2019 In Review - Epoch
2019 was more of the same for Epoch. They issued 27 sets this past season, the same number they published in 2018. Once again their products were split between reasonably priced sets and ultra high...
View Article2019 In Review - Calbee
Like it was for BBM and Epoch, 2019 was a pretty much regular year for Calbee. They issued their flagship set as usual in three separate Series.Series One came out at its usual time in March. This...
View Article2019 In Review - Everything Else (Including Korea)
Wrapping up my review of the 2019 releases, here's a summary of everything I know that was released in Japan last year by someone other than BBM, Calbee or Epoch.Hits was back with three of their "mini...
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Japanese National Team Sets
With the double whammy of baseball returning to the Olympics after a 12 year hiatus (which actually means they just missed the 2012 London games and the 2016 Rio games) AND the fact that Japan is...
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Card Of The Week January 5
The news broke on Friday that Fukuoka Softbank Hawks farm hand Oscar Colas has defected from his native Cuba and is seeking a contract with a Major League team. Colas and pitcher Livan Moinelo joined...
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2020 BBM Time Travel 1985
BBM's first set of 2020 (even though it was actually released in mid-December of 2019) is the fourth edition of their annual "Time Travel" set. Each of the "Time Travel" sets highlights a particular...
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Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh Of The Tampa Bay Rays
Finally trying to get caught up on the recent MLB signings...Yokohama DeNA Baystars outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh signed a two year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays back in mid-December. Tsutsugoh was a...
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Shun Yamaguchi Of The Toronto Blue Jays
Yomiuri Giants pitcher Shun Yamaguchi signed a two year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays a couple of weeks ago. Yamaguchi was the first round pick of the Yokohama Baystars in the high school portion of...
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Kwang-Hyun Kim Of The St Louis Cardinals
SK Wyverns pitcher Kwang-Hyun Kim signed a two year deal with the St Louis Cardinals a couple weeks ago. Kim was the first round pick of SK out of high school in the 2007 KBO draft and has spent his...
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Shogo Akiyama Of The Cincinnati Reds
Lions outfielder Shogo Akiyama has signed a three year deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Akiyama was the Lions third pick in the 2010 draft out of Hachinohe Gakuin University. He made his debut with the...
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Card Of The Week January 12
I picked up this card off of Ebay recently. It's of Toshio "Andy" Miyamoto, a nisei player with the Giants from 1955 to 1962 and the Kokutetsu Swallows from 1963 to 1964. He was a three time All Star...
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2020 Hall Of Fame Class
The 2020 Hall Of Fame Class was announced today. No one got enough votes on the "Players Division" ballot to be elected (Shingo Takatsu was seven votes shy of the 266 necessary for election) but...
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Most Hall Of Famers In A BBM Set
This post was inspired by a post that Night Owl Cards did a month or so ago that calculated how many Hall Of Famers have appeared in each Topps set. I figured it wouldn't be that hard to do the same...
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RIP Morimichi Takagi
Morimichi Takagi, the Hall Of Fame second baseman for the Chunichi Dragons, has passed away at age 78. Takagi signed with the Dragons in 1960 after graduating from Gifu Commercial High School. He...
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I Got Zippy Zapped! Big Time!
A while back I got a DM from Kenny - aka Zippy Zappy - of the "Torren' Up Cards" blog asking for my address because he had what he described as "a little package ready to go" to me. He had previously...
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Card Of The Week January 19
This is another card I picked up off of Ebay recently (actually from the same seller I got the Fujiya Caramel Premium card of Andy Miyamoto). It shows a group of players from the Nishitetsu Lions....
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Zippy Zapped Box Sets
Continuing my posts of stuff I got last week from Kenny of "Torren' Up Cards"...Kenny included four BBM box sets in the package. The earliest one of them was the "Icons - Ace" set from 2015. This was...
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Last Of The Zap - Sports Graphic Number Sets
Sports Graphic Number* is a magazine publisher in Japan that also published 10 baseball card sets between 2011 and 2017. Their sets were rather unique as all but one of them featured just a single...
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Another Mandarake Mail Day
I placed yet another vintage card order with the vintage toy store Mandarake a couple weeks ago and the package showed up yesterday. I thought I'd do a quick post to show off what I got.I always like...
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Card Of The Week January 26
I recently picked up this 1974/75 Sadaharu Oh card (#695) off of Ebay. At first glance it simply looks like a photo of Oh in the batting cage. But take a closer look at the guys watching Oh bat:Hey,...
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