MLB The Show 19, brought to you by Todd McFarlane
They haven’t done this for any year besides 2019, but MLB The Show used to have merch! McFarlane Toys would sell you a figure of an MLB player, and the box has PlayStation and The Show branding (and a code for 10 Diamond Dynasty packs inside).
I hadn’t heard of these until stumbling into an auction listing recently. They look a little nicer than your average Starting Lineup figure. It is funny that The Show would end up on the box at all when these are real MLB players and not original creations of Sony, but including digital card codes made some sense.
The players in this set were: Javier Baez, Aaron Judge, J.D. Martinez, Francisco Lindor, Jose Altuve, and Mookie Betts.
They are listed for all kinds of different prices on auction sites. Will try and track a few down at a decent price eventually.
MLB The Show 24 Negro Leagues Edition
In more recent news, MLB The Show 24 has unveiled their collector’s edition package for this year, themed around the Negro Leagues:
The Captain Edition featuring Derek Jeter was last year’s version of the game thing: Get early access to the game, a steelbook, some digital codes for Diamond Dynasty, and a New Era ballcap. I like the hat and collector’s edition box art better this year.
The “Discover Greatness” logo on the hat seems to be a slight modification to a pre-existing one. It seems to be something the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City uses, maybe for their traveling exhibit also called Discover Greatness. The museum partnered with The Show last year for the new Negro League Storylines mode. It seems like they’ve very slightly redesigned one of their logos to add to the hat (the baseball player is looking right instead of left on the hat).
Mercari listing of the week
Not video game related, but I can’t resist showing you this $5 Rob Manfred autographed photo. The perfect gag gift for the last place finisher in a fantasy baseball league.
YouTube Viewing Guide
- Pro Yakyuu Spirits 6 (PS2) Gameplay – Somehow one of the only games with a real playable World Baseball Classic mode (how did MLB The Show 23 not even attempt this last year?). Seeing David Wright and Brian McCann in the Prospi engine warms my soul.
- MVP Baseball 2005 (GameCube) Gameplay – Everyone loves MVP Baseball, but man, I had a heck of a time relearning how to hit in this game. The push vs. pull swing mechanic seems too dependent on where the pitch lands in the zone. Or my timing is just off. Skill issue.
- Gekitou Pro Yakyuu (PS2) CPU vs. CPU Gameplay – Finally recorded some of this interesting Sega game that puts NPB pros and manga characters on the field together. I really need to read some Mizushima Shinji sometime.