2009 Konami BBH WBC Edition

Just when you think you've seen every Japanese oddball, there's another one right around the corner.

Today's Japanese oddball is yet another card set originally used for an arcade game. In Japan there are two extremely popular arcade games that issue/use trading cards. One is World Club Champion Football (WCCF) a soccer themed game (remember that soccer is referred to as football outside the US) and the other is Baseball Heroes (BBH) a baseball themed game.

Baseball Heroes is the NPB or Japanese Professional Baseball equivalent of Sega Card Gen. It's been around for a while and it's enormous success gave Sega enough confidence that Sega Card Gen might work out in Japan after an American release was initially scrapped. Sega Card Gen was only in trial/testing mode when today's product came out.

Care to guess where the "Cervin'" in the blog name came from?

Back in 2009 WBC-mania hit Japan harder than... nevermind.
Unlike the US where the World Baseball Classic was seen as a joke, Japan went crazy during the WBC and Japan couldn't be prouder when Japan defeated their hated rival South Korea and won it all.
Baseball Heroes was looking in to cash in on this craze by releasing a set with every team and player that participated in the WBC (the main one anyway). At this point you can't use those cards to play the game anymore (most cards that are over 1/2 years old can't be used in BBH) but they're still pretty interesting cards.

Fronts

Backs

In true gaming card fashion there are a bunch of stats and numbers everywhere to tell the gamer(s) how good a player is. Unlike SCG there isn't a 1-8 scale but rather just how good the players are at certain skills.
Also, there were 2 subsets featuring foil cards. Both had 12 different cards each.
One was known as the "Special" set and the other was known as the "All Tournament" set.

A "Special" card (Left), An "All Tournament" card (Right) 

Unfortunately I don't have a full checklist on me but I'm sure you'll be able to find one with a quick Google or Yahoo search.

Anyway Konami didn't issue a set for the 2006 WBC and I'm pretty sure they never issued one for the 2013 WBC. Maybe because of the lack of big names on Team Japan's roster? Or maybe the 2009 WBC set was a financial failure? Part of me wants it to return, but if it doesn't at least there will always be this set.

As always thanks for reading and take care.

5 Collecting Goals For 2014

Because I launched this blog on the first day of 2014 and was busy for the first week or so trying to get this blog running I wasn't able to share with you all my collecting goals for 2014. I usually set myself for the easiest/simplest goals possible, and this year is not really any exception.

5. Continue to trade with people

I love trading with other collectors and helping them with their collections.. Although my end of the trade(s) might not be as big as they've been in the past because of my next goal.

4. Stop buying so much wax

This might be the hardest task of all.
In 2013 I busted a total of 8 hobby boxes, 10 blasters, 10 rack packs and ∞ loose single packs. After adding up the receipts and feeling like I had just suffered a heart attack I've decided that one of my goals is to cut down on the amount of wax I buy. For now I'm planning to just stick to a retail rack pack (at most) when I get the itch and just ignore products I don't care for altogether (looking at you Topps Archives with your flimsy cardboard stock and boring checklist).
I'll make one exception though, Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects. I always love this product and will probably pick up a hobby box when it comes out.

3. 62 TTMs

In 2013 I had a whopping 133 TTM returns. And while I might/will not be able to match that this year, I'm hoping to at least reach half of that this year. So my goal is to reach 62 TTMs. And as of this post I've already received 3 TTM returns so only 59 more to go :)!
And yes I realize that 133 divided by 2 is not 62 but I have no idea how I'm supposed to get 61.5 returns so I'm going with 62 instead.

2. Pick up a new "Oldest Card In My Collection"

Right now the oldest card in my Yankees collection is a 1948 Bowman card of Billy (The Bull) Johnson and I'm thinking of acquiring something even older. I've got a specific card/set in mind and am waiting for the right deal and hopefully it comes within the next 11 months. And as long as I stick to my cutting down on wax goal I might be able to accomplish this goal without it crippling me financially.

1. 39 IP Autos

In 2013 I accumulated a total of 78 IP autos and much like my TTM goal I'm going to try and get at least half as many.
I was originally going to have my number 1 goal be "Have Fun" but I saw a ton of other bloggers have it and I didn't want to get sued for plagiarism. Plus goals 5, 3 and 1 are already what my definition of "fun" is. Trading with other people, getting autographs through the mail and getting autographs in person. I think at this point the importance of my collection has become more about human interactions rather than just getting cards I need. And now that I've actually written that down, I think I need to get out more...

Anyway there you have it, my 5 collecting goals.
As always thanks for reading and take care :).