1964 Morinaga Top Star Gum Color Stand-Ups (A641)

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.