Hey, US card collectors. Do you remember when cards were just cards? Through the 1980s? Japanese cards were just cards, too - just have a look at Calbee's offerings through 1990 and beyond.
Do you remember in 1989 when holograms started being put in packs? Japan started including holograms too (1989 Calbee, 1991 BBM).
Do you remember in 1992 when parallels first seriously hit MLB packs? Japan started including parallels too (1995 BBM).
Do you remember in 1993 when the first super-premium sets (Fleer Flair, Topps Finest) were issued in the States? Japan's first mainstream premium set hit shelves in 1995 (1995 BBM Diamond Heroes).
Do you remember in the mid-1990s when Upper Deck put the first jersey cards in baseball packs? Japan started issuing relic cards too (1997 BBM Diamond Heroes).
Do you remember around 2001 when relic sets (Absolute Memorabilia) changed the focus toward hits? In 2002, BBM dropped Diamond Heroes to introduce Touch the Game, a relic-based super-premium issue.
Do you see that many releases in the past few years have been high-cost ultra-premium boxes with few cards (Topps Tribute, Museum Collection)? Japan has that too: Epoch now, and Frontier in the past, and BBM has issued a few high-priced sets as well (2018 BBM Glory, for example).
On Demand cards have become relatively common in the US, with Topps' online offerings, especially Topps Now. Well, Epoch has Epoch One.
Ami Inamura is perhaps the baseball poster child... or baseball model... or something like that... of the past several years, appearing in JWBL (women's baseball) and NPB (men's baseball) sets several times as she makes appearances at events and throwing out first pitches. Of course, I had to have this card for my collection as well.
What's next for MLB? And how long will it take for NPB card manufacturers to copy it?
Very interesting. Was there anything that NPB card manufacturers came up with first that MLB manufacturers copied?
ReplyDeleteCards of celebrities throwing out the first pitch
DeleteWhat I haven't seen in the US are "Photo" cards and "Film" cards - cards made from photos mounted in the card like a relic, or pieces of film. I don't know what made the photo cards so special, since the image quality didn't seem any better to me. And the film cards were just a novelty as well, if you ask me. (I mentioned these in a different post recently, anyway.)
DeleteI guess I should point out that US manufacturers have used photos with autographs for cut signatures, and I'm sure some non-sport issues have used photos (Upper Deck has used comic books, maps, and books, so...). And I know there are some film cards for entertainment sets (Harry Potter, Disney come to mind).
Great correlations! Are group breaks popular in Japan like they are in America?
ReplyDeleteA few months ago I saw someone post on a Korean forum about having box breaks and the costs. First Ive seen of it.
DeleteI've never seen any, but I might not be in the right place. Box busters here just want the big hits for themselves or resell. Base cards and even inserts are often dumped onto the shop (who then sell the commons for 100 yen/about $1 each)...
DeleteTopps Bunt (the digital only cards)...
ReplyDeleteThere was some digital card game from Konami or someone in recent years, wasn't there? I thought I saw ads in SCM or some other magazine. Not quite the same, but they were digital-only.
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