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 :).

3 Cards (Vol 7)

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

When I said I brought back cards, I didn't say they were all sports cards.

Truth be told I didn't spend a whole lot of time looking for Yu-Gi-Oh! cards this past winter. I barely had time for baseball cards as it was. But I did visit one shop one time and got all of the cards I needed (a whopping seven cards). Starting with that awesome Dark Magician Girl card.

Of course that isn't your ordinary Yu-Gi-Oh! card. In that it's actually a Dungeon Dice Monsters card. Dungeon Dice Monsters is/was Yu-Gi-Oh!'s less successful spinoff game that involved dice, an actual board and a lot less enthusiasm from the player base. Truth be told I've never played it but if it's anything like how the anime presented it, I'm going to stay far far away.

Except of course to add this Dark Magician Girl to my collection. It's worth it then.

Card #2

This second card is the Magician of Black Illusion. This card basically serves as a placeholder for Dark Magician in what would obviously be a Dark Magician themed deck. It special summons itself, it can call itself Dark Magician and it can special summon Dark Magician. It's not Dark Magician but it's almost as if it is Dark Magician.

Card #3

Speaking of which here's the real Dark Magician himself.

I actually didn't buy this at a shop. I bought it at the supermarket.

You see one of the supermarkets I stopped by were selling potato chips that came with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Obviously this caught the attention of 10 year old inner-me and I bought a pack. The card I pulled was Dark Magician. I wanted Dark Magician Girl but it was a nice consolation prize.

Snacks and a freebie Yu-Gi-Oh! card. I love my motherland.

So that was a gaming card centric 3 cards. I think next time we'll go back to talking about sports cards again, but it's always great to break up the monotony.

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

3 Cards (Vol 2)

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

During this past trip I didn't have a whole lot of time to devote to cards. But when I did, I tended to shy away from BBM stuff if I could help it. Reason being that BBM has had a long monopoly/chokehold on the Japanese baseball card world for basically forever. I did buy some BBM stuff mind you, but I was more interested in finding some non-BBM oddballs.

Case in point is this Nagoya Dome exclusive mini(-ish) card of Masahiko Morino.

I'm not 100% sure how these cards were originally distributed, but I'm guessing they were given out for free (or likely with some sort of purchase within the stadium).

The way these cards worked was that you'd scratch off the two circles in the back. According to this card, if you got a Home Run for the first "at-bat"/circle on the left then you got a pair of tickets to an actual game. If you got a Home Run for the second "at-bat"/circle on the right then you got a special replica jersey. I assume if you got a Home Run for both you'd get both prizes. If you won a prize you'd have to bring this card to what I'm guessing is the Nagoya Dome equivalent of Guest Relations by Gate #1 to claim your prize. According to this card you had to submit it by the eight inning.

Unfortunately the person who scratched off this card struck out both times and ended up with an obscure oddball that appeals only to oddballs like me.

Card #2

I know virtually nothing about the storied but murky world of Calbee trading cards and I consider that to be a huge detriment to myself. As some of you who received my most Zippy Zappings may have realized, a lot of them are very shiny and downright beautiful.

Of course this card isn't as refractory or shiny, but man is it quite something. What with the beautiful full bleed photography and action shot taken right at the perfect moment. Making up for how the gold facsimile signature (which looks nice) is blocking the barrel of the bat.

This is former Chunichi Dragons slugger Takeshi Yamasaki. Yamasaki enjoyed a 24-year career in the NPB playing for the Dragons, the Orix BlueWave and the Rakuten Golden Eagles. During that span he was a two time home run leader, an RBI leader, a six time All Star and two time All Star Game MVP. He played all the way from 1989 to 2013, a true feat in the world of athletics (even in the old boys' club that is Japanese baseball) and finished with 403 career dingers. Good for 18th all-time (as of January, 2018) in Japan.

Card #3

I had a very loose goal of obtaining a menko card of Shigeru Sugishita from his playing days during my trip to Japan. I didn't accomplish that because even the shop owners I talked to said they'd maybe seen one once during their whole lives. They're that fucking rare over there. So instead I picked up as many Sugishita cards in general as I could.

Most of the cards I picked up were of the BBM variety, but luckily for me I found this "Dream Nine" oddball made by DigiCube. As best as I can tell DigiCube were some trading card company that was around in 2000 and 2001 but has disappeared since. An Amazon listing tells me that these cards were originally sold exclusively at Circle-K convenience stores upon their release (Circle-K stores all got merged/turned into Family Marts in late 2016 BTW).

The back features Sugishita's complete career totals as an active player. The top of the card also lists his time as a manager for the Dragons, a coach for the Daimai Orions (the current day Chiba Lotte Marines), a coach for the Hanshin Tigers, a manager for the Hanshin Tigers, and a coach for the Yomiuri Giants.

Looking back on the three cards I talked about today, I'm quite pleased with the variety. And at the overall star-power.

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