Cards From Across The Pacific

I collect a lot of stuff.  A fellow blogger recently pointed this out to me and he's 100% correct.  I'm starting to think that maybe I've spread myself too thin.  Heck... the thought of scaling things down a bit has even entered my head.

Whatever ends up happening, I can tell you right now... I'll still continue to build my BBM and Calbee Japanese trading card collection.  Even though I don't recognize 99.9% of the athletes, I enjoy the uniqueness of this collection and the fact that it's not something I come across on a regular basis.  In fact, none of my local card shops carry these cards and I've never seen singles for sale at card shows or flea markets.

That's why I rely on eBay, online card shops, and fellow bloggers to help me out.  Over the past year or so, Ryan over at This Card Is Cool - My Life in Baseball Cards has been putting together a nice collection of Japanese sets, packs, and singles.

Whenever he finds something cool, he'll shoot me an email and ask if I'm interested... which is always "yes".  After he's a accumulated a nice stack, he'll ship them out and send me the bill.

Here's a quick glance at the package I received in the mail yesterday:

It contained six sets, eleven packs, and a handful of singles and knickknacks.  Total cost (including shipping):  $88.  I'm sure some of you would rather have a jumbo box of 2014 Topps or maybe a hobby box of Topps Archives.  But for me... I'll take this deal any day of the week.

Let's take a closer look at what Ryan put into the box:

2012 BBM Dynamic Beauty (27 Card Set)

This twenty-seven card set covers Japan's gymnastics team.  I've never really followed this sports since Mary Lou Retton won five medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to acquire this unique set.

2013 BBM Rie Tanaka (27 Card Set)

Last summer Ryan wrote a post about this set which features one of Japan's top gymnasts and I knew this set was right up my alley.  I've never heard of Ms. Tanaka, but she must be a huge star if BBM went out of their way to make her a special boxed set.

2012 BBM Fairies on the Lane (44 Card Set)

Nope... your eyes aren't deceiving you.  You're looking at a women's bowling set.  I'm pretty sure only the Japanese would produce cards like these and call them Fairies on the Lane.


BBM Real Venus Sets

The last three sets are bigger and much more diverse than the sets mentioned above.  These sets sort of remind me of a Japanese version of Allen and Ginter or Goodwin Champions, because they cover a variety of sports ranging from rugby to swimming to golf.  The biggest difference is that they feature a modern design and include only the ladies.  Here's a sampling of what each set has to offer:

2009 Real Venus Set (93 Card Set)

2010 Real Venus Set (99 Card Set)

2013 Real Venus Set (90 Card Set)

Miscellaneous Cards (44 Cards)

If you're wondering if Ryan included any baseball cards... he did.  There were a bunch of BBM cards and a handful of Calbee and Sega Card Gen baseball cards too.  I really like the Carlos Gonzalez, but my favorite is easily the cheerleader card in the middle.

Unopened Packs (10x 2013 Calbee and 1x 2012 Panini Euro2012)

If the sets are the bulk of this package... then these packs are the heart and soul.  One of my most treasured collections is my Japanese Wax Pack PC and I relish every opportunity I get to add a new pack to it.  He actually sent me ten packs of 2013 Calbee.  I'll keep one of them sealed, and probably bust the rest.

2005 Donruss Studio #SP-19 Tony Gwynn (#'d 38/50)

Speaking of baseball cards, he also threw in this cool, non-Japanese card for my Tony Gwynn collection.  It's one of the fifty-five different parallels from 2005 Donruss Studio baseball.  And you thought Topps had too many parallels.

Satoru Tsuda Cat Cards

Last, but definitely not least... I'm pleased to announce that the cats are back!  I blogged about them before and they were a hit.  These might be the most obscure oddball cards ever produced.  Seriously.  How often are you blessed with DJ Kitty?  I might need to give this card it's own post in the future.

Sadly... this insanely long post must come to an end.  Now I can truly appreciate the time and effort people like Night Owl put into their posts.  The scanning and cropping time alone for these twenty-seven images took longer than one of my standard posts.

Thanks Ryan for going out of your way to pick up these cards and shipping them out to me.  You're a class act and I truly appreciate you going out of your way to help me with my collection.  I'll start working on a care package for you as a way of saying thanks.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!