This is the last pack of cards from Jim, and it's certainly the coolest! There are seven cards here, but I wonder if there was an eighth, and this was really two packs. Not that Jim is holding out on me. You'll see.
You're not cheating and scrolling right to the end, are you? It's not that exciting.
This is the 2008 Swallows Premium set - a design that reminds me a lot of SP Authentic, on what might be somewhat better card stock.
It's still about as thick as a flagship Topps card. But again, the card does not feel cheap or flimsy. Here's a gaijin card. His name is in all CAPS, while the Japanese players have only their second name in CAPS.
The other releases I showed this week all had stats, but the backs of these cards just repeat the front almost exactly the same, except for a few additions - almost all in Japanese. I know at least one piece of information is the player's birthdate!
I've never been a fan of cards without natural backgrounds, but these cards are still pretty nice.
Does this card look kind of filmy to you? That's because it's a shimmery holographic parallel! There's no mention of this anywhere on the card. Some parallels have serial numbering, but otherwise this card has no notation as to its name or rarity.
But that wasn't the best card in the group.
Check this out.
Jim, did you realize this was in here? That is awesome! Is it really signed? No - it's a facsimile autograph similar to the way Topps puts autographs on the front of their cards. But it's totally cool seeing Japanese signatures. It's like a work of art! And as such I can't wait to get my hands on a couple actual signed player cards.
I can't read much of that, but it doesn't matter. I believe the foreigners are card numbers 18, 29, and 34. Note the different characters used in the players' names, and quick verification of the Rios card shows he's number 18.The "autographed" card has a different card prefix (YsS) seen in the checklist as a separate set, so only 10 of the players have a signature version.
So there you go - a four-pack preview of some Japanese baseball cards!
I'm in training until the end of next week. This Sunday is my first day off, and I'm not sure whether I'll have good internet access or the wherewithal to be writing baseball card posts. Note that I'm writing this post a week in advance, and I don't know yet if I'll have posts ready for the next week or not - so if the blog goes stale for a while you know why!
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