Unopened Box Bepop

Fuji and I have a little dual-post action going on this Saturday where each of us is posting our Top-10 favorite unopened boxes we have in our collections.  Check out his here.  It was tough narrowing it down to ten, but I was able to break them down into different categories to help me decide.  From #10 to #1, here is what I came up with:

#10 (Also known as my favorite Vintage Japanese Sport Box) - 1991 BBM Baseball

This was the first large-scale baseball set that BBM issued which also happened to contain a bunch of Hideo Nomo 2nd-Year cards and baseball legends Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima as coaches.  My box is a bit beat up, but still a beauty and hard to believe it was 29 years ago!  30 packs per box with 10 cards per pack.  

#9 (Also known as my favorite Collector's Choice Box) - 2013 BBM P. League Bowling

I used one of my 10 boxes as kind of a miscellaneous box, or Collector's Choice Box.  Pretty girls that are bowling seems pretty quirky, but if you go watch videos of them in action they are very talented.  The P. League has somewhat of a reality show feel, but fun to watch and the ladies do not disappoint.  The autographs of these ladies are extremely well done as well.  54-card set per box with 2 special insert cards to boot!

 

 

#8 (Also known as my favorite Vintage Japanese Non-Sport Box) - 1950s Weapons "Gold" Menko



In the mid-1950s, the world saw a proliferation of nuclear weapons as well as rockets, jets and bombers filling the skies.  This set captures the imagination of the artists through weapons and destruction  What makes this set very interesting beyond the artwork, is the liberal use of gold ink on the packaging and cards.  A great example of Japanese artistry.  These boxes are considered "unopened and sealed" when the twine is present with the box.  50 packs per box with 6-7 menko per pack.

 



 

#7 (Also known as my favorite Foreign "Non-Japanese/U.S." Box) - 2019 Panini European Kimmidoll





I went through Spain and Portugal earlier last year right during the Kimmidoll craze.  Panini issued these cards only in this part of the world for a span of 3-6 months.  After I saw them, I ended up buying two unopened boxes online as well as an album.  Now you can't find them anywhere it seems.  These postcard-sized cards are strangely appealing to me and the artwork is amazing and refreshingly Japanese.  There are 18 packs per box with 6 cards per pack.

 

 



#6 (Also known as my favorite Modern Japanese Non-Sport Box) - 1986 Amada Famicon Mini Cards



I was and still am a huge NES fan.  The hours/days/weeks I spent engrossed in these games always brings a smile and air of nostalgia to me.  Amada kept the mini card craze strung along until the mid 1980s and issued these cards which captured screenshots of actual in-game play.  These boxes have 30 packs with 2-3 mini cards per pack.  I can still hear the Super Mario Brothers music playing in my head right now.... 

 

 

 

#5 (Also known as my favorite Oddball Box) - 1997 Takara Basscole Fishing Lures



 Most of you are scratching your head on this one.  Me too.  Why do I have this box?  Read about it here in full detail.  But basically Brad Pitt's movie, A River Runs Through It" sparked a bass fishing frenzy in Japan which also happend to coincide with the boom in trading card production.  What are these cards?  Trading cards of bass fishing lures.  No, no the actually people bass fishing, just the lures.  A must in my collection for sure.  30 Packs per Box and 10 Cards per Pack.

 

 

#4 (Also known as my favorite Modern Japanese Sport Box) - 2016-2017 BBM Basketball

I have a PC of Yuta Tabuse...or at least a really good handful of them in my collection...and decided I wanted to collect these boxes.  At the time, the new B.League partnered with BBM to produce these trading cards.  That was back in the 2016-2017 timeframe and they have since been making these for 4 years.  This was the very first series issued back in late 2016.  20 Packs per Box and 5 Cards per Pack 

 

 

 

# 3 (Also known as my favorite U.S. Non-Sport Box) - 2018 Topps Stranger Things Series 1



I love the show Stranger Things and when Topps announced they were releasing a trading card set based on the series, I knew I had grab a few boxes.  I can't remember the exact story or controversy, but I believe the odds for special cards there was stated on the retail? packs wasn't accurate and this evolved into a lot of complaints and poor reviews of this first product.  Alas, this box stays on my shelf with unknown content....mysterious!  24 Packs per Box, 7 Cards per Pack

 

 

 

#2 (Also known as my favorite Modern Sumo Box) - 2016 BBM Sumo



I chose this year of BBM sumo cards because this was the year I connected with a great group of collectors on Facebook devoted to strictly BBM sumo cards.  It has been a great opportunity to share my passion with like-minded collectors and fans.  A sharp-looking set with great box art.  24 Packs per Box with 5 Cards per Pack. 

 

 

 

#1 (Also known as my favorite Vintage Sumo Box) - 1958 Dash 7-8 Menko



 This box is what got me into sumo card collecting in the first place. The very first sumo box I owned!  While vacationing in the southern islands of Japan, I found this box in a small antique shop in the resort town we were staying at.  I knew I had to have it!  This 1958 Dash 7-8 (Catalogue #M581) has resided in my collection as the first-ever sumo card box that I have owned and so it captures a special place in my heart and the #1 spot on my list of unopened card boxes.  I haven't counted the packs, but there are at least 100 packs with the special uncut gold prize card sheets on top. 

 

 

Well, there you have it.  Thanks for stopping by and please make sure you check out Fuji's unopened box bebop as well.  Cheers and Sayonara!

Fuji for President!

