BBM's 2nd Version just hit shelves on Saturday, and finding singles over the weekend proved to be a little challenging. But I persevered, so here you go! The 2nd Version set is numbered 409-696, plus the FP1-FP13 non-premium insert set.
The base cards have a nice full-bleed front. The 1st Version design is a little better but I'm happy with the minimal graphics. The backs are a little more stylish as well compared to 1st Version, though the same usual details are included - biographical statistics, a write-up, and in 2nd Version's case statistics for the first 45 days or so of the season. Each team has 18 cards in the regular base set.
As BBM has done for the past several years, the set starts with a "1st Version Update" set with three players per team. I chose Mejia's horizontal card for this because it shows how lazily the 1st Version design was applied to horizontal layouts. It looks like the card was miscut! At least they rotated the design along with the photo.
The first subset is Birth of Hero. It features a rookie/younger player who has become popular on the team. There are 12 cards, one per team.
Next is Power to the Team, a horizontal subset with one slugger from each team represented for 12 cards. Disappointingly, but unsurprisingly, this subset is full of foreigners.
Finally, the Team Checklist cards show some celebratory or fun event. I like many of the photos in the team checklist set, but I went with the Golden Eagles pouring water all over each other.
The Ceremonial First Pitch series is back, but this time it's been pulled out of the regular numbering and is its own non-premium insert set. Carrying a FP-prefix, these 13 cards show stars from other sports and celebrities throwing out the first pitch at various games this year.
As always, there are partial parallels of the base set. The team checklists highlight which cards receive the parallel treatment with a *. Six cards for each team appear in silver (not serial numbered), gold, holographic, and red foil signature versions. Additionally, the Birth of Hero and Power to the Team subsets have foil-backed parallels numbered to 100. First Pitch has a holographic foil parallel numbered to 100.
There's one regular insert set in 2nd Version, called Binary Star. There are only six cards in this set, with two players shown on each card. There is a foil signature parallel of this subset.
Nine autographed cards appear in the set, with print runs between 10 and 30 cards.
Six rookie memorabilia cards are also randomly inserted, each with a print run of 200 cards. Patch parallels for five of those cards have print runs of 20 cards each - obviously the bat card can't have a patch version.
Very nice! Wish these were easier to get a hold of in America.
ReplyDeleteI think Topps should go with the Ceremonial First Pitch cards as an insert for Opening Day here. Of course, that set would only need to be 15 to 30 different cards and angles of Chrissy Teigan's performance in Los Angeles last week when she threw out the first pitch drunk and in her short shorts. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSkybox: I'm told that there's a Japanese card dealer at the National, so there has to be other sources in the States too. But finding them is probably tough. I can always get you some if you'd like to buy or trade!
ReplyDeleteTony: I've often thought that a First Pitch set is way overdue in MLB cards. The Dodgers alone could issue a massive set with all the celebs that have shown up. There have been a couple Presidential First Pitch sets, and Upper Deck did something about a decade ago - Halle Berry was in that set.