This auction had me super excited as I counted down the days until it ended and I wasn't about ready to let these slip through my fingers.  For the vintage sumo menko and card collectors, this is the toughest set to find in the post-menko era (after 1964).  Some of the very first lenticular/3D cards in both the Japanese baseball and sumo world, this 15-20 card set features baseball players, boxers, and sumo wrestlers.  These black-backed wonders capture the very first card of Takamiyama, the first foreigner to win a sumo tournament, as well as Tamanoumi who was destined for greatness only to pass away shortly after this card was produced from appendicitis.  I have seen only one other of these (another Takamiyama) and these will likely only pop up once every 5-10 years at the rate I am seeing them.  Distribution of these is unknown, but could have very well been issued with candy or gum.  Have a great week and stay safe out there.  Sayonara!

Japanese candy/gum cards were quite popular back in the 1950s and 1960s and were used as marketing ploys to help entice the young ones to spend their hard-earned yen on the treats and prizes.  Sumo was at a peak in popularity during this time, but there were few types of cards to market the wrestlers.  Menko was past its heyday and bromides were quickly becoming a thing of the past.  Candy and gum cards had a short burst of energy in the late 1950s and early 1960s which happend to capture these current wrestlers of the day.  These paper-thin cards are extremely hard to find and very rarely come up for auction.  I can't imagine there are many still out there as the thin paper is easily damaged and many were likely thrown out by uninspired collectors.  I have seen less than 10 of these in about 20 years lending some credence to their rarity.  These three happen to be of some of the lower-ranked wrestlers, but I can imagine any of the top wrestlers of the day would command a premium.

Here is a metal box that distributors would have sold to candy shops which would have contained the smaller candy boxes.

I hope everyone has a wonder Christmas!  Cheers!

This A-series candy card has been in my Lone Sole binder for a while now....a Yokozuna Yoshibayama caramel card (キャラメル　カード) from the Morinaga （森永）company...at least I think it is Morinaga as I haven't seen this particular company mark used before.  I haven't seen any other cards similar to this in all the years I have been collecting as well so this set must be quite rare.  It is from somewhere between 1954 and 1957 given that Yoshibayama was a Yokozuna during those years.  It also appears like it might have been cut out of a box of caramels, but not sure.  If anyone has any info, it would be much appreciated.

I don't want any more cards from this set.......says no sumo card collector ever.  The 1964 Morinaga Top Star Gun Color Stand-Up set is such a unique and a rare set for sumo collectors, that it is difficult to obtain in terms of availability and price....but a must have for any collection.  Most examples that I have seen have sold for around $100 per card making this 5-card set quite expensive.  Morinaga has been around since the late 1800s and has been making candy products since.  For those that love Hi-Chew (my hand is raised too), this is the same company.  Here is Mr. Morinaga with a couple of the logos that have been used over the years.





The current checklist for the sumo set is at 5 cards with the 3 Yokozuna (Taiho, Kashiwado, Tochinoumi) and 2 of the Ozeki (Sadanoyama, Yutakayama) from 1964.  Likely there are more cards in the set...possibly up to 10...or at least 7 to cover all the Yokozuna and Ozeki.  It is unknown how these were distributed, but the backs are meant to be punched out to form a stand that displays the cards on a desk or shelf.  There are baseball versions of these as well that are more common, but the sumo cards are very difficult to find.  At 5.5" x 3.5" in size, these bright blue bordered card with simple images make these very attractive.