One More for the Road

A couple weeks ago I shared the various Japanese baseball cards I found of Kennys Vargas. When I made the post, I figured I would check the Japanese site Mint Mall one more time to see if there was anything new available. I found this insert card called "Fireworks".

The Card is numbered to 100 copies, so it was a just sheer dumb luck to find a copy of it available. I'm guessing there's a card of another Marines players with "EWO" at the top of the card, and a third with "RKS." 

New To Me From Kennys V

Keeping up with Kennys continues! We'll start with 2019 BBM 2nd Series. This card was not easy for me to get - the only place I could find it was on eBay in a lot of 7 other copies. I figured that this was the way that the seller was going to recoup international shipping fees, but I tried to message them anyway to make a deal for just one card. They didn't budge, so I did. I uh, have a few extras if anyone wants one!

I've shared the "insert" from the Chiba Lotte Marines team set before, a colorful card titled "PUMP UP" - this one is the base card from that team set.

Here's where the fun comes in - this is the Japanese equivalent of Topps NOW, and it is called "Epoch One." Kennys did something on April 4th, and this card is in honor of that epic moment. 

I couldn't bring myself to spend a couple hundred bucks on the big dual auto booklet featuring Vargas and Brandon Laird, but I wouldn't be denied this autograph from that same Chiba Lotte Marines team set.

Here are the backs - kind of hard to see, but the Epoch One card had a print run of just 22 copies, which is printed on the bottom.

Vargas' autograph was numbered to just 40! I had fun tracking these down, thanks again to Kenny, who pointed me towards the website for the big time card seller in Japan, Mint.

A New Kennys Vargas Card!

Kennys Vargas spent 2019 in Japan, playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines... and their minor league affiliate. Despite a disappointing season, Vargas has been featured on at least three cards in the 2019 BBM set.

Here's the back of the card, featuring the MLB stats of Vargas, along with his AAA numbers from 2018. I haven't been able to snag his series 2 card from the BBM set yet, the only listing on eBay is a lot of 8 copies of the card. I just need one!

That's A Whole Lotte Miles From Home, Kennys

Just because he's no longer a Minnesota Twin doesn't mean I've stopped collecting Kennys Vargas cards. His first 2019 card comes from the 1st Version (series 1) of BBM, the official trading card of the NPB. Vargas is wearing Jackie Robinson's #42 for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

If you want to see more of this set - check out the post on Japanese Baseball Cards I will be keeping an eye out to see if there are any parallels to be had of this card- and if he's in the separate Chiba Lotte Marines team set...

I also picked a few new to me parallels from 2015 recently. This one is the Camo Refractor from Panini Prizm, numbered to 199.

Ooh, Die-Cut Shiny refractor-y nonsense from Donruss/Panini Elite, numbered to 81. There are more than enough versions of this card that I am certain to never complete the rainbow and accidentally buy the same version many times.

And finally, this card is from Bowman and numbered to just 5 copies! The never ending quest to find all of the various Vargas parallels will continue no matter where he's playing!

Go West, Young Man

It had to happen at some point - Kennys Vargas has toiled for years in minors stuck behind several players on the Twins' depth chart. He never reached 250 at bats in a season with the Twins, but he's going out West- so far West that we think of it as the Far East - to play in Japan for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He was a minor-league free agent following the 2018 season, so his future in Minnesota was shaky at best.

Before the 2019 BBM Japanese baseball set comes out, I'll still be hunting for Vargas cards I don't have yet from the states. This 2018 Topps Chrome card is numbered to just 10 copies.

My scanner doesn't like thick cases- but this card had been on my radar for a couple years, but with the other guy on there, the card was hard to find for a good deal. This one popped up on eBay and I didn't hesitate to grab it.

Big Papi and Little Papi together on the same card! It's my first David Ortiz autograph, and even though the front of the card doesn't give it away, in theory this card depicts Ortiz as a Twin. Neither player reached their full potential in Minnesota, and now Vargas will get a chance in his age 28 season to try to make an impression on a one year deal.

So, who's got some Chiba Lotte Marines swag?