Torren' Up Cards

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.

Yup, still at it folks. Even after Zapping Dime Box King and NPB Card Guy's mailboxes.

Today's gonna be like a continuation of my last post in that I'm going to be showing off some Japanese non-sport/anime-themed cards that came in grocery stores along with pieces of gum.



Leading off is one of the few anime shows I actually watched as a kid, Detective Conan (known in the US as Case Closed!). The story is about a high school detective who gets turned into a kid by an evil underground crime syndicate and he vows to get his revenge on the organization and turn back into his 18 year old self.


It's one of Japan's most celebrated anime shows/manga series (it's been running since 1994!) and because it's so popular it'll probably never end. Or it's more likely that it somehow outlives its creator without a real ending in place.


This is the aforementioned high school detective, Shinichi Kudo. The kid with glasses you saw on the wrapper is who he turns into after drinking some weird serum.


And this is the love interest Ran Mouri. After Shinichi turns into a kid (named Conan, after Conan Doyle), he moves in with her and solves mysteries on behalf of Ran's father who is also a detective.

Writing all of this out has made me realize just how weird and convoluted anime plots are.

Anyway if the series does come to an end, I suspect that the final climax will be Ran kicking whoever the boss of the crime syndicate is with full force (she does karate and she's thwarted criminals with swift leg kicks on a few occasions). Calling it. I mean the show's leading up to it if it ever gets there.



Alright, now we've got something I've never heard of. Great.

This is apparently something called "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba". The main protagonist Tanjiro Kamado becomes a demon slayer after demons kill his family and turn his sister into a demon. Okay. Are kids supposed to watch this/read this?


Anyway each pack comes with one card and this wrapper is supposed to be recycled with the plastics.


Looks like this is a scene from the anime. No idea about the context, you could tell me this is a post-battle scene or just some gag scene and I'd accept either answer.



Finishing off with a pack of Granblue Fantasy Clear Card Collection Gum 2. Granblue Fantasy is a role playing game and anime series in Japan that I assume is about battling other characters and being on some quest.


This is the kind of stuff where shit can get really interesting because a lot of this tends to be carefully and beautifully crafted promo material which is fucking gold for people (like me) who have zero clue or interest in what it's actually from.


Like take this. If a Japanese artist just showed this to me with zero context I'd be like "if you made that, I'm impressed". It's pretty good as an artwork.


Okay we've pulled the obligatory big titty anime girl. This is a great place to end this post.

And that was another edition of 3 Cards Packs. Maybe next time we'll get back to Japanese sports.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.

Today's post is going to be a wee bit different. I'm going to be featuring three different packs with a combined total of five cards within them.


I found that Japanese grocery stores still carry some unique stuff like these cards that come with gum (novel concept right?). The reigning king of this genre of card+gum products over in Japan appears to be a company called enSKY.

These packs usually have like one or two clear acetate cards max inside with some gum. The gum is sweet and nice but the flavor only lasts like five seconds and you spit it out. The real prize is the card anyway.


Might as well start off with a character some who are in the know are aware of, Hatsune Miku. A virtual CGI anime girl who does live shows using hologram technology and people actually pay to attend her "concerts". I've listened to her stuff and it's electronica that doesn't have much in terms of substance but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't catchy.


Anyway the pack above is a Clear Card Collection Gum 5, I assume that means this is series five of a long series. Japan's collecting culture is a whole other animal, if you don't pay attention you will lose track of the stuff in a flash. There are 54 total cards in this set and this pack features two of them, though be warned that the two you get may not be the ones shown on the package.


I don't care for anime/manga, all of these years of western weaboos asking me if I've seen "such and such anime" the second after I tell them I'm of Japanese ancestry have made me dislike it. But I will be the first to admit that the art-style can look incredible in stills like the one above. The scan didn't pick up on it but this card is somehow shiny with three different layers of sparkles despite being a thin acetate card. No I do not know how enSky accomplished this, but I am in awe all the same.


The backs on all of the cards we'll see in this post are like this in that they aren't really clear. But I have noticed that the closer you bring it to a light or lamp, the more clear and defined the picture gets.


Here is a "chibi" version of one of Miku's friends, "Meiko". Chibi is basically just a way of drawing a character in a cuter form with an even bigger/more exaggerated head and smaller body proportions. Also no noses. Ever. Noses aren't cute.



