Making Progress on 2000 Calbee: Dice-K

One of my goals this year is to finish my 2000 Calbee set. The biggest part of the set that's missing is Series 2; I don't want to try to build the set card by card. That'll cost a fortune and take a long time. So I'm holding out for an affordable set to show up in an auction or a card shop.

The most challenging part, though, is finishing the insert sets. Granted, inserts aren't actually part of the set, but I have a good start on getting everything and it makes the experience that much more fulfilling. There are two insert sets that will be the most difficult. One is the Title Holders set; it's doable but pricey because it's more limited than the others and is printed on shiny card stock. The other is the checklist set.

I don't know why checklists are so challenging and expensive. I'm still not entirely sure they're any more rare than a regular card. The 2000 card set has 18 checklists in all, six per series. Each series of six checklists feature the same player in a succession of images. Series 2 was the first one to be completed, featuring Koji Uehara.

Series 1 is the most valuable in Engel's 7th Edition guide, with each card being valued at $25 each! However, my SCM guide lists those singles at only 300 yen each. On the other hand, the Series 3 checklists carry the most value there, at 1000 yen each.

Series 3 has Ichiro, and he is definitely the biggest name in modern Japanese players. So who did he beat out? Series 1 is Daisuke Matsuzaka. Here is my Series 1 complete checklist set:

The full progression of Dice-K's pitching motion is pretty cool to see in a row. I have a few more insert cards on the way, too, so hopefully I'll get to show those off in the next couple of weeks!