New Release: 2018 BBM Chiba Lotte Marines

Hitting shelves in early April, the same time as the Swallows set, the Marines team set features the standard 81 card base set, 18 insert cards, plus autographs and the cross-set Phantom set.

Twenty six-card packs (400 yen each) can be found in each box, with 12 boxes per case.

 The design on the regular cards is much more colorful and dynamic than before. I don't remember the last time I saw these colors on a baseball card. There are 69 regular cards in the base set, including one mascot card.

 The subsets begin with First Impact, a four-card subset with the team's newest foreign players. #M70-M73.

 #M74 is Road to 2000, featuring Fukuura's year-by-year hit totals. He could reach 2000 this year, with 38 to go at the beginning of the season, though he hasn't exactly had a productive year since I moved to Japan.

 U20 Shining features three teenage players who are expected to perform well this year. (I guess Narita had a decent year last year, too.) #M75-77.

 Finally, Hot Shots has interesting statistical backs. #M78-M81.

Unlike the Swallows, there are only two regular insert sets for the Marines, both nine cards deep.

 Jet Stream is the first.

Front Runner is the second.

There's nothing to really say about them. They're shiny, limited, and lack any explanation why players were chosen to be in the set. Both insert sets have three parallels: a #/100 gold foil, #/75 holofoil, and #/50 gold holofoil.

Beyond that, BBM included the super-limited Phantom insert set, with 12 cards each numbered to 25 copies.

 And turning to autographs, everyone has cards numbered up to 75 copies. Each mascot has their own card as well, though one mascot has a stamped autograph card.

 Two combo autographs can be found. Both are limited to three copies each.

 Silver Authentic Autographs are #/9, while Gold are 1/1.

 Rookie Autographs are numbered out of 5 or 10 copies. This is the first time I can remember seeing a preview for them - they're just Rookie Edition-style cards with a sticker autograph (BBM basically only does sticker autographs). I am curious if they're regular cards with serial numbering and the sticker, or if they have unique backs.

Finally, Picturesque is the attractive cross-set autograph for team sets this year.