Next up is a pack of Uma Musume Clear Card Collection Gum. This is part of the Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise which is a popular mobile app game. It's about cute anime girls who want to be the best horse girls in the world. Uma musume translates to horse daughter BTW (yes, I know that musume also translates to girl in some instances, go away weebs).


Much like the Hatsune Miku pack before, this is made by enSKY and denotes that there is a full 54 card set and that this pack only features two of them.


Here's a chibi version of a character I assume. Apparently this character is ready to have a workout from hell at the gym.


I assume that this "El Condor Pasa" is not the Peruvian folk song or the Simon & Garfunkel song inspired by the Peruvian folk song, and merely a character in this franchise.



The third and last pack we'll be looking at today is from Fate/Extra: Last Encore. Fate/Extra is a role-playing video game franchise and this Last Encore thing was an anime adaption made in 2018. I couldn't really tell you much about the game/show since I'm not familiar with it, I know there's fighting involved and I think there's a character who has conveniently lost their memories and must now fight in some unknown virtual universe while they try to piece back parts of their past. Sure, great that's not totally generic at all.


This is going to be different from the first two packs because it states that the set itself only has 18 cards and that this pack only has one card inside. Also unlike the first two packs that were completely concealed and hidden, this pack is in a clear cellophane pack.


Despite the ponytail I'm pretty sure this is a dude.

So anyway this was a look into the world of Japanese non-sports cards that can be found at supermarkets for like 108 yen (aprox $1 USD) each.


Also, I just want to end this post by showing how the gum is packaged. enSKY clearly did their homework and learned from where Topps and Fleer did shit when they packaged cards with gum. These are cleanly packaged in plastic wrapping (that's recyclable too!). No bug-proof powders necessary. No risk of the sugar in the gum staining the card.

My motherland, they do it right.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.

It's been a while since I did one of these. Not because I ran out of material but because these felt like a chore to write and I think it must've also felt like a chore to read for the rest of you. So going forward I'm going to try to revamp this a bit more and keep it to stuff that I've been practically dying to share with everyone. And boy are today's three cards something I've been saving for a long time.



Hell yes, a rookie card of top Chunichi Dragons prospect Akira Neo.
Neo was the Dragons' first round draft pick in 2018 and was by all accounts one of the best players in the system. He was the number one rated high school hitting prospect going into the draft. The Dragons won the lottery to get rights to negotiate a contract with him and they both agreed.

Neo's 2019 season was kind of a down year, mainly due to how he suffered an injury early on in camp that put him out of action for a while. Then in April he suffered a finger injury on his left hand that set him back even more. He began the season/his professional career in the minors/ni-gun ranks and though he had a rough start he did eventually pick up the pace as the summer went on. He also managed to play in two games at the big league/ichi-gun level in September however, and he's now playing in the Taiwanese winter league to make up for lost time/development.


The back of this EPOCH Rookies and Stars card notes how Neo was a two-way player in high school with a 150 km/hr heater. That arm is legit folks.



One of the more interesting parts of Neo's development is how the Dragons are already thinking of converting him from an infielder to an outfielder. Most of this is due to how the Dragons have a lot of infield depth while they don't have nearly as much outfield depth. And Neo's got a decent arm so he should be good to go at either corner outfield position the team needs him to be in. Not sure if he's got the range to man center but I think anything is possible with him.


And yes, both this card and card #1 are variations. There's even a third one which I think is the real SP variation (or maybe that's the base?) but I never obtained it.



Ending today's threesome on a BBM rookie of Neo.

As you can tell I'm a big fan of Neo. I think he's super talented and I can't wait to see what he can do at 100% health. I think he just might be able to be Chunichi's first successful homegrown superstar since Takuya Asao. So much so that during my brief trip to Japan in August I just grabbed as many Neo rookies as I could, price be damned. I didn't pull the trigger on an auto though because the cheapest Mint has them at is *checks prices* approximately $1,000 USD. But whatever if they fall down to maybe $200-300 USD (after conversion) levels, maybe I'll splurge on his second or third year autos.


Meanwhile I'm here to report that this back features some stats highlighting Neo's performances in the Koshien (Japanese National High School Baseball) Competition. It also states that he hails from the Gifu prefecture (which is next to the Aichi prefecture where the Dragons are based in), and that his blood type is O.

