The other (of three) team sets to be released in June is for the Golden Eagles. There are 90 cards in the base set.
The first 75 cards are regular cards. The design is one of the best of BBM's team sets, with minimal effect but with lots of angles. The side border is semi-opaque. The backs follow the standard layout, and card numbers have an "E" prefix. Note that cards 71-73 are mascot cards, and 74 and 75 are cards of executives for the team.
The first subset is Award Winners, and three players have cards. The award or awards the player won are in small circles above the name bar at the bottom. The backs have relative stats - Shima won a Golden Glove award so he has fielding stats.
There are two three-card puzzles in the "Motion for Winning" subset. As always, there are three large background images (one per card) and nine smaller images (three per card) that show the player in motion.
The 10th Anniversary set BBM issued at the beginning of the year wasn't enough, because there are three more 10th Year Memorial cards in this set.
The final subset is Combination for V, each of which shows two players. The card above shows two left-handed pitchers, another card has a pitcher-catcher combination. There are three cards in this subset.
The single insert, as always, has nine cards, as always, with foil, as always, and no purpose other than to serve as an additional "hit" in boxes, as always. The regular version of these inserts have gold foil on the front for the set name, "Twinkling Stars", and the player name. Card numbers have a "TS" prefix.
There are two parallels in the insert set. The first has red foil instead of gold, and is serial-numbered on the back to 100.
The other parallel uses holofoil in the "Twinkling Stars" and player name text, and is serial-numbered out of 50.
There are no relic cards in the Golden Eagles set, but autographs are included. BBM hasn't released a checklist, but it's safe to assume every player in the base set, nearly every player, has an autograph card, and they're numbered to 60 copies or less.
BBM included special autographs as well. These are usually numbered to ten copies, with the dual signatures numbered to five. Again, no details on these are on BBM's website, so I don't know for sure. I don't have my own copies of autographed cards yet, so these images are from BBM. One of the dual autographs is supposed to be of Kevin Youkilis and Andruw Jones, though I'm not sure if that's actually been released. Youkilis was released by the Golden Eagles to treat chronic plantar fasciitis. Zach Lutz has taken his place, who is hitting .400 in his first four games.
Seven cards come in every pack, with a suggested price of 400 yen. 20 packs are in each box, with 12 boxes per case.
The "10th Year Memorial" cards are celebrating the three guys who have played for the Eagles in all 10 years they've been in existence.
ReplyDeleteYouk has not actually been released by the Eagles. The last I heard (in late May) was that he was in the US for treatment with the possibility that he might be able to return in late July. Personally I have no confidence that he will actually return to Japan but we'll see in a few weeks...
I didn't look too much at the 10th Year Memorial cards but I think it's a bit of an overkill, still. They could have done something for the Japan Series victory, for instance.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure exactly about Youkilis' status. I had read that he went back to the States for treatment but different reports said he was done for the season. I noticed he still is listed on the NPB site as a member of the Eagles roster but I wasn't sure if that was just because he played for them this year already or if he was still a part of the team. It would be great for him to come back and be fantastic. Without health problems I think he could have a stellar year here.
I completely agree. I've been pretty vocal about how much BBM has ignored the Eagles' championship last year.
ReplyDeleteSkybox: I'm not sure on a specific source in the States. I'd be glad to help you out, though! I can get singles at the local card shop. And most other NPB things you might be interested in. Send me an email if you're interested.
ReplyDelete