Putting the BIG BEEFY MEN into BBM.
Started following Grand Sumo back in March, mainly watching daily highlights during tournaments on the NHK World Japan youtube channel, with English commentary.
So of course I had to grab a box of cards, put out by the name synonymous with Japanese sports cards, Baseball Magazine. 6 cards per pack, 20 packs per box, with the set based on the March rankings.
Base cards, coloured by rank. Purple for the Yokozuna (x1), Gold for Ozeki (x4), Blue for Sanyaku (Sekiwake x2 / Komusubi x2) and Green for Maegashira (x33).
Cards for the Gyoji (referee) and Yobidashi (ring attendant). 10 in total.
Shikona (ring name) cards (x20). Rikishi adopt ring names that follow either family or stable tradition. They tend to embody something about the character of the individual. They can have a deep meaning; such as Abi (bottom right) whose name is a combination of the many armed god Asura and the character for flame; or you can be Shirokuma (bottom left) which translates to Polar Bear. Cool thing about this set is it includes some rikishi at the lower ranks such as Ukrainian Shishi (top left) currently in juryo.
Not the most creative set though when you get three rikishi whose names relate to the sea.
Inheritance set (x6) Again related to Shikona, this time highlighting current rikishi and previous top division namesakes. In the case of Kotonowaka (top right) he adopted his father's shikona, and now he goes by Kotozakura, adopting his grandfather's ring name when he was promoted to Ozeki.
Two cards celebrating Kotonowaka's promotion to Ozeki, and another celebrating Takerufuji winning the March tournament. This card is kinda cool to me, with March being the first tournament I followed, and Takerufuji being the first top division rookie to win a tournament in 110 years.
There are two short print sets, neither of which I hit. Treasure cards (x5) limited to /25, and Autograph cards (x12 - though it includes a Gyoji and two Yobidashi) which are inserted every few boxes. You can see one listed on eBay here for quite a few dollars.
I ended up 12 cards short of completing the set, and of all the ones to miss out on, my favourite Hoshoryu.
Started following Grand Sumo back in March, mainly watching daily highlights during tournaments on the NHK World Japan youtube channel, with English commentary.
So of course I had to grab a box of cards, put out by the name synonymous with Japanese sports cards, Baseball Magazine. 6 cards per pack, 20 packs per box, with the set based on the March rankings.
Base cards, coloured by rank. Purple for the Yokozuna (x1), Gold for Ozeki (x4), Blue for Sanyaku (Sekiwake x2 / Komusubi x2) and Green for Maegashira (x33).
Cards for the Gyoji (referee) and Yobidashi (ring attendant). 10 in total.
Shikona (ring name) cards (x20). Rikishi adopt ring names that follow either family or stable tradition. They tend to embody something about the character of the individual. They can have a deep meaning; such as Abi (bottom right) whose name is a combination of the many armed god Asura and the character for flame; or you can be Shirokuma (bottom left) which translates to Polar Bear. Cool thing about this set is it includes some rikishi at the lower ranks such as Ukrainian Shishi (top left) currently in juryo.
Not the most creative set though when you get three rikishi whose names relate to the sea.
Inheritance set (x6) Again related to Shikona, this time highlighting current rikishi and previous top division namesakes. In the case of Kotonowaka (top right) he adopted his father's shikona, and now he goes by Kotozakura, adopting his grandfather's ring name when he was promoted to Ozeki.
Two cards celebrating Kotonowaka's promotion to Ozeki, and another celebrating Takerufuji winning the March tournament. This card is kinda cool to me, with March being the first tournament I followed, and Takerufuji being the first top division rookie to win a tournament in 110 years.
There are two short print sets, neither of which I hit. Treasure cards (x5) limited to /25, and Autograph cards (x12 - though it includes a Gyoji and two Yobidashi) which are inserted every few boxes. You can see one listed on eBay here for quite a few dollars.
I ended up 12 cards short of completing the set, and of all the ones to miss out on, my favourite Hoshoryu.