Bandai-Namco’s 2024 Deforme Baseball Cards Come With a Sharp Snack Surprise

Bandai-Namco’s 2024 Pro Baseball Deforme Card Collection caught my eye for the cards, then lost me at the snack. The new supermarket find pairs a single baseball card with a bag of kaki no tane, a crunchy rice snack whose strong flavor won’t appeal to every collector—or every young fan. The cards look lively, though, and the set offers 36 designs to seek out.

A new card on the snack shelf

I spotted the packs at my local AEON supermarket while looking for Calbee baseball chips from Series 2. Those chips had appeared in the store for a few days before selling out, so I was pleased to find another baseball-card product on the shelves. The large display was hard to miss, and the package artwork was enough to make me take a closer look.

The product was unfamiliar to me, and the package didn’t make the snack type obvious at a glance. A small orange label on the front identifies what’s inside, but it’s easy to overlook. My attention was on the card attached to the back of the bag, a format that will feel familiar to collectors who have picked up Calbee cards with their chips.

At 168 yen, a pack costs more than the 108-yen Calbee chips I’d been searching for. It also includes one card instead of Calbee’s two. I bought one anyway: the unfamiliar design and the bright packaging made it a tempting first look at a set I hadn’t known was coming.

Taiki Sekine in caricature

The card I pulled features Baystars player Taiki Sekine. Its caricature style isn’t usually my favorite, but the artwork has a pleasant energy, and the set’s product images suggest a colorful run of designs. That gives the collection a clear visual identity. For collectors, the card itself is the main draw: a small, characterful portrait that stands apart from a standard player photo.

The reverse provides a different view of the card’s presentation. As with any snack-attached collectible, it’s worth checking how the card is positioned and handled when opening a pack if you want to keep it in clean condition. This first example gave me a look at both sides, though a single card can’t tell us how the full 36-card set is distributed or whether particular designs are harder to find.

The set appears to have reached my local shop just a couple of days after its debut, based on the product information I found on Bandai-Namco’s site. That quick arrival is a welcome detail for anyone eager to start collecting. The 36-card checklist gives the collection a defined scope, while the pack format means each purchase brings both a card and a snack. The catch is that the snack choice is part of the deal, not a separate option.

The unexpected part of the pack

I considered buying some for my kids, then noticed that the package recommends the product for people aged 15 and older. That seemed surprising for a product built around cartoon-style baseball cards. Once I opened the bag, the reason for the age recommendation felt less mysterious: inside was kaki no tane.

Kaki no tane is a crisp rice snack with a forceful, bitter flavor. I find it hard to enjoy: the taste leaves my mouth feeling overwhelmed, with a sharpness that reminds me of eating too much wasabi, though it’s milder. The snack is often served with peanuts, which soften the experience. This pack had no peanuts, just the rice pieces on their own.

That pairing changes the appeal of the product for me. The cards and bags have enough charm to earn a place on the shelf, and my Taiki Sekine card was a fun first pull. But the snack is not a minor detail when each pack costs 168 yen and contains only one card. I won’t be buying more for myself, and I’m passing on these as a treat for my kids. For now, I’ll keep looking for Calbee Series 2: its chips are something my family will happily eat, alongside the cards.