It's been forever since my last post. I've been busy... again. Let's see if I can get caught up on 2017's sets before 2018!
BBM's 2nd Version came out back in August - yes, four months ago. There's nothing unsurprising under the hood.
The set starts out with "1st Version Update", which is a subset that's completely pointless to me. Though, I guess if you consider the 2nd Version set to be a true mid-year set, rather than just a second series, it makes a tiny bit of sense.
The 2nd Version design has slightly opaque borders on the left and right which matches the bottom banner. Those aspects carry over to the back. What makes 2nd Version unique from 1st Version, aside from the design, is the statistics. The 1st Version set and its updates have statistics through the 2016 season, while the 2nd Version set includes stats through late May.
Similar to the 1st Version set, 2nd Version has some "secret" variations - one per team. The Yamasaki card above is a variation I pulled from a pack.
Team Checklists bring up the rear of the set, and BBM went with mascots. The Marines have an additional secret variation for their team checklist.
1st Version Update and 2nd Version both have identical parallels. The most common is Silver Signature, which is not serial numbered.
Here's a 1st Version Update parallel.
Gold Signature parallels are serial-numbered to 100 copies.
Hologram foil signatures are serial numbered to 50.
Red foil is serial-numbered to 25, while green foil signatures are numbered to only 10.
First Pitch is an unbelievably popular subset now which has been pulled out of the base set for the past couple of years. While the cards appear to be printed in the same quantities as regular cards, they carry premiums - some go for 300-400 yen each!
BBM's checklist states that these cards are available in parallels of 200 and 50 cards as well as autographed versions. Additionally, one of the subjects has a secret variation, bringing the total in the set to fourteen.
The lone insert set in 2nd Version is Bright Stars. These are available in parallels of 150 and 50 serial numbered copies too.
Cross Squall is this year's cross-brand insert, and autographed and parallel versions are included.
Only a few types of hits are available: the previously-mentioned Cross Squall autographs, as well as memorabilia cards, regular autographs and combo autographs.
Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteThere's actually 14 "secret" versions in the set - in addition to one player per team there's an alternate version of the Marines checklist that shows their lantern fish mascot instead of Mar-kun and there's a "secret" version of Ami Inamura's First Pitch card.
Thanks!
DeleteI remembered those secrets at one point, even seeing them again in the checklist as I was going back through this post, and forgot to mention them. I've updated my post. And I still need Ami's variation card for my First Pitch set.
> And I still need Ami's variation card for my First Pitch set.
DeleteYou and me both
Done... for me, at least. I dropped 1000 yen on it at Quad Sports. Cheaper than auctions, at least.
DeleteYeah, welcome back. I'm a fan of the First Pitch cards myself. Good stuff and thanks for the rundown.
ReplyDeleteThanks! The First Pitch cards are fun, though I continue to be amazed at how popular they are for what amounts to "base" cards. They're the most expensive cards in the set. I'm happy that Topps has done a First Pitch set for the past two years as well, too.
Delete