Star Search

Anyone else watch Star Search back in the 80's?  If not, it was a television show hosted by Ed McMahon where people competed against each other in areas like singing and dancing.  I guess you could say it was the 80's version of American Idol.

Anyways... the show popped into my head when I was thinking of a title for this post which started off with two purchases for my Japanese Celebrity PC:

2024 Topps A&G Framed Autographs #MA-SUD

Miki Sudo is a half-Japanese professional eater who is most famous for her streak of eleven consecutive wins at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.  Star Search never featured any eating competitions back when I watched it, but I wish they had.

Next up is Patti Yasutake:

2011 Rittenhouse Star Trek TNG Autographs #NNO

She was featured in a bunch of Star Trek The Next Generation episodes back in the early 90's.  She played the role of Nurse Ogawa on the Enterprise.  Sadly she passed away last August at the age of 70.

Back in March... I purchased both of these autographs off of eBay a few days apart from each other using a gift card I had laying around since the holidays.

Recently, I added another autograph of a Japanese celebrity to my collection:

2019 Topps Star Wars Masterwork Autographs #A-CS

This card was part of a second care package sent to me by Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards.  It features Kazuda Xiono, a pilot in the animated series Star Wars Resistance.  Like Sudo, Christopher Sean, the voice actor who signed this card, is also half-Japanese.

Like past Zippy Zappings, there's a lot of stuff to cover... so I'd better get going.

Here are a few more Star Wars cards (don't worry there are some baseball cards too):

2019 Topps Star Wars Masterwork The Dark Side #DS-10

The Seventh Sister is one of the Vader's Inquisitors.  She was featured in the animated series Star Wars Rebels.  I remember he wrote a post about her a few years ago where he mentioned that she was his favorite Star Wars character.

Not sure if she still is, but he sent me quite the collection of her cards:

There were also these interesting things that remind me of poker chips:

2016 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Connexions Series 3 #60

It took me a few minutes, but I found some information on these "chips" here and here.

Kenny topped off the Seventh Sister portion of his care package with this very generous signed photo:

Topps Authentics

Does anyone recognize the signature?  It's Sarah Michelle Gellar!  Although she's probably best known for her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I remember her more for I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions.

I didn't even know SMG voiced the Seventh Sister until I read Kenny's post that featured this signed photo.  When I finally move into a house that has a proper man cave, this photo will be framed up and featured on one of the walls.

Okay, let's move along (in my best stormtrooper voice)...

2020 Topps Women of Star Wars Autograph Orange #A-DW (#'d 01/99)

Video game fans might recognize this face.  Cere Junda is a character from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order... which is a game I own on the PS4.  But that's not the reason Kenny sent it to me.  I'm pretty sure he sent it because he knows I collect the first card in a serial numbered run and this is the first non-sport card added to my Prime Number PC.

Moving away from Star Wars, but sticking with females...

It wouldn't be a Zippy Zapping without some cards featuring Japanese models.  This 9-pocket page features Yumi Sugimoto.  The card backs feature a gorgeous puzzle:

Kenny has sent me a bunch of her cards over the years... and even a pair of binders.  I have been using them to house all of the ladies he's sent me over the years.  I even went out and purchased more specialty pages for them on Amazon.

Here's one more Yumi:

Okay... I appreciate all of the sports fans who patiently scrolled through all of the non-sports stuff.  I told you he sent some baseball cards too.

Let's start with some Japanese baseball cards:

This 9-pocket page features some 2025 Calbee cards and a 2025 Topps NPB card.  The base cards in this year's Calbee set doesn't list the names in English, so I'm not sure who is who.  But I definitely recognize the name in the middle.  Munetaka Murakami is a power hitter in Japan that will likely make his way to the MLB eventually.  Unfortunately he's been dealing with injuries this season.

Here are some more NPB cards:

Yu Darvish is arguably the biggest name on this page.  Here's a closer look at the card:

2008 BBM #626

Darvish holds the MLB record for strikeouts by a Japanese-born pitcher.  I was hoping he'd also break Hideo Nomo's record for MLB wins by a Japanese-born player this year, but like Murakami he's been hindered by injuries this season.

He also sent me a unique Darvish card:

Based on the following note, it looks like Darvish sent this to Kenny in place of a signature:

He also received a letter from Yuta Watanabe:

According to Watanabe this card is autographed:

But it's actually a facsimile signature of the NBA player.  That's okay though... because it ends up being a cool collectible with a story.

Arguably the most famous Japanese athlete in the world is this guy:

I'm not exactly sure what these two items are, but they are from the Tokyo Series and were packaged together in cellophane:

They're much larger and thicker than your standard trading card.  I tried to use one of those Ultra Pro pages that holds two 5x7 cards, but they kept sliding out.  Not sure how I'll store these, but for the time being they'll be housed in a box of oversized cards in my office.

UPDATE:  According to Kenny, these are mini-shikishis, which are traditional Japanese art boards.  They can be displayed on walls or used with stands.

Rounding out Kenny's care package is one more autograph:

2009 J League Autograph #SG99 (#'d 15/20)

This is my very first autograph of a Japanese soccer player.  I wasn't familiar with Naoshi Nakamura, but according to Wikipedia page he was a midfielder in the J League who once played on the national team.

Oops.  I almost forgot.  Kenny also tossed in this unopened pack of cards:

2022 Bandai Gundam

Not exactly sure what this is, but it looks like some kind of gaming card.  It's labeled as "Not for Sale", so maybe it's a promo or something.

Holy moly!  This was quite the care package.  I spent over four hours scanning, researching, and writing this post... but it's all worth it when you can add some star studded items like these to your collection.

Thank you Kenny!  I had a lot fun organizing the contents.  But in the process... I have worked up quite the appetite.  As soon as I'm done formatting, revising, and publishing this post... I'm gonna make a run for the border and grab me some tacos and a bean burrito.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!