Making Time to Read - 1960s Japanese Sumo Wrestling Bookmark

These days, you'd think that I would have a lot more time to read....however, with the lines blurred between my work space and office space within the confines of my home I tend to spend a lot more time working which leaves a lot less time for reading.  I do love to read....magazines, manga, books, blogs...you name it, one of my escapes is reading and if you can throw in a fireplace to sit in front of, I am in heaven.  The Japanese are avid readers as well and bookmarks are a staple for any Japanese kid.  In the 1950s and 1960s, bookmarks were often given away as promotional items inside monthly children's magazines as is the case with this bookmark below.  The Manga King （まんが王）magazines were extremely popular from the early 1960s to 1970s and included this Yokozuna Wakanohana bookmark in a magazine from likely 1960 or 1961. This is the only one I have seen in almost two decades of collecting attesting to its rarity...much like the rarity in my reading time these days.

Stay safe out there and thanks for stopping by. 

German Cards and Pack Cards (Tutenbilder) - Pasler's Catalogs

I've continued my acquisition of German card collecting books and picked up the foremost authority on the post-war sets.  These are Gerd Pasler's Deutsche Cards und Tutenbilder (German Cards and Pack Cards).  These hardback monsters are definitely a work of art and really fun to thumb through.  The English-language part of the introduction section states that these books "have been put together with a great deal of enthusiasm and passion."  It contains "scans and photographs of practically ever known album covers" along with hundreds of scans of wrappers, boxes, and cards.

These books focus on sets from 1950-2013.  This is its really only downfall....it lacks focus as it contains, sports stars, cartoons, Panini stickers, UD German cards and a variety of different sets.  It would be nice for individual volumes to contain all these different subjects separately.  But this is really only a mild detraction as the quality and time put in these books is outstanding.

The first book is the entire catalog of sets....no individual cards are listed, only the sets and pertinent information on sets (# of cards, price, year released).  The second book is thinner and takes specific sets from the first book and actually checklists those sets in their entirety.  If it was up to me, I would have made 4-5 different books and checklisted the sets in each of those books with each book focusing on a different topic....sports, movies/tv, stickers, etc....

Hitting up the flea markets tomorrow...wish me luck!

German Advertising and Collectible Cards - Koberich's Catalogs

Since moving to Germany, I've had a lull in importing Japanese sumo cards so I have been keeping myself occupied with German cards.  Hopefully, everyone will find some interest in these as they are quite a fascinating piece of collecting.  Doing research, I quickly found that Angelika Koberich is the king cataloging German cards.  He also runs an antique book shop up in Rabenau Germany and has an online presence here.  I reached out to Mr. Koberich directly about ordering two of his books and he responded very quickly.  He even sent them to me with a bill enclosed so wasn't expecting payment up front.  I think that is common here in German and a nice bit of customer service.  The two books I ordered were his German Advertising and Collectable Cards from 1872-1945 (Volume 1) and 1946-2001 (Volume 2).  Having just published my Sumo Menko and Card Checklist, I am always fond of other card catalogers.  These books are simply amazing.  Each is hardcover and about 275 pages each.  Even with extremely basic German-language skills I was able to decipher on how to use them.  Although there are no pictures of cards in the sets, the catalog in both books is presented nicely (see picture) to find what set the cards belong to.  Each set has 1) Year produced, 2) Catalog Number and Sequence Number, 3) Title, 4) Number of Cards in Set, and 5) Price. There is a nice index in the back that you can find your set and then go search it in the actual catalog to find all the details.

My real interest in these is that they catalog the German tobacco cards quite nicely.  These cards were originally issued with packs of cigarettes.  Eventually, coupons were added to the packs instead of the actual cards and they the buyer could then redeem so many coupons for packets of cards (issued in groups called Gruppe to stick in albums.  It seems about 5-10 packets of cards would complete 200-300 card sets so each Gruppe packet held about 20-30 cards.  It is more common than not to find albums with all the cards glued into the albums.  Here is an example I pulled from the internet:

This particular set is the Deutsche Volkstrachten which appears to be cards of people from all over Germany.  According to Koberich, this set was made in 1933 by Eckstein, a cigarette manufacturer out of Dresden.  The catalog number is #20502-12...this was the 12th set they produced and it has 198 cards.  Pretty cool.

