New(ish) Release: 2014 Epoch Giants V9

Along with professional baseball in Japan, the Yomiuri Giants are celebrating their 80th anniversary. Yup, the Giants are recognized as the first professional team in Japan, and remain in existence after all these years. Not only are they the longest-running team, they are the most powerful. With plenty of money in the team's coffers, they really are the Yankees of the NPB, attracting the best players and frequently making it to the Japan Series. Their best years were in the 1960s and 1970s, when Oh and Nagashima led the team to multiple victories. This set recognizes that accomplishment.

The base cards have a premium feel to them, with a high gloss finish and foil highlights. The blue stadium background doesn't really do much for me; I'd prefer seeing the original background. The fronts and backs contain the "V9 Glorious Victory" notation, and fronts list the years the player was with the team.  Backs have statistics, awards, and other recognitions. Cards are numbered in the upper left corner on the back, and the set rounds out at 46 cards.

Each box contains one full 46-card set, one parallel, and two autographs. It looks like 44 players have autographs, while the other two have printed signatures. There are around 80-85 cards per player (Oh and Nagashima have a small handful each).

The autographs have a silver foil parallel, generally limited to around 25 copies (again, with Oh and Nagashima receiving a very small number). Additionally, the gold foil parallel are 1/1s. There is one triple autograph, of which there are three copies. In the top row of the image above, you can see Oh's regular, silver, and gold autographed cards, along with the triple-signed card. The bottom row has additional silver parallel autographs.

One box had an original retail price of 9800 yen plus tax, though these are almost completely sold out! I can pick up a few base sets still, though. I might get one for myself this weekend, as the set continues to grow on me.