The JGA 174 set has earned a scarcity factor of R5 in the Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Price Guide, Vintage Edition 2.1 by Gary Engel, signifying that five or fewer copies of each card are known. Most of the cards in the set feature celebrities and politicians, but three baseball players and seven athletes from other sports are also included. Obviously, the key card is the super rare Babe Ruth.

These blank backed, white bordered cards were originally printed in uncut pairs by an unknown manufacturer. Most likely, the cards are to be used to play some sort of game. Color drawings have a circle in the upper portion containing the Japanese character for one of the four cardinal directions of a compass, with either a number from 1 to 10, or the Japanese character for another cardinal point superimposed. The person’s name is printed on the image in black Japanese type. Based on the people depicted in the set, it was most likely produced in either 1934 or 1935, as several subjects did not achieve prominence until 1934, and others were deceased by early 1936. One of the baseball players, depicted as a current college player, was no longer playing college baseball after 1935.

We do not know if JGA 174 cards were always sold by the manufacturer as uncut pairs, or whether they were occasionally sold as singles. In any case, all single cards seen to date have a very wide border on either the left or right side, and a very narrow border on the opposite side. This situation occurs because the original uncut pairs were printed so that the distance between the images of the two cards comprising the pair is much smaller than the width of each of the four borders of the pair. Thus, PSA took this situation into account when assigning a grade to this card and did not lower the grade for off-centering.

Of the several JGA 174 Babe Ruth cards known to exist, this example is the only one that has received a grade from a professional grading service. .

Blank backed card.

Size:  2 5/8" x 3 7/8"

Condition:  PSA 5--Ex