BBM's second series of the foreign-born player set came out late last month, titled Deep Impact. The first series base cards
can be seen here. I should note that this set restarts the card numbering at 1, so it is more of a sequel than a second series. I'll bring you pictures of all the cards soon, but for now here's a look at the entire release.
The base cards use a color scheme and logo similar to the first release, with a change in the design at the bottom (using this arc format). Jersey number and position are in circles with the player's name and team in white English text, just like the first set.
The backs use a cropped version of the front photo, and the player's name in Japanese (generally katakana). As before, stats are included for the player's NPB and MLB careers, in English and Japanese. However, the rest of the back is in Japanese.
Three partial parallels were released. The most-plentiful is the silver signature parallel, numbered to 100.
The serial number is located at the bottom of the photo on the back.
Next-plentiful is the gold signature parallel, numbered to 50. Ortenzio signed using kanji characters that sound similar to his name (O - ten - jo).
Again, the serial number is on the back.
Finally, there is a red foil signature parallel, numbered to 30. Jose Fernandez has a very clear signature.
As you would expect, the serial number is at the bottom of the photo.
For good measure, here is Tuffy Rhodes' gold signature card.
This card is already claimed (all the others here are going into my collection anyway).
Here's Tuffy's card from the lone insert set. As before, it highlights titleholders; in 2004 Tuffy was a Best Nine member. The design is reminiscent of the first set but is somewhat different.
The backs are vertical this time. It's all Japanese, but you could possibly figure it out if you look hard enough. Since Tuffy is recognized for winning the Best Nine award, the back lists all(?) foreigners who have been a part of the Best Nine.
Here's Bobby Rose's card. The base version of the insert set has a gold foil over the mirror foilboard.
There haven't been as many batting champions from overseas, but then there are fewer batting champions total. The top list is Central League winners; the bottom is Pacific League winners.
The blue-foil version is the rarest of the insert parallels. The blue foil replaces anything gold in the regular insert. The background is still the same mirrorboard.
The cards are serial-numbered to 30 on the back, inside the top border. Boomer Wells won his award four times, highlighted in the text on the back.
The green foil version is numbered to 50.
Again, the serial number is at the top.
The most-plentiful parallel has a pink border.
It's limited to 100 copies. As you can see by the back of this card, foreign pitchers aren't too successful in Japan. But, then, successful-enough pitchers tend to stay in America. There are exceptions, of course.
The lone autograph set in the release has 37 cards. I'd love to get the Bobby Valentine and Cecil Fielder autographs, but I'm guessing they're out of my price range. I want to add at least one autographed card from this release to my collection, so if it can be either of them I'll be very happy.
As I mentioned at the start of this post, I'll show you all the cards from the base set soon!
