All three cards are first prize premiums which were originally part of display sheets. The Hiroshi Oshita/Kaoru Betto card dates from the period 1951-53, as indicated by the players' uniforms. The card of Oshita alone swinging dates from either 1948 or 1949 according to his uniform. The image of Takehiko Bessho pitching was taken either in 1949 or 1950. All three cards are colorized from black & white photos. As such, parts of the uniform trim display incorrect colors. In any case, they are dazzling, giant sized images of Japanese baseball mid-century greats. Fewer than a handful of copies of each card have survived to the present day. For completeness, we will mention that at least one border of each card is very slightly smaller than other copies that we have seen in the past. All of the cards in this lot were originally hand cut by the manufacturer prior to issue. Card size specifications were not rigorous at the time, so it is not known in any of the three cases whether the manufacturer's employee cut the card to be slightly smaller than average, or if there was later, very minor, modification by a subsequent owner. It will be noted that the three cards were never owned by one single collector. In any case, they are great looking cards!

Size: Oshita/Betto--6 7/8" x 9 1/2". Oshita--7 1/4" x 10". Bessho--7 1/4" x 10".

Condition: All are about Vg