Snack food manufacturer Calbee has produced sets of baseball cards every year from 1973 to the present. This 45 year run is by far the longest of any Japanese baseball card manufacturer, and is exceeded only by Topps in the U.S. In their premier issue, Calbee assigned card #1 to their cultural icon, Mr. Baseball, Shigeo Nagashima. From that day until now, the two varieties of this card have been the most popular among the more than 15,000 different cards that Calbee has subsequently produced. In Japan, it is regarded similarly to the 1952 Topps Mantle in the U.S. Like the Topps Mantle, it's not from Nagashima's rookie season. However, it is the first card produced of Japan Pro Baseball's most popular player by the country's longest lived manufacturer. Like the Topps Mantle, it is a scarce card, with a high value compared to nearly all cards ever produced of Nagashima. Basically, this card has always been regarded by Japanese collectors as the most important Nagashima card to own. The example offered here is the flag back version. Vintage Calbee cards are quite prone to chipping, and generally receive quite low grades. This is one of the nicer examples we've seen.

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

Condition: Ex/Mt