The Cisco Caramel Co. was a smaller competitor of Kobai, Calbee and Morinaga, the biggest companies in the Japanese candy business in the early 1950s. All of these firms released baseball cards at the time. While Kobai Caramel cards featured only members of the Yomiuri Giants, Cisco printed cards only of the Nankai Hawks. Cisco produced several sets of baseball cards during the early 1950s (possibly all in 1952). Cisco cards seem to be even scarcer than their competitors' cards of the same era.

Each card in the JF 41 set was produced in several different color schemes, with the various combinations being related to the number of points (printed on the back) that the card was worth toward redeeming a send away premium. The JF 41 set has been assigned a scarcity factor of R5 in the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Price Guide, Vintage Edition 2.1, meaning five or fewer examples of each card are known. However, the card offered here is the only known example of the Kazuo Horii card in any of the possible color schemes!

Kazuo Horii, a right handed first baseman/outfielder, spent his entire career (1941-1959) with the Hawks. During that time, he batted .272 with 80 homers. He was known for his excellent throwing arm, compiling 10 or more outfield assists nine times.

Size: 1 5/8" x 2 3/8"

Condition: Ex to Ex/Mt