A torn-open foil trading card pack on a Japanese convenience store counter at evening, seven baseball cards fanned out, one card shimmering holographic, a smartphone beside them scanning a small square code printed on the back of one card

I Bought a Pack of Japanese Baseball Cards. They Play the Season.

I used to collect baseball cards in the 1990s in the USA and on a whim bought a Japanese pack in a konbini for 500 yen… What I found inside was not the cardboard nostalgia I expected. It was something far more interesting. The pack was from Bandai’s Pro Baseball Fan Stars League (プロ野球 ファンスターズリーグ), …