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In 1974, the Tokyo
Yomiuri Giants reign came to an end. Prior to 1974, the
Giants had won 19 of the 24 Central League pennants. Since
1974, the league has become more competitive and the Giants
have only captured 10 pennants in 28 years. The highlight
of the 1970s was Sadaharu Oh hitting his 756 homerun in
September 1977. He retired in 1980. New stars emerged in
the 1970s and 1980s. The Hiroshima Carp’s Sachio Kinugasa
broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played,
while teammate Koji Yamamoto led the team to five
championships. Yutaka Fukumoto of the Hankyu Braves broke
Lou Brock’s world record for most stolen bases. Japan’s
greatest player of the 1980s, Hiromistu Ochiai, picked up
three triple crowns but also managed to alienate most of the
baseball world through his outspoken predictions.
Baseball cards proliferated
during this period. Numerous companies produced sets
ranging from 8 to 1,436 cards. Menko were still produced in
small quantities. Many menko from the 1970s were produced
on heavy stock and are thus known as “thick menko.” None,
however, dominated the market like Calbee Potato Chip cards.
In 1973, Calbee produced its first modern baseball card set
of 91 cards. A single card was included in each package of
Calbee snack food - Calbee collectors needed to eat (or
throw out) a lot of potato chips! Since 1973, Calbee has
produced at least one baseball set each year. The number of
cards in each set varies greatly from the mammoth 1, 436
card 1975/76 set to the small 1993 set of 144 cards. Calbee
cards come in four sizes. From 1973 to 1980, the cards were
slightly smaller than standard American cards. During the
1980 series, they reduced the card size to roughly the same
as the 1950 Bowman cards. This size was kept until 1990,
when the company once again changed the size in mid-series,
this time to the size of telephone cards. In 1998, the
cards were increased to the size of modern American cards.
Calbee cards are the most
widely collected cards in Japan. Putting together the
pre-1989 sets is extremely difficult. Not only were the
cards only available with the chips, they were issued in
series. Much like Topps high numbers, some series were
produced in short quantity. Calbee also produced insert
cards and redemption cards during some years. These cards
are highly sought after. Only a handful of collectors have
put together all the Calbee sets.
Calbee
Cards
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Shigeo Nagashima
1973 Calbee #1 |
Frank Howard
1974 Calbee |
Hank Aaron & Oh
1977 Calbee |
Sadaharu Oh
1978 Calbee |
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Sachio Kinugasa
1984 Calbee |
Hiromitsu Ochiai
1985 Calbee |
Tsuyoshi Shinjyo
1992 Calbee |
Ichiro
2000 Calbee |
Although Calbee was the most
important producer of Japanese cards during the 1970s and
1980s, other companies also produced sets during this
period. Between 1976 and 1981, Yamakatsu issued at least
eleven sets. Unlike many other 1970s issues, Yamakatsu
cards were sold solely as collectibles and did not accompany
another product. Yamakatsu cards generally have "pure"
fronts containing only a color picture and printed backs
relating facts about the pictured player. The cards are very
high quality, printed on thick stock with crystal clear
glossy pictures. They are among the best looking of all the
modern Japanese issues. Yamakatsu began with large (6 ¾ by
9 13/16 inch) cards in their basic sets with even larger (up
to 12 by 18 inches) premium cards. Over the years, the
cards became gradually smaller. A postcard-size set was
issued in 1977, followed by a gorgeous 1978 set that
contained cards roughly the same size as modern American
cards. Sets from 1979 and 1980 shrunk to the size of 1950
Bowman cards.
NST also issued several
large sets aimed at collectors. NST produced high quality
color “stamps” printed on thin glossy paper. Collectors
glued or taped the “stamps” into an accompanying album. The
“stamps” do not list the depicted players’ names or teams.
These are contained in captions below the “stamps” place in
the album. NST “stamps” were sold in colorful packs usually
containing eight stamps and an insert card. The insert
cards were printed on cardboard stock but were otherwise
identical to the “stamps”. NST’s first set of 288 “stamps,”
honoring Shigeo Nagashima, came out in 1975. Although the
set contains many Nagashima “stamps,” it also contains other
stars and many Giants players. The second set of 324
“stamps,” issued in 1977, contained more stars from around
the league and featured a Sadaharu Oh subset that included a
“stamp” with both Oh and Hank Aaron. NST’s sets from 1978
and 1983 focused exclusively on the Yomiuri Giants. They
also issued a set in 1979 focusing on the Hanshin Tigers.