So yeah, I'm very happy with the Neo rookie collection I've managed to build right now and I hope I can keep it going.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.



I've bent the rules on what constitutes as a card and I think this is a reach. I put that asterisk there because, obviously, this is not a card. It's a wrapper.

That said I just couldn't part with this wrapper for a few reasons. Mainly because 2011 Bowman Chrome was the very first hobby box I ever bought (though I guess technically 2011 Topps Update might also be that but I digress). It's at least the very product I think of when I think of 2011 baseball cards. Mainly for Bryce Harper's 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospect autograph that looks much more appealing than the one he had in 2011 Bowman.

Obviously in retrospect the 2011 product people think of first has become 2011 Topps Update because of the Mike Trout Topps flagship rookie card. But I was there and I remember the fun that this product brought. Every now and then I think about maybe splurging for a box, but then I look at the prices for these things and pass. Not just because that money could just be used to buy a Bryce Harper autograph, but also because with the benefit of knowing what we know now in 2019, a good chunk of the checklist is garbage. After Harper the only names that might mean something to people are Jean Segura, Chris Archer, Khris Davis, Nathan Eovaldi, Aaron Hicks, Starling Marte, Brock Holt and Matt Morre. On a personal level there's also Manny Banuelos and Brandon Laird but I'm not dishing out a shit ton of cash just to pull their worthless autographs.

As for the veterans, they're nothing to write home about. Though there is the subset of rookies featuring Mike Trout, keeping the prices for these boxes insanely high.

Still though, I have decided to weirdly keep that wrapper around to bring me back to 2011 on demand.



Oh yes, I also had a 2011 Bowman wrapper. I'm not going to write entire paragraphs for this because I had virtually zero connection to this product as it was released months before I entered the hobby and thus never came onto my radar. I will say this though, it's not every day you see a wrapper from 2011 here in 2019. If you get a Zippy Zapping from me and you see I sent along cards in this wrapper, you might've gotten a little something special... ;).



Alright, I couldn't preserve any more wrappers so instead here's an actual card. Of SoftBank Hawks cheerleader Kyoko.


Kyoko is a Leo from Shizuoka. She stands at 5'2" and is a four year cheerleading veteran. Her favorite foods include spicy foods, pasta, gummies and ice cream. Her interests include pedicures, shopping and playing the piano. Her message to the fans is that she's going to cheer on the Hawks as much as she can along with the fans on their route to a Japan Series Championship.

And that was another edition of two throwback wrappers and a card.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.



First up is another Cuba-to-Japan import in lefty reliever Liván Moinelo Pita.
Moinelo is a 23 year old (turns 24 in December) who put up some impressive relief performances in the Cuban leagues. He had nearly a strike out per inning but he also had trouble keeping his walks down. Moinelo left to play for SoftBank Hawks as a 21 year old in 2017 and has since done much of what he did in the Cuban leagues. Lots of strikeouts, a worrying number of walks. He's got a low-to-mid 90's fastball which can touch 96 mph at times along with a slider which can generate a lot of missed bats. He also has a curveball and changeup though they're iffy. At one point or another there were likely MLB aspirations and he was even on a list of players who were due to be eligible to come stateside under the proposed agreement between MLB and Cuba, before that deal was thrown out for political reasons. I think that if he can polish his control and command a bit more with the Hawks he can be a decent depth piece option for a MLB club one day. As it stands he's a set-up man who, when the slider works, is unhittable. When it fails though, oof. Best of luck to him and his development though. Admittedly my knowledge on Cuban pitchers is zilch as the only ones I can immediately recall are Jose Fernandez (RIP), Orlando Hernandez, José Contreras and Raidel Martínez, so it's good to always add more names to keep in the back of my mind.



A cheerleading card, this time of Hawks cheerleader, Yuri.


Yuri is an åquarius from Shizuoka. She's a four year cheerleading vet who stands at 5'2". She's a big fan of spicy food. Her message is that he's open to interacting with Hawks fans and she's excited to cheer the Hawks on this season will those very fans.

Given how I always expect the Hawks to win the Japan Series every year I'm sure she and those Hawks fans will be very happy going forward.



Today's post has been all Hawks, so be it.
Finish off here is Elika (with an L), another cheerleader for SoftBank.


