomo gained a few (read: lot of) pounds since retiring.
And that was a legend-stuffed edition of 3 cards. As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).
