2018 BBM 2nd Version Set

2018 BBM 2nd Version Set Summary

Size: 318 cards (cards numbered 337-600, then 18 cards of "Ceremonial First Pitch" subset are separately numbered FP01-FP18 and 36 cards for "Cross Universe" subset are separately numbered CU37-CU72)
Cards Per Team: 19 (team card + 18 players)
Team Card Theme: Mascots
Number Of Leader Cards: N/A
Checklists: 0
Subsets: 1st Version Update (36), Ceremonial First Pitch (18), Cross Universe (36)
Inserts: Real Deal, Phantom (each serially numbered to 25)
Memorabilia Cards: Jersey cards for Kotaro Kiyomiya and Shosei Nakamura along with a "Combination" jersey card with both of them.  The single jersey cards are numbered to 200 while the "Combination" card is numbered to 10 (I think).  There's a patch version of the Jersey cards that are numbered to 22 (not sure if there's a patch version of the combination card).  There are autograph cards of many players available as well as autographed version of many of the Ceremonial First Pitch cards.  (I'm a bit iffy on the numbering because I could only find a few auctions on Yahoo! Japan Auctions for the memorabilia cards.)
Parallels: 12 regular player cards have a "secret" alternate photo version.  10 of the 1st Version Update cards and 54 of the regular player cards have five different facsimile autograph parallels - silver (unnumbered), gold (numbered to 100), hologram (numbered to 50), red (numbered to 25) and green (numbered to 10).  There are two parallels for the "Cross Universe" cards - one is numbered to 100 and the other is a "1 of 1".  There are two parallels for the Ceremonial First Pitch cards one numbered to 200 and the other to 50.  I think there are two different parallels for the Real Deal insert cards - one numbered to 150 and the other numbered to 50.
Notable Rookies: None

I really am starting to run out of things to say about BBM's flagship sets.  This year's edition of 2nd Version follows the same pattern that BBM's been doing with it since 2015.  There's a total of 216 "regular" player cards (18 per team), a 36 card "1st Version Update" subset (3 cards per team), a 36 card "Cross Universe" subset (3 cards per team), 12 team cards featuring mascots and 18 "Ceremonial First Pitch" cards. 

The regular player cards are nice looking but have the usual issue of unimaginative poses.  Way too many shots of pitchers pitching and batters batting.  There are a handful of interesting shots though.  Here's a bunch of examples of both the dull and the interesting:

#491

#534

#550

#472

#561

#431

#388

The backs of the cards have the stats through May 27th:

#411

I believe there are 23 players who have regular cards in this set who did not appear in this year's 1st Version set - Yuki Ariyoshi and Taiga Hirasawa of the Marines; Junki Itoh and Daisuke Sobue of the Dragons; Yuichi Honda and Keizo Kawashima of the Hawks; Takayoshi Noma of the Carp; Taisho Tamai of the Carp; Kenya Wakatsuki of the Buffaloes; Shota Takekuma of the Lions; Hiroyuki Fukuyama of the Eagles; Takahiro Araki, Kazuki Kondoh, Hikaru Nakao, Naomichi Nishiura and Yoshinori Satoh of the Swallows; Tomoua Mikami, Hiroki Minei and Yoshiki Sunada of the Baystars and Hirokazu Sawamura, Seiji Tahara, Tetsuya Utsumi and Mitsuo Yoshikawa of the Giants.  With the 36 players in the "1st Version Update" subset there are 59 players who appear in 2nd Version who were not in 1st Version.

Oddly enough for the second year in a row one of the players who has a memorabilia card does not appear in the set.  Shosei Nakamura of the Carp does not have a card in the set.  Last year Seigi Tanaka of the Hawks had a memorabilia card but no "regular" card in the set.

The "1st Version Update" subset contains cards using this year's 1st Version set's design for players who for whatever reason didn't show up in the 1st Version set.  This includes late signing players like Koji Uehara, Duente Heath and Yurisbel Gracial as well as players that for whatever reason just didn't get included in the earlier set like Xavier Batista, Seiya Inoue, Oswaldo Arcia and Shingo Kawabata.

#351

#360

The team cards feature mascots yet again.  This is the ninth of the last ten years that either the 1st or 2nd Version set has featured mascots on the team cards - the only year it didn't happen was 2012.

#590

2nd Version contains the second half of the "Cross Universe" subset that was started in 1st Version.  As usual it's features three cards per team for a total of 36 cards.  They are numbered separately from the rest of the set - #CU37 to #CU72.

#CU71

The final subset is the "Ceremonial First Pitch" one which at 18 cards is I believe the largest the subset has ever been.  As usual it features a number of Japanese celebrities although for the first time in a few years it does not include Ami Inamura.  The Japanese Olympic speed skating team is well represented in the set as it includes Nao Kodaira along with Miho Takagi and her sister Nana Takagi.  Another Olympian in the subset is figure skater Wakaba Higuchi.  The other celebrities are Riho Asaka (model), Nanako Fujita (jockey), Ami Hachiya (model/actress), Rena Hasegawa (singer from NGT48), Norie Ichihashi (Miss Japan), Maria Makino (singer from Morning Musume), Hideki Matsuyama (golfer), Shizuka Nakamura (actress), Kazumasa Oda (singer), Haruhi Ryoga (actress), Shinobu Sakagami (actor), Yu Serizawa (singer with iRis), Ryuhei Ueshima (actor) and Azusa Uesugi (Talent).  The cards in the subset are numbered #FP01 to #FP18.

#FP12

As always you can see all the cards (including inserts and parallels) over at Jambalaya.