We have long been aware of the rare 1931 JBR 105 Yuasa & Co. bromide set which depicts members of the 1931 U.S. All Star Tour of Japan. In fact, in our Auction #51 of 2017, we offered one of only two known copies of the Lefty Grove at top of windup card from that set. In recent years we have discovered another set (still uncatalogued), produced by G.T. Sun, which contains identical cards to those in the Yuasa set, except that each G.T. Sun card has a number printed in the lower right corner. Now we have made an even newer discovery!

Apparently the Yomiuri Shimbun (newspaper) also produced a set of cards which are identical in size and contain the same images as the Yuasa and G.T. Sun sets, but with each card having a number printed in the lower left corner. Furthermore, while the Grove card in the Yuasa set includes his facsimile signature (The Grove card is unknown in the G.T. Sun set.), this newly discovered Yomiuri Shimbun version has no signature! Moreover, the Yuasa and G.T. Sun cards are blank backed. The Yomiuri Shimbun card of Grove has a stamped Japanese inscription on the back which translates to "Do not copy. Rights belong to the Yomiuri Shimbun." So, apparently, three different companies produced nearly identical card sets in honor of the 1931 Japan Tour. The winner of this lot will own the only example of this card. Moreover, he or she will own the only example of any card known to be in the set!

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

Condition: Vg/Ex