1962 Japanese Star Playing Cards - Baseball & Sumo Wrestling

This is a set I have been eying for a while having missed out on it many years ago.  Another one popped up recently and I quickly snagged it as you don't see them often.  This set is from late 1962 and features circular playing cards with famous actors, actresses, singers, and sports stars.  Issued in a children's magazine as a promotional item likely for the New Year's magazines that came out in December or early January, these types of sets were common throughout the 1950s and 1960s.   Heck, there are even a few American actors in the set namely Vincent Edwards and Harry Mills and the famous Japanese singer, Kyu Sakamoto, who died in the deadliest single plane accident in history: Japan Airlines Flight 123.

Representing the sumo wrestling community is Yokozuna Taiho who was on his meteoric rise to stardom in 1962.  Three Japanese baseball players garnered cards in this set: Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, and Yukio Osaki.  Osaki seemed like and odd choice to include in the set, but if you look at his performance in 1962, he was Rookie of the year and his team, the Toei Flyers, went on to win the Japan Series so he was a bright star in late 1962.  A lot of people had high hopes for him, but he eventually faded away not achieving his expected greatness.

Not a lot of people chase these oddball issues, but I love the thrill of the chase and finding these obscure sets that help build the sumo wrestling card repository.