Double-Double: JRM 38: 1960 Oh & Nagashima Menko

Most people shy away from odd-sized cards. Topps Big and 1989 Bowman don't fit in normal pages properly, and they were fairly large releases. And Topps' mini cards don't do so well either; the tobacco minis have dedicated pages but those other minis can be tough. And then you can add in other oddballs - postcard-sized cards, round cards (Fleer Hardball), Goudey, and all of those other odd releases from the past.

I love that stuff, though. I want all the Topps Mini sets from the 1980s and the recent throwbacks too. I have the '89 Topps Big set. They're not the easiest things to store with the rest of a collection, but they are fun to have. 

And when it comes to Japanese cards, "standard" card size didn't really arrive until the 1990s. In the 1960s, many menko cards were standardized to a "tobacco card" size, but with their extra thickness they are still a bit big. Add to that some great die-cut menko and plenty of round ones, and you have a lot of variety in card sizes, even in the past 60-70 years. (To put that into perspective, Topps issued its first major standard-sized card set 60 years ago.)

The 1960 Oh & Nagashima Menko set is truly oddball sized. The set of four cards have identical designs - the player's surname is in a colored box, a menko number and a playing card also appear over the posed color photographs. Backs are blank. However, this four-card set comes in four different sizes. The smallest card goes to Nagashima, at 2-1/16". The two Oh cards are 2-7/16" and 2-15/16", while the final Nagashima, seen above, is a massive 4-1/4" wide.

Given that the set includes four different-sized round cards, my guess is that the "set" was printed on a single sheet. This is purely speculative, but makes some sense, because many menko sets needed to be cut or punched out from a full sheet.

Let's Talk Variations: 1947-1950 Green/Red Background Round Menko

Variations have existed almost as long as trading cards have. The first notable variations were probably Old Judge photo variations, which date back to one of the first trading card sets! Many (most?) people, including me, consider those unique cards, though. However, jump ahead a couple decades, and the Big Tobacco card sets, such as T206, are well known for their different advertising backs.

These days, variations are a marketing gimmick, but back then, they were just circumstantial. And looking at Japan's card history, there are similar ... um ... circumstances.

Menko cards have come with a wide variety of variations. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, menko was a game and the fronts weren't so important. Different backs meant different games that could be played, which resulted in some card fronts being found with different style backs. And the opposite - recycling backs - meant that less time could be spent on designing the backs, and manufacturers could just churn out a new series of the latest popular stars with half of the effort. Similarly, I'm sure printing methods resulted in intentional mixing of backs and fronts in some series.

But beyond that, menko cards seem to frequently come in a variety of basic styles on a theme. Again, recycling concepts saved time at the drawing board. Take the round menko set JRM 1 and its five cousins.

One of the earliest pro baseball menko sets, JRM 1 was issued in 1948 and features 12 cards which are 2-11/16" in diameter. The tops are red, the bottoms are green. This set has a variation which indicates that it may have been reprinted. Specifically, there are no parentheses around the team name, and the line between the two background colors is yellow instead of black.

A little earlier than JRM 1 is JRM 1a, issued in 1947. The only real difference in design is the font, though these are a bit smaller. Again, this set has a variation in that it was issued in two different sizes (1-7/8" and 2-1/4" diameters).

Also in 1947 is JRM 1d, where the cards are larger than JRM 1a (but smaller than JRM 1), at 2-3/16" diameter.

Then, in 1950, a couple more sets with this design were issued. JRM 1b has two types, both which are the same size as JRM 1 (2-11/16" diameter). The first uses the same background style as JRM 1 (red over green), with black and white photos and more professional-looking text. Type II uses the same photos and text, but the backgrounds are solid blue, pink, or red - with each player having all three variations!

Finally, JRM 1c is a larger version of JRM 1b Type I, just larger (3-11/16" wide).

All of the sets are at least somewhat rare, but the 1950 sets are tougher to find, with 1c being the most difficult. In some cases, players are found in multiple sets, but the cards aren't all parallels of each other, excepting JRM 1b's Type I, and the three colors for Type II. And not all players in Type I appear in Type II, so it is a partial parallel.

Here is a JRM 1c. The player is Atsushi Aramaki, a pitcher for the Mainichi Orions. Aramaki had a pretty successful career over about 13 seasons, going 173-107 with a 2.23 ERA and 1069 strikeouts. This would be his rookie card, as he started playing in 1950. Following his pitching career, he would go on to coach the Braves and Atoms for a combined four-plus years, before passing away on May 12, 1971.

I also have a JRM 1 and JRM 1a in my collection, so I have three of the six types so far. The quest goes on!

Truly Stale Gum: 1949 Asayama Fusen Gum (Type I)

When it comes to trading cards in Japan, gum doesn't get older than this.

The earliest cataloged food issue from Japan is the card you see right here. While it's highly possible that there are older cards in existence, the latest issue of Engel's guide has this right at the top in the "Misc. Vintage Food, Candy and Gum Cards" category.

Coming in around just 1-1/16" wide and 1-7/16" tall, give or take, these are somewhere around the size of those tiny Topps Micro cards from around 1992. At least five series were issued, or at least types of cards were designed.

Type I is the version you see here - I think. This is the easiest to distinguish because "Asayama Fusen Gum" is printed vertically (that's the white box near the top). However, the example in Engel's book has two white boxes, with the player's name appearing in the second box as well. Furthermore, none of the cards listed is the one I have. That doesn't mean it doesn't come from this series, because there are possibly uncataloged cards in this set.

Type II has the Asayama Fusen Gum box at the bottom, horizontally, with a border around that box.

Type III's horizontal box is also at the bottom, but oval-shaped (possibly without a border?).

Type IV has the text at the bottom, but without a box.

Finally, Type V features San Francisco Seals players exclusively, and there is a white box at the bottom without a border.

The cards are all blank-backed and quite rare, receiving the designation "R5" - the rarest scarcity of known copies. As such, they carry a premium in better condition. I got the card above from a seller who listed several different singles from many of the series, but I was outbid on the other auctions. Still, this is a pretty cool little (really little) card to have!