Yamakatsu and
NST Cards
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Yutaka Enatsu
1978 Yamakatsu |
Tsutomu Wakamatsu
1980 Yakakatsu |
1977 Yamakatsu
Postcard Taba |
Sadaharu Oh
1978 Yamakatsu Postcard |
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Sadaharu Oh
1978 Yamakatsu Premium |
Oh
& Nagashima
1975 NST |
1977 NST Album |
1975 NST Album |
Several other important food-issue sets were released in
this period. In 1975, Nippon Ham Sausage issued their first
set of baseball cards. Each packet of sausage included a
card. The cards are not individually numbered making them
difficult to checklist, but so far over 80 different cards
have been identified. Nippon Ham issued a second set in
1977 and a third set honoring Sadaharu Oh in 1978. In 1978,
Pino Ice Cream randomly inserted baseball cards in packages
of their frozen Dessert Choco Balls. So far, 17 regular
issue cards and roughly six postcard-size 3-d premiums cards
have been located from this set. Pino cards are very rare.
In
1989 and 1990, the Lotte candy company produced sets of 120
cards. Cards were roughly telephone card size and contained
attractive action photos on the front and statistics on the
back. They were sold in packs containing one card and a
piece of gum. Both sets are heavily collected, but the 1989
Lotte cards are especially desirable. Also in 1989, Mermaid
Data Cards were issued in Gumi Jelly and Ice Candy. Each
candy pack included a glossy card and a sticker. Individual
cards from this set of 50 are common, but completely the
entire set is a challenge.
Food Cards
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Koji Yamamoto
1975-6 Nippon Ham |
Isao Harimoto
1977-9 Nippon Ham |
Sadaharu Oh
1978 Nippon Ham |
Shigeru Takada
1978 Pino |
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Sadahru Oh
1078 Pino 3d Premium |
Cecil Fielder
1989 Lotte |
Hideki Irabu
1990 Lotte |
Tatsunori Hara
1989 Mermaid |
During the 1970s, two American manufacturers issued cards
depicting Japanese players. Beginning in 1974, Ed Broder
produced five unlicensed sets including a set honoring the
Mets 1974 tour of Japan, a 1974 Hiroshima Carp team set,
1976 Yomiuri Giants team set, and sets focusing on Japanese
stars and Americans playing in Japan in 1975 and 1976. In
1979, TCMA also issued a 90-card set entitled “Japanese Pro
Baseball.” The set includes star Japanese players and most
of the Americans to play in Japan during that season.
Although the 1982 Superstars set included a Sadaharu Oh
card, no more sets focusing on Japanese baseball were issued
in the United States until the 42-card 1987 Play Ball Japan
set. This attractive set includes most of the stars playing
in the 1980s and many of the gaijin from the 1987 season.
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George Altman
1975 Broder |
Masanori Murakami
1979 TCMA |
Sadaharu Oh
1982 Superstars |
Randy Bass
1987 Playball Japan |
In
1978, Takara introduced a baseball strategy game with an
individual card for each player. Card fronts included the
player's picture and statistics while the backs contained
potential outcomes of at bats based on the player's actual
statistics. Participants rolled dice and checked the back
of a card for the results of each at bat. Takara cards were
sold in boxed team sets containing 30 cards, the game rules,
and paper playing board. Although from 1978 to 1980 the
sets only included Central League teams, Takara produced 30
players for all the Japanese teams between 1981 and 1998.
In 1984, Takara also issued a simpler version of the card on
thick stock, called Takara Kids. Takara sets include many
players' true rookie cards and the only cards of many gaijin
players. Many collectors, however, do not count Takara
cards as rookies. For example, the 1991 BBM and 1991 Calbee
cards are considered by most to be Hideo Nomo’s rookie card
even through he has a 1990 Takara card.
During
the late 1980s and early 1990s several companies tried, with
limited success, to enter the Japanese card market. I.S.T.
issued small sets of menko, stickers, and other cards in
1988 and 1989. Many, if not all, of thee sets were
unauthorized as the cards do not depict team logos and often
misspell players’ names. These cards had colorful drawings
of star players on their fronts and player information on
their backs. Because of the use of caricatures rather than
photographs, these oddball cards are not popular with
collectors.
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Cecil Fielder
1989 Takara |
Masayuki Kakefu
1984 Takara Kids |
Boomer Wells
1988 IST Menko |
Makoto Matsubara
1976 Misuya Menko |
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