Last weekend, I took a quick run to Nakano to look for some cards before meeting up with a friend. Our original plans fell through, but we still had a bit of fun that afternoon.

Because NPB Card Guy was so kind as to give me a copy of the latest Japanese Baseball Card Checklist and Price Guide, I had better, more accurate descriptions of several of the Calbee cards I was missing. Some new sets and series had been discovered or at least cataloged, which put me back on my goal of getting a full type collection of Calbee issues.

My current list has 251 different sets or series, an increase of 18. I haven't split up the 1970s series that are numbered together or examined the possibility of parallels in more modern sets, which could add even more cards to the list. Most of the additions were Homerun prize card variations and 1978 series descriptions. With my new lists and updated descriptions, I went to the Mandarake card store in Nakano Broadway.
 The biggest changes to Calbee listings were in the 1978 set. This is the No Team Name "series" or "variation" which apparently only had Dragons cards. However, this Shibata (Giants) card seems to show evidence that other teams were issued as well.
 This is another "regular" issue series, with two lines of text in a corner.
 The pictures and improved descriptions for Calbee sets helped me understand what to look for when searching for the first series of 1979 Calbee. Here's my new card!
 My improved Japanese reading ability and the better instructions helped me identify this 1977 Japan Championship Series card.
 There's something really special about this card. You'll find out in a future post.
 My last Calbee Through The Years post indicated the existence of "team" cards, and I now have a sample. This is for the Nippon Ham Fighters.
 Another 1975/76 series card.
 More 1975/76 series examples: a Giants V1 series card.
 Another V1. I bought a few of these because they were only about 100 yen each.
 An older Calbee - 1974/75.
 1974 again. The Giants are owned by a news agency. How many of those photographers work for Yomiuri?
 I didn't really need this card, and I'm not sure why I bought it. It's from the 1979 Japan Series series.
 And here's another 1979 card, from the October Best series. I must have bought these due to the price too.
 Who's this? Sadaharu Oh seems to appear a couple hundred times in the 1974/75 set, and Engel's guide lists a "value" of $100 for each card. But I picked this up for 210 yen, or about $2. It's not mint, but it's good enough for me! Now I have cards of Nagashima and Oh from their playing days.

I bought a bunch of other cards on Monday, which I'll post about soon... and I just received my latest Just Commons order too!