Calbee Through the Years: 1981

From here, it's pretty easy.

Calbee settled down this year, and there are only a few quirks to the 1981 set.

Calbee stuck to the "smaller" size card that it switched to in 1980. As with the prior year, the top line holds the card number and the issue year, making it very easy for collectors to quickly identify the set.

The fronts of cards in this year's issue have the player's name in bold print, followed by the team name.

Cards 1-50 were issued with pink backs, carrying over from the 1980 set. Cards from 51 on have a blue background as you see above. This first series has a banner team logo near the top back.

Cards 51-200 look like my example above, with a team logo near the top. You can see that by the time that (what must be) the fourth series  was released, stats were available for April and May. I'm going to assume that cards were issued in 50-card series again, due to the numbering of the set's subsets. So that means cards 51-100 were series two, 101-150 series three, and 151-200 are series four, probably issued around July.

Cards 201-250 are All-Star cards, Instead of the player's team on the front, they are identified as belonging to the Central League or Pacific League. Backs have a blue banner with "'81 All Star Game" in English, and statistics are for the All Star Game instead of regular play.

Following the 50-card series formats, #251-450 would be four more series: 251-300 series six, 301-350 series seven, and 351-400 series eight. Statistics on the backs of cards point to this being the case, with notations of statistics through August 6, August 19, and September 24, and some cards with no statistics at all. I haven't been able to study this in detail to confirm this remains consistent in a series, but I'm pretty confident so far.

Cards 401-425 highlight the Japan Series between the Nippon Ham Fighters and Yomiuri Giants, so all cards feature those teams, and the photos all appear to be from the Japan Series. Backs have write-ups.

I'm not sure if there is any particular theme to #426-450.  Cards have what I think are full stats from 1981 or a write-up, and follow the standard design of the other series.

Some cards don't feature specific players; this is standard for Calbee. Of note is number 378, with a photo of the Giants winning the Central League pennant, and 399, again of the Giants celebrating. Card 400 is one of several featuring Suguru Egawa, who won 20 games that year.

I know of one variation. Card 314, featuring Roy White, has two different photos. One is just of White's face, in a very close crop. The other is of White sliding into a base with a Hanshin Tigers player leaping over him - most likely this is second base at Korakuen Stadium. The Tigers version is shot from behind White (which would be up the first base line) so the picture may have been changed to feature White's face. I personally like the action shot better.

The one prize this year was a card album with yellow fronts and backs and a white spine. "'81" is included in the text on the spine and front; the photo on the front is of Koji Yamamoto of the Carp hitting a baseball.

Of the 450 cards in the set, 445 can be attributed to single players. Some interesting statistics on the set (in Japanese) claim that 92 players appeared in the set, meaning that each player got 4.5 cards on average. 160 of those cards were Yomiuri Giants! Players for the Giants received up to 19 cards in the set. Complete team numbers:

• Yomiuri Giants: 16 players, 160 cards (163 including team cards)
• Hanshin Tigers: 8 players, 39 cards
• Hiroshima Carp: 12 players, 33 cards
• Chunichi Dragons: 10 players, 30 cards
• Yakult Swallows: 8 players, 29 cards
• Taiyo Whales: 8 players, 25 cards
• Nippon Ham Fighters: 7 players, 36 cards
• Seibu Lions: 9 players, 35 cards
• Hankyu Braves: 4 players, 23 cards
• Nankai Hawks: 5 players, 19 cards
• Kintetsu Buffaloes: 5 players, 18 cards
• Lotte Orions: 0 cards?!

(Update:)

After initially writing this post, I checked a few shops for cards of the different subsets to add to my type collection, and to verify firsthand the information I got online. I was unable to locate any cards at all from #1-50, the All-Star subset, or #401-450. This is a preliminary search, but it included Mint Ikebukuro, which has a pretty good Calbee selection. I didn't check their showcase cards, but I was surprised that I couldn't find any in the boxes.

Calbee Through the Years: 1980

After the insanity that comprise the 1977-1979 Calbee issues, 1980 is a cake walk. Actually, this is the first year Calbee's release becomes a one-year set. Starting with its initial release, Calbee's 1970s sets overlap years and/or have confusing or non-existent numbering schemes.

The 1980 set is numbered straight from 1 to 296, and was issued in multiple series. This year is notable due to the change in card size, a change that occurred in the middle of the year, literally in the middle of a series. Also found consistently from this point on is the issue year. For all 1980 Calbees, the year is found at the top, centered on the same line as the card number.

 Cards 1-48 are part of Series 1, whose title can be translated as "Opening Series". All cards in this series are "large" size - the same size as the 1970s issues. Series 1 cards have the notice at the bottom. My sample card has an alternating baseball/bat border, though versions exist without this border. Note the "pure" card front here.

Here's a first series large size card with no border for comparison.

Series 2 (#49-96) comes in two sizes, and could be called the "Winning Series". My scanner didn't like the dark photo on my sample card, so part of the front got cropped off. The first size is the same as Series 1, while a smaller size was also produced. Small size cards will be issued for about a decade more. The series name is found on the front on the top line; the player's name and team is on the second.

A variation exists in this series as well. Larger size cards all have the same notice at the bottom as found on the Series 1 cards. Smaller cards were printed both with and without that notice. I should note that the larger and smaller versions for any particular card are identical except for size - the photo and text were shrunk down proportionately. Above is a small card with the notice.

