40 year quest finally completed

[DBesse27]

Congrats, I would love to see some of the cards!

[irv]

Originally Posted by DBesse27

Congrats, I would love to see some of the cards!

Congrats!

And X2 on the pics. Post some up if can.

[spaidly]

Congrats! Saduhara Oh had the highest kick ever! My Dad brought me back a bunch of Japanese cards back from Japan in the seventies. Sold all that stuff in the mid eighties.

[darkhorse9]

Here's a scan of part of the set. That's Oh in the upper left hand corner.

The biggest challenge is not being able to read Japanese made it tough to know what cards I had and what I didn't.

[JollyElm]

O/T, but does anyone else wonder why in heck the Japanese teams use the English alphabet on their jerseys?? That's odd.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

O/T, but does anyone else wonder why in heck the Japanese teams use the English alphabet on their jerseys?? That's odd.

Lefty O'Doul helped set up the Japanese professional leagues. The Tokyo Giants were named in tribute to his then-team. He is one of only a few Americans in the Japanese baseball HOF. Part of the modeling on the American game was the use of English language in team logos. That tradition has remained. After the war Lefty was among the first to bring American baseball to Japan, touring with the Seals as well as some MLBers. Here are some cards:

1949:



1951 Lefty and Joe D:



1951 PC

[Shoebox]

Congratulations on completing your quest and thanks for sharing pics. Has to be a very satisfying feeling after so long of searching.

[Bestdj777]

That's an awesome looking set. Congrats!

[DBesse27]

Those are very attractive cards. Why are they called "flag backs"? And I've always wondered what "Menko" means. Is that just their word for trading cards?

[darkhorse9]

Originally Posted by DBesse27

Those are very attractive cards. Why are they called "flag backs"? And I've always wondered what "Menko" means. Is that just their word for trading cards?

The backs of the cards feature a flag with the team logo. Many of the sets from that period look very similar on the front so the English separation comes from a back design feature (Flag back, Bat on Right etc.)

Oddly most every set from that era also features a game of Rock-paper-Scissors on the back. Where American kids could use some sets to play a baseball game, Japanese kids liked playing rock-paper-scissors

[MCoxon]

This is an amazingly cool-looking set. Any idea how rare they are? I'm guessing if you've spent 40 years and been searching throughout, pretty rare.

Do others on the board know - are there Japanese card collectors in the same way the US/Canada has such a large group of card collectors?