Once I hit up some more flea markets, I'll post my finds.  Cheers and I hope everyone enjoys there weekend!

Sumo Wrestling Book Review #1: - Sumo by Andy Adams and Clyde Newton

A few years go I put together this near-comprehensive list of English-language books on sumo wrestling.   Almost all these books cover a similar amount of material, but all usually specialize in something more than the others (history, heya life, personal stories).  As you can see most were released in the 1980s and 1990s when sumo interest really took off overseas.  I am starting to reread all these book to get a better appreciation for them and will feature book reviews on my blog here when I am done.  First up, Sumo by Andy Adams and Clyde Newton from 1989.

1. The Essential Guide to Sumo by Dorthea Buckingham (1994)
2. Gaijin Yokozuna by Mark Panek (2006)
3. Sumo from Rite to Sport by P.L. Cuyler (1979, revised 1985)
4. The Book of Sumo by Doug Kenrick (1969)
5. Sumo Wrestling by Bill Gutman (1995)
6. Grand Sumo by Lora Sharnoff (1989)
7. The Big Book of Sumo by Mina Hall (1997)
8. The Giants of Sumo by Angela Patmore (1990)
9. Rikishi: The Men of Sumo by Wes Benson (1986)
10. Takamiyama: The World of Sumo by Jesse Kuhaulua (ghostwritten by John Wheeler) (1973)
11. Dynamic Sumo by Clyde Newton (1994)
12. Sumo by Andy Adams and Clyde Newton (Gallery Books, 1989)
13. Sumo: The Sport and Tradition by J.A. Sargeant (Tuttle, 1959)
14. Sumo Watching by S.W.A. (1993)
15. Sumo: A Pocket Guide by Walter Long (1989)
16. Sumo: A pocket Guide by David Shapiro (Tuttle, 1995)
17. The Joy of Sumo by David Benjamin (1991)
18. Sumo by Lyall Watson "A Channel Four Book" (1988)
19. Sumo: A Fan's Guide by Mark Schilling (1994)
20. Grand Sumo Fully Illustrated by PHP Institute Inc
21. Sumo Showdown: The Hawaiian Challenge by Philip Sandoz
22. Jesse: Sumo Superstar by Adams and Schilling
23. Makunouchi Rikishi of the Showa Era by Clyde Newton
24. Sumo - Japanese Wrestling (Tourist Library 34)
25. I am a Rikishi by Reiko Yokono
26. Discover Sumo: Stories from Yobidashi Hideo by Hideo Yamaki (Gendai Shokan, 2017)

Overview:  I started off my book reviews with this book because I really like it.  Sumo has the right amount of detail with the appropriate pictures and is a great book for any beginner...although some of the info is outdated due to its 30-year old publication date.  At 80 pages, it is a fairly quick read.  Broken into 5 sections (Introduction, Rikishi (Wrestlers) in Action, Life at the Stables, The National Arena, Class of the Giants), each section covers important aspect to understanding sumo, the rules, the history, and the culture.

Authors: Andy Adams and Clyde Newton are staples in the English-language world of sumo wrestling.  Andy and Clyde edited and published Sumo World Magazine together later in their careers.  Andy passed away in 2011 and Clyde has presumably taken over, but issues are printed sporadically at best.

Pros: The book is well organized and Andy/Clyde do an excellent job of easing the beginning reader into the world of sumo especially with terminology.  The photos are excelling  This book was published during the great sumo wrestling boom of the late 1980s in England so is almost 30-years old now.  The pre-internet days of sumo yielded some great photos by Gerry Toff, although all the rikishi (wrestlers) have long since retired so at best it is a nice jaunt down memory lane.  Andy and Clyde's proximity to the sumo world make for some fascinating stories like winning large jars of mushrooms and a year's supply of Coca-Cola...not to mention the great feats of beer drinking by some of the rikishi.

