Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Mystery Solved - Spanish Flea Market and Portuguese Calendar Cards
I've had these six 1986 sumo wrestling cards for a while and was never able to really place them except they appeared to be from Lisbon, Portugal and measure 2 3/4" x 3 3/8". All backs are identical on the sumo set. Last weekend, however, I was exploring Madrid's famous Rastro Flea Market and came across a booth that was selling hundreds of different calendar card sets including the exact same sumo set I had in my collection. After browsing all the sets, it appears that from the mid 1980s to early 1990s, these calendar cards were the hot thing to collect in Spain and Portugal. There was everything from celebrities, to art, to animals, to sports....you name it, there was a set for it. I was able to purchase these 3 sets for 10 Euro (~$12): the 6-card 1986 Sumo Wrestling set, the 12-card 1986 Mr. Olympia Bodybuilding Set, and the 12-card 1990 Space Exploration set. Then when I got back home I went to eBay and bam.....I typed in "Portuguese Calendar Cards" and this whole new world opened up for me. See for yourself. I can't imagine any of them are licensed, but what do you guys think? Cool or not cool?
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Portuguese sumo wrestling cards found at a Spanish flea market? Sounds like they were meant to be in your collection. Congratulations on the find!
ReplyDeleteFor sure, but now I have two sets! I could have walked away with about 50 sets since they were that unique. But I didn’t want to start another collection focus. Tools lots of willpower!
DeleteVery cool! But I think they mistook Kitanoumi for Takanosato - I guess they're both pretty surly looking.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about that. Glad you were able to confirm. These looks like they are almost screen grabs from tv or a video. Interesting that the sumo set only has 6 cards in it. When I saw this booth, I was excited since I thought I might find 6 additional cards since most of these sets have 12 cards in them.
DeleteGod, the life you lead! I can't even imagine ever being able to just casually mention that I was at a flea market in Madrid...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds crazy, right? But European travel is super cheap. You can get flights, an Air B&B, and meals for a weekend for the same cost as it takes just for the airline ticket to fly across the US and back.
DeleteLooks like an amazing experience! Must be quite the shopping extravaganza! These Sumo men are nothing less than intimidating. I also think about their knees and wonder how well they hold up supporting all that weight.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely cool to be there.....and these guys definitely put a lot strain on their body.
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