Heartbreak is the word that best describes how I felt when I heard the news that Roki Sasaki picked the Dodgers. Obviously as a Padres fan, I wanted him to choose Yu over Shohei and Yoshinobu. But you don't always get what you want (unless you're a Dodgers fan).
The worst part about the situation is that even though he's officially a rival... I want to see him find success in the MLB and I'll definitely seek out his cards
Yesterday, I started the hunt. I kicked off my morning by purchasing his first Topps Now Dodgers card off of eBay. Then I ripped open seven packs of 2024 NPB cards that were sent to me by Ryan (@ SumoMenkoMan) a few weeks ago.
Back in December, I read on NPB Card Guy's blog that Topps was releasing three NPB products on their website. Since Ryan is currently in Japan for work, I showed these products to him. I also mentioned that if he was going to place an order, I'd be interested in buying some too.
A few weeks later, a box from across the Pacific arrived in my mailbox:
2024 Stadium Club NPB
2024 Topps 206 NPB
2024 Topps Chrome NPB
With shipping... these three boxes came out to almost $300. But he tossed in a few bonuses: more snack packs with cards, a pack of 2024 Stadium Club NPB, and a pack of 2024 Topps 206 NPB.
Let's bust into some of them. First up are five packs of 2024 Bandai Pro Baseball Deforme Card Collection. Some of you might remember these from Ryan's advent calendar back in December.
Here's what I pulled:
I actually pulled two of Takuya Kai's cards, but no Roki.
Next up is the pack of 2024 Topps 206 NPB:
Here's a peek at the card backs for those who are interested:
Not sure if they're celebrating a championship or a no-hitter... but this card is awesome. The joy on the catcher's face is priceless.
The final card in the pack wasn't a Roki, but it was an insert:
Even though part of his right hand is cropped of, it's a decent looking card. Unfortunately, the card back is boring:
Lots of wasted space, but that seems to be the trend with Topps NPB cards.
Well... no Roki cards in these seven packs. But that's okay, because there will be plenty of his cards for me to collect in 2025.
Just like they flooded the hobby with Yoshinobu Yamamoto cards this year. But I'm not complaining, I'm excited.
John over at Johnny's Trading Spot included a huge stack of Japanese athletes in the last care package he sent my way and one of them was this awesome rookie card of him:
2024 Topps Chrome #18
He also tossed in this Hobby Rip Night card:
2024 Topps Hobby Rip Night #35
Here are eight other cards from his care package:
2022 Allen & Ginter Pitching A Gem #PAG-9
2024 Topps 1988 Chrome Silver Pack #T88C-27
We live in an era where every Shohei Ohtani card is treated and hoarded like gold... so whenever I can add two new cards to my binder, it's an exciting day.
2024 Topps Chrome Future Stars #FS-9
Kodai sat out most of his sophomore season with a calf injury, but he did return for one game in the playoffs. It wasn't pretty... but these Future Stars inserts are.
2008 Topps Updates & Highlights WBC Preview #WBC1
Love this card. I'm a big fan of the 2008 Topps design... and this card previewed the 2009 WBC tournament... which Dice-K dominated in.
Here are two more popular Japanese players...
2006 Topps Stars #TS-HM
2020 Topps Chrome Prism Refractor #166
And you can't forget this legend...
2024 Topps Hobby Rip Night #31
Looking forward to seeing Ichiro get inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.
And I'm looking forward to seeing where this guy will land in 2026...
2023 Topps WBC Stars #WBC-60
Unless... of course... he lands with Roki Sasaki and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Thank you John for another large stack of Japanese athletes for my collection. And thank you Ryan for helping me acquire those boxes... and for all of the freebies you tossed into the box.
Happy Monday and sayonara!
1 comment:
Tanner Scott signed with the Dodgers yesterday......
On the bright side, great cards. Though Topps leaves a lot to be desired on the NPB cards, I do like them. Especially like the little Dragon logo!
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