Why do I love this card? It's an art card, it's die-cut, and it's enough of an oddball to remain unlisted in Engel's guide! I don't have many cards from the 1950s, but I believe I have more Japanese cards from 1940-1960 than US cards.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
The 30-Day Baseball Card Challenge (Day 9)
Day 9: One of your favorite cards from the 1950s
My posts over the past month or so should leave you with no doubt that I really like getting vintage Japanese cards. While pretty much any card is nice, I especially love the cartoon-like menko cards commonly sold around 1950. The card above might have been my first die-cut menko, and remains uncatalogued. The front has an image of what I believe to be a Yomiuri Giants player, but the kanji on the back says Daiei. The katakana below it says Nofuya or Nobuya (Nobuya makes more sense but I can't tell for sure).
Why do I love this card? It's an art card, it's die-cut, and it's enough of an oddball to remain unlisted in Engel's guide! I don't have many cards from the 1950s, but I believe I have more Japanese cards from 1940-1960 than US cards.
Why do I love this card? It's an art card, it's die-cut, and it's enough of an oddball to remain unlisted in Engel's guide! I don't have many cards from the 1950s, but I believe I have more Japanese cards from 1940-1960 than US cards.
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I've got at least one similar card from the 40's that shows a guy wearing a Meiji uniform but the back identifies a player who went to Hosei so I think the mismatch of front and back was common at the time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Engel's guide mentions that for a few sets. And the backs don't necessarily match up to the fronts for many menko too. It's unbelievably frustrating.
DeleteAwesome menko! There seem to be dozens of 1940s baseball menko sets, and a ton of them are uncatalogued. The 1940s-1960s was the golden era for menko for sure! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe more menko I find, the more uncatalogued issues I find. All those non-sport cards I found shed some light, too - the same backs (or designs) were used for many different issues, possibly over several years, not just for baseball. Engel's guide does make this somewhat obvious, but the extent of it is astounding. But then, these were just kid's toys back then. In fact, some Japanese people don't even think of menko cards as cards at all.
DeleteVery cool. Love the artwork on these die-cut Menko's.
ReplyDeleteMe too! And there's more to come!
DeleteSweet!
DeleteI went back and looked as I knew I recognized that menko back. There is one listed on page 3 of Japanese Baseball Card Quarterly 1991. It is odd that Engel doesn't have the set listed.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to get a copy of that magazine someday. It could be oversight on Engel's part or a lack of complete information about it. I do wish he would catalog more of the unknown stuff, which might encourage some crowdsourcing of more data.
DeleteThere was only one issue of the magazine released, but the back page has highlights of what was coming up in the 2nd issue. Wonder why they never released a 2nd issue? Could be cost or lost subscribership.
DeleteMost likely a lack of interest/subscribers. 1991 was BBM's first year so mostly there was only the truly old vintage stuff and Calbee to report on. And since Japanese players didn't come to the US at the time, and US players rarely made it back (Cecil Fielder being the most notable exception), there couldn't have been much interest overall, especially with all the big US releases coming out every year.
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