This is one of the nicest die cut sets since the artwork is very realistic compared to some others from that time which were quite a bit cruder. And of the "realistic" looking ones, its one of the few to show most of the player's body rather than just a head shot. The team logos on the bottom also add a really nice touch, as do the bold colors.
The backs have a circle at the top which say either "Pacific League" or Central League, while the player's name is written in the dark column in the middle.
From left to right I've got Yoshio Tempo, Nobuo Oshima, Kaoru Betto (HOF) and Hiroshi Oshita (HOF).
Engel has catalogued 18 cards in this set but there might be more. It has an R3 rarity rating which means there are fewer than 100 copies of each known to exist, which seems about right. This is one set which I really do want to complete since they are so beautiful, but will likely take some work as they don't show up in auctions that often!
Nice looking cards...the early 1950s Japanese die-cut cards are pretty sharp....and carrying on the Japanese menko artwork tradition.
ReplyDeleteVery sharp indeed :)
DeleteIt's a shame that vintage Japanese baseball cards don't receive the same amount of love as MLB cards. If there was a vintage card from the 50's of an MLB hall of famer with a population of less than 100... that card would be worth a small fortune.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they don't have the high profile with collectors yet, even in Japan. I think that is changing here though, once Japanese collectors become more aware of these (and they are becoming more so) I don't think they'll be as cheap as they are now.
DeleteThose are nice. I like the die-cut cards because of how different they are than standard American cards. (Round ones too. In general I'm in favor of weirdly shaped baseball cards.) When I'm flipping through my binder of Japanese cards it's always a bit of a disappointment to get to the section with the BBM cards. Menkos and even Calbees are much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the Takagi card that I promised you should be on the way.
I do like that shape difference too, I keep my menko collections in binder pages too now and just love to flip through them.
DeleteAnd thanks! I got your Tabuchi, Minagawa and replacement Takagi in the mail about a week ago so they should be there soon!
They showed up today! Thanks a lot!
DeleteGreat! Do those complete your HOF set?
DeleteYes, it's finally done! (Until next winter when they induct somebody new.) I'll do write-ups for the last two guys when I get a chance.
DeleteCongrats, that is a really cool accomplishment!! I'll keep an eye out for your next write ups.
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