Thursday, November 15, 2018

Itty Bitty Teeny Weeny - New Sumo Wrestling Set / 1940 Mini Rikishi 5 (R4011)

Sumo menko from the 1930s are not all that uncommon which is really surprising given the amount of destruction that occurred in the 1940s during World War II.  What is really unusual, however, are really small menko from the 1930s.  How these survived without falling into small little crevices and being lost forever are beyond me.  These are the only six from this set that I have ever seen in the almost 20 years of me collecting.  This particular set is from 1940 and easy to date because Ayanobori was only ranked a Komusubi for a few tournaments and lines up to 1940 with the other rikishi ranks as well.  I've labeled this as the 1940 Mini Rikishi 5 set with a catalog number of R4011.

What is the smallest card set you have seen?







4 comments:

  1. Omg. Those are small!! And they’re commonly found ? So cool!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1930s sumo menko are fairly common. These smalls ones, though, are not common at all.

      Delete
  2. Wow, these are really cool! And like you said, it's absolutely amazing that they were able to survive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are definitely tiny. With the destruction in Japan during WWII, I am amazed that this stuff survived.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete