Gone but not forgotten

This isn't a memorial to someone or something passing away. This is just me saying I know I haven't posted in a long time but I haven't forgotten about the blog. I've made a few posts to Chaos and Kanji (linked through my profile page) but any kind of posting is still fairly difficult. I'm literally on my way right now to see about signing up for Internet (finally) so I can post more... and get back to posting about cards here.

I haven't been dormant in the collecting realm as I have still been reading your posts. I met up with Kenny (Zippy Zappy) recently and have a lot to share about our adventure and I picked up several cards and collectibles over the last couple months to share with you. I finally have them all scanned or photographed so I just need a good wifi signal (home Internet service) to share them with you!

So again I'm not gone and I have let's to talk about when I find time to write!

Quick Japanese Update

I know some of you are already reading my Japanese blog, and I'm about to make a new post there as well. I'm keeping all my Japanese experiences to that blog.

In the meantime, the posts I've written for This Card Is Cool have run out, and while I have more material to write about, I don't have much time to actually sit and write it down, and even less time to post it. I'm working in an internet cafe right now, which takes about 20 minutes to walk to one way.

One week from Monday, I will continue on to my home branch school, where I believe I'll be moving directly into my apartment. I can then get myself organized! In addition, I should have some more time for baseball card writing. I'm not gone, just on vacation, you could say! Though it sure has been a lot of work these past couple of days. I should return to some form of posting in a couple weeks. In the meantime, my writing focus is on the Japanese blog!

Japanese Preview: A premium pack!

The Japan blog is live: Chaos and Kanji can be found at http://japanryan.blogspot.com!

This is the last pack of cards from Jim, and it's certainly the coolest! There are seven cards here, but I wonder if there was an eighth, and this was really two packs. Not that Jim is holding out on me. You'll see.

 You're not cheating and scrolling right to the end, are you? It's not that exciting.

 This is the 2008 Swallows Premium set - a design that reminds me a lot of SP Authentic, on what might be somewhat better card stock.

 It's still about as thick as a flagship Topps card. But again, the card does not feel cheap or flimsy. Here's a gaijin card. His name is in all CAPS, while the Japanese players have only their second name in CAPS.

 The other releases I showed this week all had stats, but the backs of these cards just repeat the front almost exactly the same, except for a few additions - almost all in Japanese. I know at least one piece of information is the player's birthdate!

 I've never been a fan of cards without natural backgrounds, but these cards are still pretty nice.

 Does this card look kind of filmy to you? That's because it's a shimmery holographic parallel! There's no mention of this anywhere on the card. Some parallels have serial numbering, but otherwise this card has no notation as to its name or rarity.

But that wasn't the best card in the group.

Check this out.

 Jim, did you realize this was in here? That is awesome! Is it really signed? No - it's a facsimile autograph similar to the way Topps puts autographs on the front of their cards. But it's totally cool seeing Japanese signatures. It's like a work of art! And as such I can't wait to get my hands on a couple actual signed player cards.

I can't read much of that, but it doesn't matter. I believe the foreigners are card numbers 18, 29, and 34. Note the different characters used in the players' names, and quick verification of the Rios card shows he's number 18.The "autographed" card has a different card prefix (YsS) seen in the checklist as a separate set, so only 10 of the players have a signature version.

So there you go - a four-pack preview of some Japanese baseball cards!

I'm in training until the end of next week. This Sunday is my first day off, and I'm not sure whether I'll have good internet access or the wherewithal to be writing baseball card posts. Note that I'm writing this post a week in advance, and I don't know yet if I'll have posts ready for the next week or not - so if the blog goes stale for a while you know why!