Cons: An one odd choice of organization is the history of sumo as it is embedded in the back under The National Arena section.  I supposed for a beginner, this might be better left to the end, but organizationally, it probably warrants its own section.  The book is also fairly large (9.5" x 12.5") so can be a slight pain to get it on a book shelf or store...especially since it is a hardback. 

Cost:  You can still pick copies of this up off of eBay for $15-$20, but surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any for sale in the United States at the moment.  Amazon is probably your best bet to get used copies of this for under $10 in the U.S.

Overall Score: A-

2017 Collecting Goals

Happy New Year Everyone!  I'm assuming if you are reading this your survived all the festivities and are ready to clean the slate as we enter another year.  As everyone knows, 2016 was a tough one in the collecting community as many of our childhood idols passed on this past year.  In the sumo world, we lost one of the best modern Yokozuna the sport has seen with the passing of Chiyonofuji who won 31 national tournaments.  A simply amazing wrestler that drove the popularity of the sport to new heights in the 1980s.

Yokozuna Chiyonofuji (June 1, 1955 – July 31, 2016)

This year will bring change again as my family faces an impending move from Alabama to some unknown destination, but likely overseas.  As last year, the move will probably kill my blogging chances throughout the summer and hopefully we'll be back up and running sooner than later.  But in the meantime, I'll have 5 months of uninterrupted blogging opportunities with a short break as we head to Japan for Spring Break.  With that, I wanted to lay out some goals as many have done on the board.  In order of priority, here are my goals:

1.  Finish the 4th Edition of my Sumo Menko & Card Checklist.  I'm about 1/3 the way done with the 4th Edition update.....which is about 25 pages of new sets and updates to existing sets.  The 3rd Edition was published in December 2014 so it is time for an update.  Looking at my schedule, I think I should be complete with it in the late April, early May timeframe. 

2. I'm hoping we end up over in Europe or Australia.  If we do, this goal focuses on branching out of the sumo world and collecting cards of the local sports team and hopefully the main sets of the entire league.  I could see myself getting into the German Bundesliga or Premier League for soccer or cricket or rugby down in Australia.

3. As far as sumo menko and card collecting, my goal is to "discover" and catalogue at least 5 vintage sets (pre-1960), add at least 3 of the 1973 Calbee cards to my set, and complete the base 2017 BBM set from opening boxes and trading.  Finding new sets is becoming harder and harder as most of the material out there I have already documented.  Likely, any new set is going to be from the 1930s or earlier.  The Calbee cards have always been a fascination to me and buying the entire set at one time is out of my price range.  So I am forced to pick up singles from this set and occasionally I think I can nab one for under $50 per card.  If I could ever complete this set, it will be a highlight of my modern collection.  And the BBM sets I have woefully ignored in order to focus on the vintage stuff, but there is a good group of collectors that focus only on the modern sumo stuff and I need to as well.

4. I've always had a fascination with old Japanese stuff and the old Japanese tobacco cards have been intriguing to me for a while.  I'd like to start collecting Murai Tobacco Cards, but I am very ignorant on what sets were produced, prices, and availability.  Just adding a few to my collection this year would be fun to see if it would be worth pursuing any further.  Lots more research to do in this area.

5. I think most of us are collecting now because we had such fond memories of collecting in our youth.  I was a big baseball card collector in the late 1980s and early 1990s (along with all the other kids) and the strike of 1994 along with college killed my baseball card passion.  I still pick up a pack now and then, but it's not the same.  One set that I think can change all that is the 2017 Topps Heritage set and I plan on trying to complete that set through boxes and trading.  Plus the fact that the 2017 set is based on the 1968 design is a bonus, as Nolan Ryan is my favorite player and his 1968 rookie card is a must have.

Image from Beckett.com

Image from Beckett.com

6.  The last goal isn't really last on my list, but it is one that I haven't been able to think through all the details so I put it here.  But I'm thinking about trying to do an interview post 4-6 times a year where I'm able to interview fellow collectors and blogging the details and transcript.  Its goal is not to dig up embarrassing facts, but an opportunity to get to know fellow collectors a little better and focus on collecting, their collections, and blogging life.  I've even thrown the idea of maybe trying to organize a round-table discussion with 2-3 other collectors where a relevant topic is discussed.  Lots of hurdles to make it fun, readable, and relevant.  Again, I haven't thought through this one as much, and I'm not sure blogging is the right venue for it.....but it seems like there could be some potential or opportunities.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Good luck to everyone else on their goals and I'm looking forward to 2017!

Sumo Menko and Card Checklist

It's been a while since my last post since work has taken me to Florida and an impending move to Alabama at the end of summer. One thing in the works is the next edition of my book, Japanese Sumo Menko and Card Checklist.  The main addition this go around will be additional checklists and new sets I've accumulated since my last edition.  Discovering new sets is getting harder and harder, but on occasion new material does make an appearance. At this point, anything I end up finding is considered extremely rare as I would have likely picked it up by now.  In the back of my mind, I'm toying with the the idea of doing a coffee table book to print all known sumo menko and cards.  Hopefully I'll be able to get started on that at some point.

Anyone else ever written a book?  I compose mine in Microsoft Word and upload to Lulu to print on demand.  As one can imagine, there aren't that many sumo card collectors in the world....even fewer in America so I don't sell too many books. Given that I like to print in hardcover and color, the cost is prohibitive to some.

A few new BBM sets have been released so I'll post a review when I have a few moments. Looking forward to getting my next issue of SCM from Japan. Hopefully I'll be back up and running soon with more regular posts and content. I do have an awesome shipment waiting to get shipped from Japan. Some good stuff in there that will make for great posts. Even an new I catalogues set with Japanese baseball crossover. 

Sumo Wrestling Books

A few years go I put together this list of English-language books on sumo wrestling. I am sure there probably have been a few more that have been released, but for the most part this is a nearly comprehensive list.  Almost all these books cover a similar amount of material, but all usually specialize in something more than the others (history, heya life, personal stories).  As you can see most were released in the 1980s and 1990s when sumo interest really took off overseas.  For the beginner fan I would recommend the Big Book of Sumo.

1. The Essential Guide to Sumo by Dorthea Buckingham (1994)
2. Gaijin Yokozuna by Mark Panek (2006)
3. Sumo from Rite to Sport by P.L. Cuyler (1979, revised 1985)
4. The Book of Sumo by Doug Kenrick (1969)
5. Sumo Wrestling by Bill Gutman (1995)
6. Grand Sumo by Lora Sharnoff (1989)
7. The Big Book of Sumo by Mina Hall (1997)
8. The Giants of Sumo by Angela Patmore (1990)
9. Rikishi: The Men of Sumo by Wes Benson (1986)
10. Takamiyama: The World of Sumo by Jesse Kuhaulua (ghostwritten by John Wheeler) (1973)
11. Dynamic Sumo by Clyde Newton (1994)
12. Sumo by Andy Adams and Clyde Newton (1989)
13. Sumo: The Sport and Tradition by J.A. Sargeant (Tuttle, 1959)
14. Sumo Watching by S.W.A. (1993)
15. Sumo: A Pocket Guide by Walter Long (1989)
16. Sumo: A pocket Guide by David Shapiro (Tuttle, 1995)
17. The Joy of Sumo by David Benjamin (1991)
18. Sumo by Lyall Watson "A Channel Four Book" (1988)
19. Sumo: A Fan's Guide by Mark Schilling (1994)
20. Grand Sumo Fully Illustrated by PHP Institute Inc
21. Sumo Showdown: The Hawaiian Challenge by Philip Sandoz
22. Jesse: Sumo Superstar by Adams and Schilling
23. Makunouchi Rikishi of the Showa Era by Clyde Newton
24. Sumo - Japanese Wrestling (Tourist Library 34)
25. I am a Rikishi by Reiko Yokono
26. Makunouchi Rikishi of the Showa Era by Clyde Newton