There are a few stores in Tokyo where I pick up my complete sets. My number one go-to place is Coletre in Ikebukuro, because they usually have the latest and greatest box sets and most of the time they're 500 yen (~$5) each, or 3 for 1000 yen (~$10). That does mean I need to find three each time I go if I buy anything to be sure I'm getting a good enough deal. That's not too big of a problem most of the time, but occasionally I'll find myself with two sets in hand and staring at the selection trying to pick out a third.
On a trip last month, I had just that problem, but since I hadn't seen any singles from the Dobayashi set in stores I decided I might as well just get the set. I'm glad I did, not because I want to keep the full set (I'm only keeping one card for my type collection) but because the cards ended up being fun to look at.
The first nine cards are a career retrospective set. Dohbayashi (or Dobayashi, depending on your spelling interpretation) first played in the NPB in just 2012, and really hasn't had a breakout year. In 2012 and 2013, he batted .242 and .217, respectively, though he did get 25 doubles, 4 triples, and 14 home runs in his rookie year. This year, after 28 games, he's hitting .255 with four home runs.
Fielding stats aren't really available on NPB's website, though as an infielder he's probably pretty good with his glove. One of the cards has fielding statistics and his average is in the .920s, which I suppose is decent.
I'm actually curious why BBM chose him to get a set. But the photos are crisp and clear and varied.
The next nine cards are three-card puzzles with nine successive photos on each trio. First, a hitting puzzle.
Then, a fielding puzzle.
The last puzzle is a running one, and it's aligned vertically on horizontally-oriented cards, something pretty uncommon.
The next three cards are of his amateur playing days, all the way back to when he was a child.
The last six cards have some of the best pictures, though there isn't very much action in them. The backs highlight specific games or other highlights of his career; the dual-photo card below lists all the players who have worn jersey number 7 for the Carp.
The 27-card base set was packaged with one special card.
The six-card foil signature set comes in three versions. The most common is gold (200 copies each, left image), followed by red (150 copies) and holographic (80 copies, right image).
Four memorabilia cards with varying print runs: M01 and M02 have 100 copies each, M03 has 80, and M04 has only 20 copies. BBM listed these at bat cards.
The three autographed cards in the set are reprints/reuses of prior designs: 2004 Carp Expert, 2006 Carp, and 2007 Carp Expert. Each card has a print run of 40 copies.
I really like those puzzles... It's good to see something new, even in a set you wouldn't normally collect.
ReplyDeletePeople scream for something new all the time, but complain every time it happens (see: Topps, Panini, Upper Deck...).
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