2017-18 V-Premier League Official Trading Cards (Women)

No, that women tag in the title isn't to entice you into the post, though maybe it's too late for that, huh?

The V.League, or V-Premier League, is the "major league" of volleyball in Japan. From 1967-1994, the Japan Volleyball League ruled the roost, but V.League replaced it for the 1994-95 season. Both men's and women's leagues have played since 1967, with 8 teams per league currently.

Much like NPB baseball*, the teams are named after the companies that own them, instead of their location. This means one of the women's teams is called Toyota Auto Body Queenseis.

*...used to be. These days, Japanese baseball teams associate themselves both with a company and a location, some more than others. I hear "Hiroshima Carp" much more often than "Tokyo Giants".

For the past couple of seasons, Hitz has been issuing sets for both the men's and women's leagues. Here's a quick look at the 2017-18 women's set.

 Here's base card #RG01. Each card has an action photo on the front, whatever that might mean for a player, with a head shot on the back. Basic biological and career information and prior-year statistics take up most of the back. The card is almost entirely in Japanese, with the exception of the set name and team name. Plus, on the back, in that purple box next to the photo, is the player's jersey name.

 This is the last card, #RG139.

There are several special cards to be found. One is a redemption card for the official binder. It's not free; you need three of these cards and 500 yen.

No inserts are in the set, but there are plenty of autographs.

It appears that every player has a photo+autograph card, which is probably a mounted photo of some kind along with an autograph. These seem to be pack-inserted, regular-size cards. Hitz/TIC claims there are eight cards in this set, but what that may mean is there are eight designs - one per team - with the photos and autographs changing, much like the swatches in a memorabilia card changing. Each seems to be limited to 30 copies.

Seven players per team have a regular autograph card, for a total of 56 cards. These are sticker autographs. Each seems to be limited to 25 copies.

Finally, three players per team, or 24 total, are on "pinched"-autograph cards. Not having seen these in person either, these may be somewhat similar to cut autographs, where the player signed a card of some kind which was then framed. Each seems to be limited to 30 copies.

I'm not sure what promos are available, except for each team having a special "reservation benefit card" which features a few stars from the team in a combo card.

I'm working on getting some of the autographs, but I'm in no hurry...

Until next time!