2006 BBM True Heart Women's Pro Wrestling

I found a picture of the box top online.

A couple of posts ago I showed off some 2013 BBM True Heart Women's Professional Wrestling cards I got. After busting some boxes of 2013, 2014, and 2015 cards I began to look at the history of these cards to see what came before. I don't know exactly how far back they go yet, but I found an eBay seller who had several sets available in the 2006-2012 range. I got a few sets from them along with a 2010 set from another seller. I don't know when BBM changed the format of these from boxed sets to random packs, but I know the boxed sets went at least through 2010. I am not sure about 2011 and 2012.

The 2006 card fronts feature the wrestlers in candid or posed photos, wearing street clothes. In the case of wrestlers who wear masks or distinctive makeup, they are photographed with their disguise on but wearing regular clothing instead of their ring gear. Many of the cards feature props, such a Command Bolshoi's guitar or Eco's dachshunds. The front of the cards also shows the Anglicized name of the wrestler, the name of the promotion they wrestle in, and some biographical information that I can't read outside of the height, weight, birthdate, and debut date.

These base cards make up the first 87 cards in the checklist. The back of the base cards features a photograph of the wrestler during a match, it looks like the photos are usually from the introductions / entrances. The card backs also appear to contain the wrestler's name, promotion, and a short paragraph about them. Some of the cards feature the promotion's logo in the upper corner opposite the card number.

I think some of the photos are kind of funny, especially when the masked wrestlers appear in regular clothes with their masks on. It makes me want to go out grocery shopping or something with a mask on, just to see what the reactions would be like. An inordinate number of small dogs appear in the set, which I guess is better than a bunch of cats.

Cards 88-99 in the checklist are tribute cards. I am not sure about card # 100 because I discovered that it is missing from this set that I purchased. I contacted the seller to see if they could locate the missing card, but I may have to search it out on my own. It is probably going to be a huge pain in the butt, and it will probably cost a lot more than it needs to.

Card # 88 is a Memorial card to Mirai, a wrestler who died unexpectedly in her home in 2005. The rest of the tribute cards feature wrestlers who retired during 2005. The cards seem to feature photographs on both sides of their final matches / retirement ceremonies. They also contain the usual biographical information. I don't think that Blood Type is a category on the regular base cards, but it does show up starting with this subset. I guess that's important to know if you plan on giving / receiving a blood transfusion to / from your favorite wrestler.

Cards 100-102 make up a subset entitled 'in Another Situation,' which I am guessing depict the wrestlers in another occupation. It is unclear to me whether they are shown in an actual job they have done or if this is some sort of dream job scenario, where they were asked, "If you weren't a wrestler, what would you be doing?" On the BBM website the set description says that the cards feature cosplay by the wrestlers, which suggests that they are acting in fantasy roles. I am not sure about card # 100 because I discovered that it is missing from the set that I purchased. I contacted the seller to see if they could locate the missing card, but I may have to search it out on my own. It is probably going to be a huge pain in the butt, and it will probably cost a lot more than it needs to. The missing wrestler is named Fuka. edit: The seller responded to me and said they will send the missing card. Nice!

Cards 103 - 108 are another subset called 'Ladies on Film.' I am not sure what exactly this subset is all about. It could be wrestlers who do some sort of modeling or acting outside of wrestling. It could be that a few wrestler did a fashion shoot. Or maybe someone grabbed an intern and said, "Hey, we need six more cards in the True Heart set, and we need them right now," and this is what the intern came up with. The BBM site translated to English says that "weekly wrestling separate volume in the studio shooting photos in the "cool body Ladies" configuration." I think this might refer to a fashion shoot for a weekly wrestling magazine that also generated photos for this card set.

And that does it for the 2006 BBM True Heart Women's Pro Wrestling set. I don't have any of the cards beyond this incomplete base set. The BBM site says that 97 different wrestlers signed autographs for the set. I found a picture of one that is for sale on the Mint Collectibles website. There also appears to be an insert set of 9 cards called 'Catch the Rainbow,' a 6-card set of kiss cards featuring lip prints, and a 2-card set featuring memorabilia swatches.

I like the cards, and some of the candid shots are pretty entertaining. The set does kind of feel like sorting through a stack of Senior photos that kids have taken during their last year in High School. At least there are wrestling photos on the back of the cards. To me it would make more sense to put the wrestling pictures on the front of the cards, but I guess it doesn't really matter all that much.