Scratch-&-Sniff: Japanese Sumo Wrestling Style

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, BBM was doing some cool things with their sets and insert sets that were somewhat "revolutionary" for their time...at least for sumo wrestling cards.  One item that seemed to be most unique were the aroma cards that smelled of bintsuke.  For those new to the sumo wrestling world, bintsuke is a hair oil/wax that wrestlers (actually, geisha use it too) have put in their hair when they are getting it styled.  It has a sweet smell and helps give the wrestlers that sheen as well as helps stiffen the hair to allow hairdressers to style it without it falling down.  Once you smell it, you'll instantly recognize it at any time in the future and it is a smell synonymous with sumo wrestling.  In 1998 BBM decided to put small patches of thin felt on a 6-card insert set (see below) and put a bit of bintsuke on them to create the "Smell of Bintsuke".  A really cool idea that is somewhat unique among trading cards, especially in Japan.  Unfortunately, 20 years later the aroma on most of these insert cards has long disappeared, but the thought that BBM was once edgy and cutting edge lingers on.