It's Different - Z573 Sumo Wrestling Magazine Cards

I am a set completionist and love collecting and cataloguing sumo menko and cards.  It is my passion and goal to continue to build the most comprehensive checklist of Japanese Sumo Menko and Cards out there.  Part of doing that is chasing set variations and trying to decipher why the same set was made differently across its production run.  Much like today's parallel and short-printed cards, variations can be a fun chase to completing master sets.  I recently picked up this Z573 set that was issued inside an unknown magazine in 1957.  Or at least I think it was.....actually before a few weeks ago I would have been dead certain.  Now, I don't know.  The original sheet I had found years and years ago was printed with blue ink.  It looked like the numerous other sets from the 1950s and 1960s that were issued in magazines as free giveaways to entice kids to buy the magazines.  Then I stumbled across this version that was printed with brown ink.  Huh....not something that I have ever seen before with magazine issues.  The print run would have been a day or two on these magazines and then shipped out.  Changing colors midstream would have been odd.  So now it is making me question what I have here.  Regardless, I am now able to add a new type to the Z573 set.  Introducing the Z573-2: 1957 Zashi Type 2 - Brown Ink on Front.

Z573-2: 1957 Zashi Type 2 - Brown Ink on Front

 

 

Z573-1: 1957 Zashi Type 1 - Blue Ink on Front

 

 

Any thoughts?  Have a great weekend everyone!



Mystery Solved - 1980s Sumo Wrestling Game

Last week I published a quick post on an unknown sumo wrestling game (相撲ゲーム) that I picked up with unknown contents inside the envelopes.  These would have hung up inside toy/candy shops to entice kids to spend their hard-earned yen on the contents inside.  I posed the question on what is inside of these.....now the big reveal. 

It turns out this game is played somewhat like a board game.  Inside each envelope are 30 playing pieces that come on a 2x15-piece perforated sheet.

The back of the envelope was used to keep score over 15 rounds.  It took me a while to realize, but the back of the 2x15-piece sheet is covered in a thick, purple tissue paper that is meant to be torn off.  How you would play would be to tear off two end pieces of the sheet and then randomly chose who gets each piece.  You would then remove the purple tissue paper off the back to reveal your winning (or losing) technique.  If your piece was a winning piece it had a white circle on it...if it was a losing piece, you would get a black circle on your piece.  You had to pull off two at time from the end because so there would always be 1 winner and 1 loser.  Some pieces had a tie and a losing piece which would result in a tie and you would indicate that on the score sheet with two circles, one inside the other.  There were 15 rounds and the winner was the player with the most wins (white circles).

Well, there you go.  I guess the envelope would be the collectible "card" in this instance as it had three of the most popular rikishi of this time.

Thanks for tuning in this week and have a great finish to your weekend!

Mystery 1980s Sumo Wrestling Game - What is this?

I picked up this display sheet from the early 1980s of an unknown sumo wrestling game.  It has Kintanoumi, Asashio, and I think Wakanohana (thanks Karl) on each of the envelopes.  Each of the wrestlers has 8 envelopes that measure approximately 7" x 2 3/4" with unknown contents inside.  According to the display sheet, each of the envelopes cost 10 yen.  Inside the envelope feels like a card, but I can't be sure.  On the back of the envelope is the tournament score sheet indicating you are supposed to record the wrestler's results over 15 days.  After that, I'm not sure what you do as part of the game.

What do you think/hope/wish is inside?  Without doing any research, reply with your guess below.  I'll open up one or two of the envelopes this week to find out and update this post.