In the not-so-distant past, BBM was doing some interesting things with their multi-sport sets. BBM, in a break from their normal conservatism, issued "Super Metallic Cards" [スーパーメタリックカード] of a handful of athletes as part of the Stay Gold subset to the 2016 BBM Masterpiece set. 2016 BBM Masterpiece has a slew of other cool subsets as well: the lenticular "Glorious 3D" subset, the holographic "Superstar" subset, the "Sparkling Hero" subset, and combo, vertical, horizontal autograph subsets. One of the athletes they captured within the Stay Gold set is Yokozuna Hokutoumi who had risen through the ranks during the same time as the legendary Yokozuna Chiyonofuji. Hokutoumi was strong, but his true potential was tapped down by Chiyonofuji's sheer dominance. He ended his career in 1992 with 8 respectable championships.
These Stay Gold cards are heavy....almost 1 oz! Since inserting these in card packs would have certainly been detected due to their weight, BBM issued redemption cards that a lucky winner would send off in return for one of these. I have seen Stay Gold cards pop up from time to time, but I have never seen the corresponding return letter than BBM also included with the card....until recently. I was able to pick up both the card and the letter from eBay recently. It also reveals that even though BBM issued these as part of their Stay Gold subset, they refer to them as Super Metallic Cards! Maybe insignificant to most, but part of the entire story that inspires me as a collector.
These don't scan well, but here are a few photos I was able to snap along with BBM's correspondence.
Have a great week and stay safe!
Very different... and very, very cool. Nice pickup.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is different no doubt. Wish they had this vision in all their sets.
DeleteI like the way BBM set titles in English always make no sense but in a kind of poetic way. "Stay gold" sounds like some cheesy catchphrase a guy might shout at people akin to "Stay classy", but I've never heard anyone say that and I'm pretty sure its just more random broken English on the part of BBM writers.
ReplyDeleteThat observation aside, cool card! And its neat that you scored the letter too.
It is so quirky...and totally Japanese. I feel like they mean to say something more along the line of Forever Gold. The letter might be one of the most valuable things about the card!
DeleteI think BBM does some similar "Super Metallic" cards as inserts for their annual Giants team sets and they've done them for some other sets over the years as well.
ReplyDeleteStay Gold everyone!
Stay Gold my friend! They have done them for several sets from what I can tell too. BBM has to be making money hand over fist right now....too bad they don’t keep doing things like this.
ReplyDeleteThat is some card! I'm not a big fan of redemptions, but getting something like this would be a heckuva lot cooler than some crappy sticker autograph.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, I still have a hard time with sticker autos.
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