Japanese Menkos - New 1958 Nagashima Rookie Card

[jjbond]

So I'm pretty sure I've identified a new Shigeo Nagashima rookie card. Some context - Shiegeo Nagashima, "Mr. Giants," is arguably the most popular player in NPB history, and many view him as the greatest player in Japanese baseball. He famously hit a homerun to win the game that was the first game ever that the emperor of Japan had visited. He also formed half of the famous O-N team with Oh batting 3rd and Nagashima batting 4th in the lineup, to great success. He earned MVP 5 times, and one of the "Best Nine" awards each year that he played. His number 3 Jersey was retired, and he was put in their Hall of Fame in 1988.

That being said....Japanese baseball cards are a different type of collectable from American cards. First off, the market hasn't quite found them yet. Second, many of these players have *dozens* of rookie cards. So many different small sets issued in a given year, with many of them featuring many different poses/cards of the same player. So...any find isn't super valuable, even if it's only 1 of a few known to collectors, or even the only copy known to collectors.

With that in mind....I think I might have found a new rookie card for Nagashima, and I'm even more impressed that it's in decent shape (a lot of Japanese cards are *really* beat up), and is an awesome pose:


So, according to my research, I believe this to be a card from JCM 66b: 1957 Maruya B&W Chain Menko Type 1. In Gary Engel's catalogue, the only other real option I see is Type 2, but that back is supposed to be a very light grey color, and mine matches Type 1 which is a dark black/blue print. And this card set is listed as the rarest type (R5), the level designating cards having less than 5 known copies in the world. And this specific set is further described as having too few known cards to even bother listing in the guide:



One issue, though, is that if I'm right, the date of this set should probably be adjusted to 1958, as Nagashima didn't start playing NPB until April 1958.

But anyway, I wanted to share this find (and see if anyone had more knowledge than I do). This is one of the reasons why I find collecting Japanese menkos so interesting - you never know what you're going to find. The guide/catalogue is still an early work-in-progress. Collectors have yet to figure out what all was released, so it's an exciting time to help figure it all out.

[seanofjapan]

Wow, nice find! You’ve both found another Nagashima and corrected the dating on a set all with one card!

I love collecting menko for finds like that!

[jjbond]

Originally Posted by seanofjapan

Wow, nice find! You’ve both found another Nagashima and corrected the dating on a set all with one card!

I love collecting menko for finds like that!

I'm thinking of maybe getting my own blog set up just to post pics of my organized collection for others. And at some point I should send Engels pics of my uncatalogued stuff? (for example, I have a half-dozen other cards from this specific set....). Does he have an email? (I don't think I've run across him online....)

[John1941]

Awesome find! It's a pretty card, too.

[seanofjapan]

Originally Posted by jjbond

I'm thinking of maybe getting my own blog set up just to post pics of my organized collection for others. And at some point I should send Engels pics of my uncatalogued stuff? (for example, I have a half-dozen other cards from this specific set....). Does he have an email? (I don't think I've run across him online....)

Blogs are a lot of fun.

I don’t know Engel’s email, but Robert at Prestige Collectibles, who is a member here, knows.

I’ve been meaning to put my uncatalogued finds into a coherent list to give to him for ages but just never find the time. He has commented directly on my blog in occasion when I post about something new, but only one or two times.

[John1941]

Originally Posted by jjbond

I'm thinking of maybe getting my own blog set up just to post pics of my organized collection for others. And at some point I should send Engels pics of my uncatalogued stuff? (for example, I have a half-dozen other cards from this specific set....). Does he have an email? (I don't think I've run across him online....)

I'd love that - Japanese card blogs are some of my favorite blogs because they're showing awesome cards I've never seen. Sean and NPB Card Guy need some competition.

[jjbond]

Originally Posted by John1941

I'd love that - Japanese card blogs are some of my favorite blogs because they're showing awesome cards I've never seen. Sean and NPB Card Guy need some competition.

I decided not to make a daily blog per se, but to just digitize my collection. I've started it at:
https://japanesemenkoarchive.blogspot.com/

[John1941]

Eye candy blogs are fun too

[jjbond]

I got another new, uncatalogued Nagashima rookie card this week. Not as exciting as my previous one (it's a heavily re-used photo, and features him with a teammate), but still cool.

This is from JCM31d.