Fuji is the ever-generous gifter throughout the sports card blogging community.  He recently shot out 33 care packages and I was on the fortunate receiving end of one of them.  Like the other 32 recipients of these postal gold mines, I am deeply honored and very surprised with how well Fuji creates these.  He knows everyone's tastes and collecting passions.  Fuji doesn't collect sumo wrestling cards, but this package nailed a bunch of awesome cards for my other collections.  Let me dive in a bit more:

2018 Stranger Things Season 1 Commemorative Patchs Tommy H and Officer Powell.  These came one per blaster box and Fuji sent them my way to fill in some holes.  I am slowly working on this 24-card insert set. 

1975 Phoenix Giants Michael Cramer and 1969 Topps Man on the Moon #48B Space Food!  Michael Cramer was an amazing part of our hobby since the 1970s and started the Pacific Trading Card Company.  He is also an NFL photographer and an all around legend in the hobby.  Rich Klein did an excellent article about him back in 2013.  The Man on the Moon set is one that I would love to complete as I am a space nut!  But thanks to Fuji, I am one less card away!

A pile of 1980s to modern Nolan Ryan cards!  As a kid I collected Nolan Ryan like tens of thousands of other kids and adults.  The 1994 baseball strike, college, and companies producing too many cards to enjoyably collect and drove me out of the hobby back then, but I recently pulled out my Nolan Ryan collection again and want to fill in some holes.  Fuji loaded me up with enough goodness to keep me busy for a while!

California Lottery Scratchers.  Last time we met, Fuji and I gambled a bit of our card show money away on CA Scratchers....he is keeping the tradition alive between us for a bit longer.  I am going to slow roll these over the course of a week or so, but the few that I have scratched haven't led me down a path to retirement yet.

Fuji, I can't thank you enough!!  Fuji for President!

I've been Zapped! Thanks Kenny at Torren' Up Cards!

Kenny over at Torren' Up Cards opened some packs of 2018 Topps Stranger Things and had a wishlist.  I opened up 3 Blaster Boxes of Topps Stranger Things and had doubles I needed to unload.  I offered to do a straight trade for the ones he needed for the one I needed...my double cards needed a good home and my doubles box was not it.  But Kenny took it upon himself to zap me and load me up with some goodness.

First up is the Will Byers sticker I needed.  For those that have not see the Netflix series....go watch it....you wont be disappointed.

Next up is a sweet auto (#3/5) of Hiroshi Gondo who played for the Chunichi Dragons (and won Rookie of the Year I might add) in the 1960s and was a manager off and on after that up until 2012.  Thanks!!

Beau Burrows was the Tigers' First Round pick in the 2015 draft and is currently developing in the minors.

 



 

Raz did a write up on his haul of Sega Card Gen cards, but these are the first ones I have ever owned.  For those that don't know, these cards are used to play an arcade game in Japan.  I've linked a YouTube video of it here.  Pretty cool, and thanks for hooking me up with this 2011 Sega Card Gen of Matt Belisle now currently with the Twins.



 

Another video arcade card...this time of Masahiro Tanaka.  This game is called Baseball Heroes from Konami and the cards were printed in 2011.  If I was rich, I'd have these arcade games in my basement and I'd invite all my friends over to play.

This is my first ever Calbee Card....This is a 2016 card of Shogo Akiyama celebrating his new record of 215 hits in the 2015 season.

 

Gotta love me some BBM Baseball.  This 2016 BBM is from the 2nd Version and of player Daiki Tomei.  He is still pitching, but didn't do too hot last season.

Time for some color....this is the 2014 Bowman Platinum Chrome Purple Refractor of Jesse Biddle. Jesse is now with the Braves.

Another auto!  This one of Jake Sweaney (Did I mention his birthday happens to be today...at least the day I wrote this??).  Jake isn't playing at the moment it looks like, but I love these on-card autos.

Some more acrade game cards...this time of Sega WCCF International Clubs Soccer.  I don't recognize any of the names, but you can see how the game is played here.  Again, these video games that incorporate the card collecting aspect are legit in my book!

Lastly are some nice looking ladies on cards....Mayuko Iwasa and Nanami Kawakami.

 

Thanks again Kenny and I am hoping we can do a trade at some point again in the future!

Topps Stranger Things is stuck in the Upside Down!

For most people reading this blog, you are probably of the age to relate to most things from the 1980s.  Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, ET, trading cards, Dungeons and Dragons...the list goes on.  If you are still reading this blog, you definitely need to check out the show "Stranger Things" on Netflix if you haven't already done so.  An amazing cast of child and adult actors, a great storyline, and set in the 1980s which brings back a ton of nostalgia.  After two years, Topps was finally able to secure the license to manufacture trading cards.  Announced back in June, the original release date was mid October and eventually pushed back to 31 October.  Further delays have pushed the Hobby boxes back to the end of November, but Topps was able to release Blaster and Retail Boxes last week......which is fine by me because I really want to only collect the base set anyways.  Sure, it would be a lot cheaper to just buy the base set from folks are just chasing the inserts and parallels, but given the old-school nostalgia of the show, I want to hand collate the 100-card base set from packs....just like I did back in the 1980s.  I'll probably complete the Character Cards, Character Stickers and Scene Sticker sets as well.

Topps gave us a sneak peak with some online picture teasers and this promotional card handed out at the New York Comic Con.  Singles are already starting to pop up on eBay and the scramble to pick up the hard-to-find parallels will be in full swing.

Who else is chasing this set?