Saturday, January 7, 2017

2017 BBM Japanese Basketball B.League Cards

A few weeks ago, BBM announced the upcoming release of a new set of Japanese B.League Basketball cards.  I only occasionally watch NBA basketball here in the States so doing some research on Japanese basketball made my head spin.  In a nutshell, here is how we get to the B.League, which started up just a few months ago:

Japan Basketball League 1947-2013
Basketball Japan League 2005-2016
National Basketball League 2013-2016
***BJ League and NBL merged in 2016 to form B.League
 B.League 2016 - current (Operated by Japan Professional Basketball League)

A quick search really shows very few Japanese basketball sets exist.  According to SCM there are four sets:
- 1998 National Team Set
- 1999 BBM JBL Set
- 2000-2001 JBL Set
- 2001-2002 JBL Set

Here are the details for the 2016-2017 B.League set.

1 box is ￥8000 (about $65)
1 box has 20 packs with 5 cards per pack
There are 72 base cards (4 players from each of the 18 teams)
Insert Set called On-Fire (looks like 1 player from each team)
Unknown amount of autograph cards

This 1st Half set comes out at the end of January and the 2nd Half set sometime in February.

Here are some pictures for the enthusiasts from BBM's website:





 It is interesting to note that there can only be 3 foreign players on a team...which isn't surprising since baseball and sumo have similar rules.  I'm not sure of all the foreign players in the league right now, but imagine there are some ex-NBA stars living it up over in Japan.  I guess Yuta Tabase, the first Japanese ever to play in the NBA, has a card in this set.


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14 comments:

  1. Billy KingsleyJanuary 7, 2017 at 7:29 PM

    How would I go about getting some of these? I just lamented the lack of professional cards from Japan in a post right before Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SumoMenkoManJanuary 7, 2017 at 7:44 PM

    I was going to place an order from Rakuten for some sumo card boxes. You want me to pick you up a box of these? Not quite sure on shipping costs yet, but will probably be somewhere between $8-9 per box on top of the ~$64 box price to get them to my house.

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  3. Billy KingsleyJanuary 7, 2017 at 8:42 PM

    Yes, that would be great, thank you! Once you know I'll be glad to send some paypal your way.

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    Replies
    1. SumoMenkoManJanuary 9, 2017 at 7:22 AM

      Sure thing.

      Delete
    2. SumoMenkoManJanuary 21, 2017 at 2:49 PM

      I have your Japanese B.League card box in. Give me a holler and I'll get it your way. I bought an extra one and am debating on what to do with it.

      Delete
    3. Billy KingsleyJanuary 28, 2017 at 10:24 PM

      Got it today, thank you! I could use some checklist help- I did not get cards #28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 68, 72 in the base set and I would like to know the checklist for the On Fire set and whatever it says under that on the checklist on the box back. (I would assume autographs. I pulled 5 of them) Do you know if Series 2 will continue the same numbering system? Although I did not get 12 of the base cards I did get 29 duplicates so if you decide to open your box perhaps we can do some trading to complete our sets. Thanks again!

      Delete
    4. SumoMenkoManJanuary 29, 2017 at 8:11 AM

      5 autographs! Awesome! Yeah, under the On Fire checklist it says autograph cards, but they do not include a checklist. I should be getting the next issue of Sports Card Magazine tomorrow so hopefully can help with the auto checklist if you need it. Here is the On Fire Checklist:

      OF01 Takehiko Orimo
      OF02 Shigehiro Taguchi
      OF03 Takehiko Shimura
      OF04 Yuta Tabuse
      OF05 Ryumo Ono
      OF06 Daiki Tanaka
      OF07 Leo Vendrame
      OF08 Takuya Kawamura
      OF09 Naoto Tsuji
      OF10 Kimitake Sato
      OF11 Masashi Joho
      OF12 Atsuya Ota
      OF13 Taito Nakahigashi
      OF14 Makoto Hiejima
      OF15 Yutaka Yokoe
      OF16 Yusuke Okada
      OF17 Hiroyuki Kinoshita
      OF18 Ruichi Kishimoto

      Not sure on the numbering system, but the second series actually releases in a few weeks in the middle of February.

      Delete
    5. Billy KingsleyJanuary 30, 2017 at 6:06 AM

      I actually miscounted, it was 6! Thank you! I could indeed use the autograph checklist and the card numbers I mention in the last comment. Once I know the names of the missing players I can start searching for them online. Are you going to order series 2? I'd have to double check my finances but I would be up for a box of it as well if you do :)

      Delete
    6. SumoMenkoManJanuary 30, 2017 at 6:10 AM

      I'll get the checklist to you tonight. I am going to order the 2nd Series. I'll order a couple of boxes and whenever you want one just give me a holler.

      Delete
    7. SumoMenkoManJanuary 30, 2017 at 6:05 PM

      I posted the checklist on my blog as a new entry.

      Delete
  4. NPB Card GuyJanuary 8, 2017 at 5:58 AM

    Jambalaya lists NBL sets for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

    I've found that the SCM listings aren't comprehensive - for example their "Non-BBM" baseball set listings don't include any sets from Yamakatsu, NST, Nippon-Ham, Takara or Front Runner.

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    Replies
    1. SumoMenkoManJanuary 8, 2017 at 6:05 AM

      Great info! Thanks. I need to remember Jambalaya as a resource.

      Delete
  5. RAZJanuary 8, 2017 at 5:58 PM

    These are pretty cool. Probably the sort of thing I'd be into if I didn't have so many other things to be into. I've been thinking about making a Rakuten order, but I'm trying to hold out until the 2017 BBM True Heart wrestling cards go up for pre-order.

    ReplyDelete
  6. SumoMenkoManJanuary 9, 2017 at 7:23 AM

    Sumo comes out in a few days so I am excited about that! Might pick up a box of these to say I have one.

    ReplyDelete

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