Large menko are cool....not only because of their large size, but because you very rarely see them. When you hold one you know you are holding something special because it took a small miracle for it to survive. It had to survive wars, moms cleaning out rooms, storage in small Japanese homes, and ruthless menko battles. So when I ran across this "large" set, I knew I needed to hold them, checklist them, and catalogue them. They are pretty cool, not doubt, and the photographs and print quality are second to none for the era. These R3811: 1938 Rikishi Large 7-8 menko measure about 2" x 4.5" and are a sight to behold. What about you, do you like to collect large, "oversized" cards or are they a pain?
Have a great week everyone and sayonara!
When you said oversized, I was thinking like modern box topper sized, which really would've been something. As is, these shouldn't be too hard to store, postcard toploaders should work great for these guys.
ReplyDeleteYeah, these fit well in the 4-pocket sheets, but still larger than I am used to.
DeleteIs this why you wanted the 4-pocket pages? Like all of your other vintage sumo cards, these are awesome. Oversized cards can be challenging to store, but I don't mind the challenge.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, how were these Menko distributed? Did they come inside of another product (like Kellogg's cereal cards)? Or were they sold as trading cards?
Yeah, I used up all my 4-pocket pages...I am not sure how these larger ones were distributed. The smaller ones came in a small box with a paper ring. I like these larger ones and because they are so rare, they are pretty cool to grab when I can.
DeleteThose look really great.
ReplyDeleteI'm torn on oversized cards. On the one hand they really do look cool and are nice to hold and look at, way more so than standard sized cards. On the other they could probably do a reality show called "Storage nightmares" dedicated entirely to card collectors trying to figure out how to store them. They are basically square pegs and all our supplies are round holes.
They do tend to be that way and fortunately they aren't too large to fit in a binder with all my other menko...a bit of a pain, but a unique pain.
DeleteNice pick-up. Menko cards have always been fun, but oversized cards are indeed a pain. The Sportscaster cards, for example, have always been a weird, in-between card to try to find room in a binder, without having to resort to a whole mess of 4-card pages.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Sportscasters are a bit odd to manage. Love the menko!
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