Elika is a scorpio who hails from Hyogo. She's 5'38 an is in her third year of cheerleading. Her favorite foods include ramen and fried chicken. Her interests include watching baseball, watching the anime Detective Conan (Case Closed in English territories), getting along with people, and playing the piano and saxophone.

Her message is that she's going give "Elika-like" performances again this season and she'll be waiting for you (nameless Hawks fan) at the Yahoo Auction Dome in Fukuoka.

Like I said, I'd be very surprised if these three people didn't enter the offseason very happy after the Hawks win it all again this season. That team is so rich and while you could say the same for the Yomiuri Giants (blarg), unlike the Giants the Hawks are smart so they use their financial muscle to get actual good players instead of cast-offs who want to write that they played for Yomiuri on their resume.

So that was a SoftBank centric edition of 3 cards.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.



The first card for today's edition is a first pitch card featuring Kanae Watanabe.
Ms. Watanabe is part of the dance group known as the CYBERJAPAN DANCERS. They're very popular in Japan and I think they're starting to make noise in other parts of the world (most notably the other parts of Asia). A quick look at Watanabe's official Instagram should give you all an idea of what the main appeal is.


Anyway this first pitch took place on April 14th, 2019 and this card commemorating it was released in 2019 BBM Series 2. Showcasing BBM's ruthless efficiency that puts Topps to shame. Unfortunately it looks like blood type is gone from these cards now too but it did tell us that she's 5'4". Also in her IG post made before she threw out the first pitch she revealed that she had played softball for eight years. Unfortunately I can't video of the first pitch so I can't tell if it was good or not. I'm hoping it at least reached the plate.



Last time I featured a cheerleader for the Yomiuri Giants, so it's only fair that I go the Hanshin Tigers route this time with Ms. Ayaka there.


The back of the card states that she's a cancer (the astrology sign, not the disease) from Kanagawa. She's a little bit over 5' and this is her first year of cheerleading. Her favorite food is ramen (eyyyy, I approve!). Her hobbies include watching sports, traveling, driving, skiing, and snowboarding. Something tells me she's more of the outgoing type.

Her message to the fans is that she's a rookie (cheerleader) who hopes to plant the seeds of victory with her smile. She's hoping to cheer the Tigers on to victory with you (nameless Tigers fan).

Right now the Tigers are in a race to the very end with the Hiroshima Carp to see if they can finish third in the Central League and have an advantage in the Climax Series/postseason, so they're going to need Ayaka (and your) support. I'm a Dragons fan though so I hope both teams crash and burn at the hands of whoever wins the Pacific League penant.


Finishing off will be a Cuban superstar, Yurisbel Gracial, a primarily outfielder but can also man the infield in a pinch for the SoftBank Hawks.


Gracial played in the Cuban leagues from the 2009-10 season until the 2016-17 season. He then spent two years in the Canadian-American Association (indy ball in Canada) before going over to Japan to play for the Hawks. Gracial was one of four Cubans the Hawks decided to roster in 2018 and that'd been the most by an NPB in basically forever. The move payed off because the then 32 year old star showcased some impressive power and contact skills en route to a solid season that resulted in him and the Hawks winning the Nippon Series Championship. Gracial returned to the Hawks this season and in some respects he took a big step forward in terms of in-game power and improving his on-base skills. But he did take a few steps back in terms of him raking up a lot more K's. Although 84 K's in 406 plate appearances is... salvageable.

As the NPB season winds down the playoff picture is getting pretty clear and the Hawks are in a prime position to defend their title. Hopefully Gracial and the rest of the team can accomplish a repeat (unless it's against the Dragons, humor me here, in which case I hope they all crash and burn).

And that was another edition of three cards.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.



Leading us off this time is Yomiuri Giants cheerleader, Mayuna Towatari.


Mayuna is a 5'4" virgo who hails from Shizuoka. She's in her second year of being a cheerleader and her favorite foods include shrimp, crab and wagashi (traditional Japanese treats). He interests include sweets-meguri (which is basically going from shop to shop sampling their confections) and lymphatic drainage massages. I think. I'm kinda hoping that that's just something where a key part really got lost in translation.

Anyway her message is that she's got the elegant smile (which she does). And that she's going to do her best to blossom into a VENUS (read: cheerleader) who'll be remembered by all. And asks for everyone's support. I like her confidence. And why wouldn't she be? Her team just won the division.


