New Release: 2014 Hiroshima Carp Rookies & Young Stars

It appears that the Carp don't have as many rookies and young stars as the BayStars. Or, perhaps, they were able to get some retired players to appear in the set.

The base cards are similar to the BayStars set, except that the design here is more like the borders were painted with a roller instead of splattered. There are 29 cards in the set, though only 24 of them are included in every box set. There are nine stars, eleven young stars, three legends, and the manager. The remaining five cards are rookies, but like the BayStars set those only appear as signed versions.

Autographs are the main draw of this set. There are several autographed cards, as follows:

• five Rookie Signature cards
• 23 Authentic Signature cards
• two Draft Pick Dual Signature cards
• three Rookie of the Year Signature cards

Print runs are between 1 and 67 copies for any given card, plus between 1 and 6 copies of a red ink signature version. One player has 10 red ink cards, while another signed only one blue ink card and 18 red ink versions. Overall, it appears that less than 1000 sets were produced (924 by my math). Perhaps that explains the 8000 yen (about $80) price tag.