Chaos and Kanji is the blog where I write about my adventures through Japan!

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

JBCG: 2015 BBM Chiba Lotte Marines

It's probably too late now to call most of these "new releases" but I would still like to summarize the other sets that have been released this year. 
 The Marines set has a very blocky design, including a tri-colored rectangular border at the bottom on the front, repeated on the back. Otherwise, the design is similar to BBM's other team sets - 81 cards in all, with a few subsets included. Each subset has three cards.
 First is Ageless Wonder. This small subset has the old veterans of the team - Fukuura here has been with the Marines since 1997.
 I don't get "Real Steal" by name. I figured at first it would be players who are great on the base paths. But it's quickly obvious that it's not about runners. Instead, it appears to be players who joined the team and then performed well.
 Last is Foreign Impact. As you can probably guess, it features foreign players. Despaigne played his early career in Cuba, and the stats reflect that (the season plays over the winter).
 The Marines got three insert sets, though they total 18 cards like most of the team issues. Fast Lane is the "first" with six cards. There doesn't seem to be a point to this set other than "ooh shiny!"
 Likewise, the three card "Spring Fever" set has a green "spring" feel but ... why is it here? Why are these players on these cards?
The "premium" insert is Prime Time, a nine card set with double foil! That's about all that makes this set premium.

Speaking of premium, there are several autographed cards to be found.
 Base autographs can be found for 70 subjects including three mascots; print runs are up to 60 copies each. A total of 3701 cards were inserted into packs.
 Combo signature cards are much more rare. BBM didn't release information on their website, but I found details that show three cards were issued:

  • Otani/Matsunaga (5 copies)
  • Nishino/Suzuki (above, 3 copies)
  • Ogino/Okada (5 copies)

 Also found in the Marines set are the "insert" autograph cards. Silver and Gold versions are available - silver print runs are usually 5, but two players have print runs of 10 and 12. All gold cards are 1/1.
Finally, the cross-brand autographed cards are found for three players with a print run of 15 copies each.

Released way back in June, 6 cards came per pack for 400 yen, with 20 packs per box.

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