The third series (#97-146) comes with its own variations. The title of this series is Middle Game Series, and can be found with black backs in addition to the regular pink backs. I've never really looked for any, but I don't recall seeing a black-backed 1980 card. I'll have to pay attention next time I'm around vintage Calbee. The backs of these cards have team flag logos at the top. The fronts again have the series name as well as the player and team.

The All-Star Game Series is the fourth issued, numbered 147-196. Instead of a team flag on the back, a league flag logo is centered at the top of the back of the card. And the fronts contain only "All Star Game" in Japanese; no player names are given on the fronts, though backs do identify the player.

The remaining cards, numbered 197-296, aren't identified as a particular series. Given the way the first four series were issued, I'm going to assume these were issued in two series (#197-246, 247-296). This would put it in line with Series 2, 3, and 4 in terms of series size (50 cards). These final 100 cards have team logos in the upper left corner on the back. The front text includes the player's name and team at the bottom.

Homerun Card holders could receive one of two albums as prizes.

The first type is yellow with no date identification. The front has a red banner with white text that reads "Baseball Card Album" in katakana with a photo of a Giants player (Oh) batting; another Giants player and the opposing catcher are visible in the photo.

The second type is much easier to identify, with "Baseball Card Album '80" printed in English on the front, and "'80" in big print on the spine.

2017's Collecting Goals

Happy New Year!

As I do every year, it's time to set goals for the 2017 collecting season.

I've been setting annual blogging goals that never seem to be met. But maybe this year will be different.

1. Update/post about card shops in Japan. Several shops have moved in the past couple of years, stock changes, and I visited some new card shops in 2016. It's time to get that information out there.
2. Build that Japan Card Index. I basically have the data put together, I just need to turn that into a post/page.
3. Calbee annual sets. I got a year or two done before going AWOL last year, and I'm pretty much done with the tough posts. As long as I can post consistently, that might just happen.
4. I didn't do a good job last year of keeping up with new releases (I'm not talking blogging - it turns out I missed the entire Carp team set release and several box sets). I'd like to post proper set reviews like I did in 2015, which help me stay on top of things.

These are basically last year's goals. I'm dropping the idea of an idol of the week. I might "go back" to that at some point, but there are so many other things to post about and so little time to write.

I met last year's collecting goals pretty well. I was pretty ambitious with my plans but still knocked out about half of the list. This year's goals:

1. Update my Japanese Type Collection master lists. It has lots of missing data from 2014 to present, and the non-BBM listings need to be reformatted.
   
2. Re-inventory, label, and organize my Japanese non-sport type collection. The inventory is now wrong, and right now the cards are just piled up on a shelf.
3. Add five vintage base sets to the collection (here, vintage will mean anything before 2016). I expect to get the 2017 Stadium Club and Topps sets already. I'm at 137 of 224 base sets (Topps with Traded/Update, Donruss, Fleer, Score, Upper Deck, Stadium Club, Ultra). Most of what I need is in the 1980s and 1990s, though that 2015 Stadium Club set is proving to be quite elusive.
4. I need 126 base cards for my type collection. Many of those are pre-1970. I would like to add all 126, but if I can get that list down to 50 I'll be happy.
5. Reach 25% on the 2012-2015 type collection. One major project I worked on last fall was building my type collection; 1981-2000 is at 50%+ for each year, and 2001-2011 is 25%+.  I can work on one year each month and then start focusing on pre-1981 vintage. 
6. Reduce my Japanese set want list from 177 to 150. Actually, that can be pretty easy if I delete off some sets that I shouldn't be chasing and grab a few other cards here and there. So I'll push for 125.
7. Finish the 2000 Japan Olympics set. I'm down to 18 cards in the 264 card set; hopefully I can find them!
8. Reorganize my Japanese single-card collection. This is just a one-day project. I gotta find that one day.
   
9. Complete the Japanese MLB collection. I say complete, but really just bring it up to date. I need to verify my spreadsheet, which currently lists 54 players. I need 30 NPB cards for those players, and 6 MLB cards.
10. Update the Gaijin (foreigners in Japan) card list for 2016 and reach 550 cards (from 514). It would be nice to get to 600, and it's doable.
11. Reach 200 cards in my Japanese player collection (currently at 124 cards of 501). That's Tanishige and Rami-chan.
12. Do something with the Japanese stadium card want list. I might make customs if I can find images.
13. Finish off the MLB Awards/Leaders list. There are 137 cards on the list. There are some toughies on the list.
14. Do something with the Japanese Awards list for the players who have no cards - mostly members of the Hall of Fame who didn't play in the NPB.
15. Add one figure for my player collection (I have 11 of 24 now).
16. Add three autographs for my player collection (I have 11 of 24 now). 
17. Add three vintage (~1979) Nolan Ryan cards to my collection.
18. Reduce my US sets list from 146 to 125. This is a carry-over from last year; with a little bit of luck I might actually make it to 100.
19. Add 3 non-sport hits (16 wanted). I've been searching for good deals for 16 specific actors/TV personalities and have yet to find something that makes me pull the trigger.
20. Add 6 baseball hits (12 wanted). Some of these players have no autographs, so I'll be grabbing relic cards if they exist; otherwise I'll find a filler card.

I have a lot of goals this year. Some are easy, and some are tough. We'll see how things turn out!