Chuck Norris Rookie Cards - 1974 Japanese Yamakatsu/The Way of the Dragon

When Chuck Norris goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Bruce Lee.  Believe it or not, these two legends met on the screen in 1972 in the movie The Way of the Dragon eventually leading to (spoiler alert) Chuck Norris', aka Colt, death.  Probably the one and only time a Chuck Norris fact that doesn't play out in his favor.  During the insane Bruce Lee hype that swept through Japan in the early 1970s, Yamakatsu captured these two martial artists on a set of trading cards leading to rookie cards of the now famous Chuck Norris.  The Way of the Dragon set has 48 cards with some repeating images, but most of them capturing Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in different stages of their final duel.  Adding additional cards to my personal collection of this 1974 Yamakatsu set is one of the goals that I set for myself this year.  It'll be difficult to complete this year, but I'd like to get a lot closer than where I am at.  In the meantime, these three rookie cards of Chuck Norris will have to be some of the highlights of my 1970s Japanese card collection.

Thanks Billy for inspiring this post with his awesome Bruce Lee NASCAR card.

What's your favorite Chuck Norris fact?

Mine is:

After Chuck Norris got done vacationing in The Virgin Islands, they were just known as The Islands.