1940s Japanese Menko cards?

jjbond · #1 07-26-2023, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kawika

Wouldn't dream of collecting a set. Too esoteric for me, brah. No can handle.

Yeah, I'm torn at trying to work on full sets, or trying a one-of-each just to see all the lovely variety.

seanofjapan · #2 07-27-2023, 08:40 AM

I love menko. I’ve spent about twenty years living in Japan and have a pretty decent collection of them with a fair number of sets either complete or semi complete. Its a lot easier to put them together if you live here. This is one of my menko binders

jjbond · #3 07-27-2023, 01:42 PM

Yeah, the more I read, the more fascinating it is to see the difference between Japanese and American collectors. I do think it's only a matter of time until PSA and the perfect condition quest begins to dominate.

What do collectors do with all the unclassified Menko cards? Is this something that is actively sought out (thinking that they would be more rare/unique/valuable than the standard fare), or do people focus on what they can classify with a checklist?

#4 07-27-2023, 02:43 PM

I just have a few especially of Wally Yanomine

seanofjapan · #5 07-27-2023, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjbond

Yeah, the more I read, the more fascinating it is to see the difference between Japanese and American collectors. I do think it's only a matter of time until PSA and the perfect condition quest begins to dominate.

What do collectors do with all the unclassified Menko cards? Is this something that is actively sought out (thinking that they would be more rare/unique/valuable than the standard fare), or do people focus on what they can classify with a checklist?

Unfortunately PSA has opened an office in Japan and is slowly creeping its way into the hobby here. On the plus side though (as a guy who collects raw cards), the hobby here is way less focused on condition than people are in the US. I just checked and on Yahoo Auctions (Japan's ebay) there are a little over 300,000 listings in the baseball card category right now. Out of those only 640 are PSA graded cards (zero SCG graded ones, and about a dozen Beckett). Everything else is in its natural state!

Dealers in Japan have also been slow to take up the grading scale used in the US (Mint, nmt, exmt, etc etc). Usually dealers either won't state a card's grade at all, or will use a three tier system (high, medium, low) that really just gives a ballpark estimate.

Menko collecting in Japan is kind of weird though in that Japanese collectors view it as a different category of collectible than baseball cards.

I think this is changing now, mainly due to the influence of American collectors, but it used to be that baseball menko were part of the general "Vintage toy" collecting scene. So the dealers who sold modern baseball cards almost never sold them, and if you wanted to find them you had to go to guys who mainly sold old toys. I wrote a blog post a few months back about one of those dealers, they are quite neat:

https://baseballcardsinjapan.blogspo...-in-japan.html

Japanese collectors of menko (not just baseball ones) don't have a good idea of what sets are out there since there are no definitive catalogues. In fact the vintage guide by Engel is the only catalogue of baseball menko out there and it only exists in English, only a few Japanese collectors are even aware of it (this is changing a bit too, more seem to be becoming aware of it).

commishbob · #6 07-27-2023, 10:49 PM

I've sold off much of my card collection but I've held on to my Japanese Menkos and Bromides. There is just something about thiam that made me want to hang on to them. here are a few random pics culled from my old blog. Sorry for the size.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Help identify a japanese menko please	gonefishin	Net54baseball Vintage (WWII & Older) Baseball Cards & New Member Introductions	5	06-28-2022 07:42 PM
Fs 18- 1960�s menko japanese baseball cards	bengineno9	1960-1979 Baseball Cards B/S/T	1	12-25-2019 04:01 PM
REDUCED PRICES: 1958 Menko + rare SHIGEO NAGASHIMA Japanese HOF Rookie cards	h2oya311	1950 to 1959 Baseball cards- B/S/T	1	12-06-2016 03:59 PM
(3) 1940s Japanese Baseball Type Cards--Ends 9/2	Orioles1954	Live Auctions - Only 2-3 open, per member, at once.	3	09-02-2016 10:17 AM
(2) Vintage 1940s Japanese Round Menko Baseball Cards--Ends 9/2	Orioles1954	Live Auctions - Only 2-3 open, per member, at once.	10	09-02-2016 10:17 AM