Many years ago I discovered this 1955 Renga 9 set...probably at least 10-12 years ago at this point...and they are so rare that I never knew there was an actual variation with this set. The backs come in two different ink colors: brown and blue. Finding any menko from this set is tough, now there are variations I'll have to chase. Aside from the back variations, this specific H553 set is gorgeous on the front...gold ink makes the images pop off the cardboard and adds to their quality and rarity. Featuring almost all the top-ranked wrestlers from 1955, it has and early card of Wakanohana who was extremely popular and ultimate taking sumo to new popularity heights before handing the reigns over to one of the greatest Yokozuna of all time, Taiho, in the early 1960s. Not to mention he was the uncle of Hanada boys who took sumo to all-time record heights in the early 1990s as Yokozuna Wakanohana and Takanohana!
H-Series menko are thick menko that were used as slammers used in the game. Much like their modern-day POG counterparts, this heavy slammer was used to flip over the game menko and these heavy menko were often cherished by children. It can be hit or miss on the quality of these menko...some like the H553 are still in great condition. Others, however, are often beat up as you would expect. These H-Series menko didn't just feature sumo wrestlers, but there are many famous movie and screen stars on several other sets.
I recently did a YouTube video on finding two additional menko from this set...Yokozuna Chiyonoyama and Yokozuna Tochinishiki.
Thanks for stopping by!
Those are beautiful! Are the "slammers" usually found in worse condition than other cards?
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, these gold foil ones must have been cherished by their owners as they are often found in good condition.
DeleteGreat looking cards! The dual image cards are my favorites.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I tend to agree with you there!
DeleteThe dual image cards remind me of Topps Gold Label, so much so that one can't help but wonder if someone at Topps saw one of these back in the 90's and decided to adapt it to modern baseball cards.
ReplyDeleteI have often wondered about there....there certainly have been a few Japanese designs that look like they copied Topps! I guess it goes both ways!
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