Hideki Matsui Homerun Card set

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

DaClyde

Veteran
128
5.00 star(s)
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Messages
2,182
Location
Alabama
THIS is how you do a home run history set:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daclyde/matsui


From his debut in NPB, NTV (and later Upper Deck) issued a card for every one of Hideki Matsui's home runs....as he hit them. I've only got about 115 of them, but the set was issued up to at least HR #379.
 
Last edited:
I didn't know you collected Matsui. This is a very cool set which I hadn't seen before but it is only fitting that Matui had a HR set while in Japan.

I agree, these cards are much nicer looking and I also prefer the idea of issuing these sequentially as home runs are hit.
 
I didn't know you collected Matsui. This is a very cool set which I hadn't seen before but it is only fitting that Matui had a HR set while in Japan.

I agree, these cards are much nicer looking and I also prefer the idea of issuing these sequentially as home runs are hit.

I don't really collect Matsui, but I picked this bunch up with a huge lot of Japanese cards I bought from a guy in the Philippines. I went back and counted and I have 119 of the HR cards and a "member card", so this may have been some sort of subscription kind of thing. All 120 cards came to me in a cool plastic display folder made for the set. I'll get a shot of that up soon. I paid like $150 for over 1000 Japanese cards (lots of 1998-2002 Calbee and BBM) but I think this bunch of Matsui cards is probably worth the price all by itself. Gary Engel's 6th Ed. Japanese Price Guide put these at $8 a pop, with the milestones being about 3x that (naturally I don't have any of the Big Round Numbers). 119x $8 is over $900 BV!

I'm pondering attempting to fill in some of the gaps now that I'm using KuboTEN.com for buying from Yahoo Auction Japan, but so far I haven't seen any of these listed. Don't know if I want to part with them any time soon, but they might make good trade bait for some of the pricier Winfields I need.
 
Nice investment, I'm sure you can make a nice profit if you sell decide to sell but if you ever do finish the set that would be a great item to keep in the PC.

I am a big Matsui fan, and here is my lone Japanese card I picked up for the PC last year when his prices had cooled.

x03matsui00.jpg
 
Last edited:
THIS is how you do a home run history set:

http://picasaweb.google.com/daclyde/matsui


From his debut in NPB, NTV (and later Upper Deck) issued a card for every one of Hideki Matsui's home runs....as he hit them. I've only got about 115 of them, but the set was issued up to at least HR #379.

Kind of tough to do when you issue a set 20-70 years after they debut.
 
Kind of tough to do when you issue a set 20-70 years after they debut.

For Mantle or Josh Gibson, maybe, but then, what's the point of 700 nearly identical cards (no different with YSL, the photos and card backs were almost completely without context)? They could easily have done it correctly for Bonds, at the very least in his later years.

These days, they could do a set for Pujols or Howard or Fielder without much difficulty. But this is one of those cases where I think they just shouldn't be allowed to create a set like the HRH if it can't be done well. Not when they're also creating 60 other sets at the same time. That's where MLB has exercized some seriously inconsistent judgement with the application of their licenses. But that's just my $0.02. In 2010, they'll let Topps release 50 different sets as they always do. 4 or 5 will be really good and the rest will be rehash junk, or sets with words like "threads" or "signers" that have no signatures or cloth involved.
 
Nice investment, I'm sure you can make a nice profit if you sell decide to sell but if you ever do finish the set that would be a great item to keep in the PC.

I am a big Matsui fan, and here is my lone Japanese card I picked up for the PC last year when his prices had cooled.

x03matsui00.jpg

I like how in the early-mid 90s, when no one knew anything about baseball cards in Japan, BBM was "borrowing" designs. 1993 BBM was pulled straight from 1990 ProSet, and the 1994 BBM Hanshin Tigers set was the 1994 Leaf design.
 
For Mantle or Josh Gibson, maybe, but then, what's the point of 700 nearly identical cards (no different with YSL, the photos and card backs were almost completely without context)? They could easily have done it correctly for Bonds, at the very least in his later years.

These days, they could do a set for Pujols or Howard or Fielder without much difficulty. But this is one of those cases where I think they just shouldn't be allowed to create a set like the HRH if it can't be done well. Not when they're also creating 60 other sets at the same time. That's where MLB has exercized some seriously inconsistent judgement with the application of their licenses. But that's just my $0.02. In 2010, they'll let Topps release 50 different sets as they always do. 4 or 5 will be really good and the rest will be rehash junk, or sets with words like "threads" or "signers" that have no signatures or cloth involved.

The problem is defining 'done well'. Who gets to make that call? Why would they put that much money and effort into something that isn't going to raise their bottom line? If they did a Pujols HRH set and 'did it well', would you pay $2.50 or $3/pack for 2010 Topps instead of $1.99? Would you buy six boxes instead of three? You'd likely buy and trade for them on the secondary market, which does nothing for their bottom line.
 
Those have a much better design than the Topps HRH cards. That would be cool to see a set like that where they issue a card as a player hits a homerun. Good idea.
 
The problem is defining 'done well'. Who gets to make that call?

The license owner, of course. There's a reason the Beatles haven't been used and plastered across thousands of cheesy pieces of merchandise over the last 40 years. Some license owners are pickier than others. MLB has never been particularly picky.

Why would they put that much money and effort into something that isn't going to raise their bottom line? If they did a Pujols HRH set and 'did it well', would you pay $2.50 or $3/pack for 2010 Topps instead of $1.99? Would you buy six boxes instead of three? You'd likely buy and trade for them on the secondary market, which does nothing for their bottom line.

And therein lies the rub. Their market is probably smaller than ever due to their current pricing and product choices. I know they won't produce such a product and so they don't get any of my money. 99% of my hobby expenditure is on the secondary market.
 
Very nice..

I just hope that if the Yankees don't resign him.. he retires as a Yankee and goes out on top!!


Christopher
 
Yeah, I kind of hope he goes back to Japan like Johjima is doing. He should definitely retire as a Giant, and they're likely the only team that could afford to sign him anyway. They'd sell out their entire season if he returned to Yomiuri.
 
I really enjoy seeing your pickups from this set. Where are you finding all of these cards? They can't be easy to hunt down.
 
Turns out they're pretty easy to pick up on Yahoo Auctions Japan. The smaller lots are fairly easy to get. The larger lots, with one of the custom folders they issued each year, are usually a lot more expensive. Here are a couple of links so you can see what the different folders look like. I think they issued one each year since the set started:

1995
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n84154592

I've got the orange one
http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w29341459

http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w44352966

http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r58266364

And there's the Upper Deck folder on the end
http://page18.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/w44940963

So there are at least 6 different, and I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple more.

Right now the exchange rate is about $1 = ¥82. So they're being listed for a pretty penny. There have been a couple listings for the complete set listed for over ¥50,000. I'd be very surprised of they actually sold for that. The last batch of 45 cards, I paid about $30 or so for.
 
Last edited:
Top