BBA: This card is cheap... er, cool!

Fuji must have designed his current contest with me in mind. I bet he was thinking, "Hey. Ryan needs some incentive to write posts again. He only posts once a month these days. I know! This year's mega-contest will have a blog bat-around component! That'll work!"

Damn. He knows me better than I know myself.

Anyway, his current question:

What's a cheap (under $5), cool card you feel every collector should add to their collection?

My answer, in 1000+1 words:

MENKO.

Seriously, the first time I saw a baseball menko card I fell in love. There are round menko like the one above (which, by the way, comes in nearly half a dozen different sizes).

 There are colorful artistic menko, like the ones above and below.

And there are die-cut menko (though those can be pretty expensive).

If you want, you can get them in subjects other than baseball:

 Cartoons...

 Movies...

 Cartoons/TV Shows/Movies...

Trains...

Yes, even trains. I have a couple of those.

What will a menko cost you? In America, it could be kind of expensive. But the giant round baseball menko at the top ran me 200 yen (about $2.50), and the non-sport menko (in non-mint condition, as to be expected) ran me less than 40 yen (about 50 cents) each.

Menkos are a unique, fun way of collecting cards, and old ones are fairly rare. But they're still pretty inexpensive. And while most of them feature players you've never heard of, they make for a great conversation piece! The cartoon ones make for nice wall art, too. (Hmm. There's a thought! Scan and blow up the image for a menko, and frame the enlarged image. I might just do that...)

By the way, I have some extra menkos sitting around, and after I take care of the (at least) seven people I promised Japanese cards to, I'll probably post some as trade bait!

(By the way, Fuji, a package was just sent your direction. Let me know when you get it!)