A few weeks ago a big surprise box showed up in my mail from SumoMenkoMan of the Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko blog. It was packed to the brim with cardboard and sugary goodies. He is stationed in Europe and collects Japanese cards as a hobby, so this package was stuffed with stuff you don't see a lot here in the United States.
There were a whole bunch of duplo bars, a Schoko-Brownie, and some Hi-Chew candies from Japan. You can get Hi-Chew here in the U.S. now, but not in the cool packaging.
There were also some of these cola-flavored gummies. Haribo gummies always remind me of the trip I took to Europe with my sisters in 2003. On our way back to the airport to get home, we were nearly out of cash, and the only thing in the shop we could afford was a couple bags of gummies. So we bought them and spent part of the train ride divvying them up.
SumoMenkoMan said that the PX on the local military base had plenty of old retail packs on the shelves, so he sent me a selection of those as well as a couple packs of 2017 BBM Baseball Cards from Japan and some German Soccer card packs.
In addition to the packs, he included a couple of BBM Sumo cards featuring Mitakeumi Hisashi. I don't know a lot about sumo, but I know a little more than I used to thanks to SumoMenkoMan's blog.
Here is one of the soccer cards. They are much smaller and more square than traditional trading cards. They have a player photo and facsimile signature on front and a little information about the player on the back.
The retail packs didn't yield a whole lot, but there were some interesting cards in the packs. I think that Grady Sizemore card is a Rainbow Foil parallel. I thought it was cool to pull a Kosuke Fukudome card. He's still playing professional baseball at age 41. The Steven Matz insert and base card came one after the other in the same pack. I've always liked those Bowman Scouts' Top 100 inserts. It's fun to have a prospect ranking list in trading card form.
Thanks for the awesome package SumoMenkoMan! It was a great surprise, and there was plenty of neat stuff in there!
And I was starting to think that you were gonna go the whole month without posting anything.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing. When I want to post, I don't find the time, and when I have time to post, I find other things to do. I'll get back into a rhythm eventually.
DeleteNice assortment of cards & treats. Loves me some Ritter Sport & Kosuke Fukudome.
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly a fun package to open! And the candy helped me get through a couple of hard weeks!
DeleteI have seen his packages on a few blogs and he sends the coolest stuff! Those colA gummies look amazing
ReplyDeleteHe really knows how to put a good care package together! I like the Cola gummies. They have them here in the United States, and I buy a package of them a few times a year.
DeleteNo problem! Your prize package will head out this week too.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I had to stare at those cards for much too long before I noticed the error!
DeleteRyan's care packages are by far the most delicious in the blogosphere. Never seen pear flavored Hi-Chew. Gonna have to look for it the next time I go to the Japanese grocery store.
ReplyDeleteYou should! I like Hi-Chew a lot. One of my Army/church friends was a missionary in Japan, so he would always bring Hi-Chew to our National Guard weekends. That's where I discovered them.
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