Yup, Goal Met

 So about a week into 2026 I was able to get an autograph. 

Cosplayer: 凪咲 (Nagisa)

Of a cosplayer at that.

Kind of expected. This is more or less how this goal was accomplished last year too.

The polaroid is dated from December 30th, 2025 but that's just because the cosplayer originally made it with the intend to sell it at the winter Comiket convention held between December 30th and 31st.

Unfortunately it looks like they ended up with leftover inventory that they sold online later. Which is how I got mine.

That's also how a lot of the other polaroids I got in the weeks to follow came about.

Cosplayer: 東雲氷 (Shinonome Koori)

Cosplayer: カド吉 (Kadokichi)

Cosplayer: 猫西めめ (Nekonishi Meme)

Cosplayer: 天音ありぃ (Amane Allie)

Cosplayer: 幸春るいか (Yukiharu Ruika)

Cosplayer: みくる澪 (Mikuru Mio)

Cosplayer: 雛月あや (Hinatsuki Aya)

Cosplayer: まなせせな (Manase Sena)

Cosplayer: えびせんべい (Ebisenbei)

Cosplayer: ぐりこ (Glico)

Cosplayer: かいむ (Kaimu)

Cosplayer: たっぷりめろこ (Tappuri Meroko)

In addition to these I did get a few polaroids from cosplayers working at various bars and Maid Cafe's in Tokyo (my current equivalent of IP autographs I guess) but the thing is that those were taken on the spot and not everyone is comfortable with unedited raw photographs of their faces being put out there. Especially not in Japanese culture.

Which I totally get. I've since gone back and deleted a lot of scans of polaroids in past blogposts that weren't edited and polished photos simply printed on polaroids like the ones seen in this post.

There's a lot I could say about this new round of polaroids but the biggest thing for me is just how nice a lot of these cosplayers are. A lot of these orders take a while to be fulfilled, and whenever there's a delay they're quick to respond and make up for the lost time with bonuses. I can really tell they think a lot about the people willing to support them.

Cosplayers: SU (left) and Yui (right)

Also I like all of these the same but I do have point out that I was pleasantly surprised I got a "dual auto" here in 2026.

A lot of the time these polaroids of cosplayers are solo, just because arranging a two-person anything is often difficult.  So getting my first dual autograph in a while was fun. Although I technically got a few in 2025 but due to the aforementioned privacy reasons I didn't share them, but those are easier to arrange given that it's simply taking a polaroid of two people already present and asking them to sign it when it's ready like a minute later.

Cosplayer: はたのゆう (Hatano Yu)

Other notables I was able to add would also include this special card.

Cosplayer: はたのゆう (Hatano Yu)

It's special because it's double sided and signed on both sides to boot.

It's not uncommon for cosplayers to make cards but they're not so much the collectible card variety, usually they're more like business cards with QR codes somewhere that goes to a page that has a link to all of the cosplayer's social media profiles. So this one is neat just based on the novelty and also it's really thick and sturdy. This cost a pretty penny to make for sure.

Anyway thanks to the cosplayers for once again helping me with my goal.

And as always thank you (the readers) for stopping by and take care.

Went Bin Diving, Found God

 Simple "show and tell" post today.

Munetaka Murakami's been on absolute tear in the later half of April.

It's been great and fun for mostly two reasons.

Seeing Murakami thrive and demolish baseballs after a whole winter where his value was suppressed to nothing, and seeing a whole Chicago White Sox team and fanbase rejuvenated with hope after years of historically dogshit baseball.

There's still a lot of questions and concerns over the long haul about sustainability and contract extensions and whatnot, but time will tell us where that all goes anyway. In the moment I'm having lots of fun seeing Murakami sock dingers (tied for the MLB lead as of the time this post was being written), walk a lot and overturn calls with ABS.

So much so that I went bin diving at a card shop where I usually get trading cards (think Yu-Gi-Oh! and the like) from because they're one of the few that I knew had Dream Order cards.

As you can see I picked up 5 copies of the regular foils and 2 of the parallels. The foils were 39 JPY each (roughly 24 cents USD) and the parallels were 89 JPY each (roughly 56 cents USD).

I'll keep one parallel then probably distribute the rest as Zapping fodder.

Then inevitably say bye to the parallel I kept for myself later down the line when I get a Murakami card I want to keep that shows him in a Chicago White Sox uniform (preferably in one of those slick black jerseys or the red City Connect jersey).

Parallel

Because no offense to Murakami or the photographer but this picture is ass. It makes Murakami look huskier than he is, and even worse he's fielding. Also these cards warp like they're chrome cards from 2010.

But for now this will have to do because it was really cheap.

Which is more or less the whole reason I went to a gaming card shop and not a regular sports card shop.

A shop dedicated to sports cards would've seen the tear Murakami's on and added a comma to the price tags. The gaming card shop only see's slow-moving almost dead inventory, not helped by rumors that the Dream Order card game is probably discontinued. Although for me that makes these extra fun because that means they're neat cards from a short-lived baseball themed card game.

Dream Order's supposed replacement. Came free with a bag of chips.

Deals in the loony world of sports cards are hard to come by these days. Enough that I made this quick post when in years past I wouldn't have.

But when they happen, it's pretty fun and stress-free knowing I can't lose.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.