Alright, here's a combined entry again. Haven't had one of those in a while.

A few posts ago I talked about the Diamond Giveaway Topps was doing back in 2011. It was a very fun little promotion that had a less fun successor the year afterwards called the Golden Giveaway. I talked briefly about it in that post but my comments were merely that it sucked. That said, the whole thing did one have thing I liked and actually have now.


Online exclusive die-cuts!
Yup, I managed to get my hands on both the Robinson Cano and Jose Bautista die-cuts from 2012's Golden Giveaway. The promo may have sucked but these do not. They are quite stunning and I'm glad I still have them after all this time.

Truth be told I'm not entirely sure how I came to physically own these. Chances are very good that I probably dug up one (or both) of them, but this was 2012 so I was still in Japan. Topps didn't ship these for free so I must've had someone ship these to me on my behalf. It could be Ryan from This Card Is Cool (if it is, thanks Ryan!), but it could've also been a myriad of people I was trading with on a baseball card forum I was on 24/7 back then.


In any event I've got them now and I like putting them together with the Roger Maris die-cut I've got from 2011's Diamond Giveaway. Every now and then I think about getting one of those autographed die-cuts from the 2013 Topps Million Dollar Chase thing (remember that?) which was somehow even worse than the Golden Giveaway, but I'm not particularly interested in either the die-cut or the manufactured coin relic. I'm finding that 2011 and 2012 cards mean a lot more to me as time goes on given how they were my first two years in the hobby. Back when everything seemed so exciting and I was eager to bust packs, buy singles, trade, etc...

Anyway that was another edition of 3 cards. As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).

So after my trip to Japan I brought back a big stack of cards. There were so many cards in that stack that I had no idea where to start when blogging about them. So instead of condensing them all into a big post (which most of you will only read a quarter of), I decided to blog about them at a rate of three cards at a time. Maybe some of them will make for interesting material, maybe they won't. Let's find out.



First up is Geronimo Franzua of the Hiroshima Carp.
Franzua is a lefty from the Dominican Republic and was originally with the Houston Astros organization from 2010 until 2014. He was then scooped up by the Hiroshima Carp who remolded him in their vision while he rebuilt his career at the Carp Academy in the D.R. (yes, the Hiroshima Carp have their own DSL-like affiliate in the DR). With the Carp he went from a starter who had idea where the zone was to an All Star caliber reliever.

広島　ヘロニモ・フランスア
🔥🔥🔥🔥157キロストレート🔥🔥🔥🔥

自己最速に迫る渾身の1球で接戦を締めくくった。 pic.twitter.com/PxcZkJZbHb

— tanaka13＠生きねば (@tanaka19960727) August 27, 2019

He's got a 159 kmh (think 98.7 mph), a curveball and a changeup. A lefty with that much pure gas is always going to be popular and Franzua's rewarded the Carp for their faith in his development by putting in what's been a dynamic All Star season here in 2019. He also earned monthly MVP honors last month in August. Pretty nice case of an NPB team taking an MLB cast-off and turning them into something. Now to see if it lasts.



I really appreciate that little top hat potentially being part of the cheerleader get-up.


Anyway this is Ami, a member of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows Official Dance Team, Passion. She's a Capricorn who hails from Saitama and stands at 5'24" (approx). She's in her fourth year of cheerleading and her favorite foods include strawberries/sweet potatoes/coffee/mint chocolate. He specialties include dancing, looking at the ocean and acrobatics. Her message to fans is that she's now in her fourth year of cheering for the Swallows and hopes to fill Meiji Jingu Stadium with lots of smiles.

As it stands the Swallows are dead last in the Central League (they're somehow worse than the Dragons), but their fans are still going to stick by them from what I've heard.



Might as well finish off today's post with back-to-back Passion cheerleaders. This time featuring Arisa.


Arisa is a Gemini who hails from Chiba. She also stands at approx. 5'24" and she's also in her fourth year of cheerleading. Her favorite foods include milk, whipped cream, sukiyaki (think Japanese BBQ) and ramen. Her interests are cooking and eating. Her message is that she's going to bring it with her energy and carefully choreographed dance moves.

Alright, so that was another edition of three cards. This time with some Central League flavor with the Carp and two Swallows cheerleaders.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care :).