Japanese menko and bromide cards were often packaged for sale in ways which are quite exotic by US standards. Often, each card was placed in a small newsprint paper packet. A large group of packets was then strung together to be hung up for display in what was called a taba (hanging bundle). The taba had a colorful paper cover to which a sample card was glued. Essentially, a taba is equivalent to an unopened box in the US, with multiple unopened one card packs inside. This is one of the few 1940s tabas we have ever handled. And it is the first JBR 73 taba that we have ever had the pleasure to offer at auction. While we occasionally find taba from the 1950s, '60s and '70s, 1940s examples are quite scarce.
To date, 46 different cards from this set have been discovered, and we are nearly certain that there are more discoveries to be made, quite possibly in this very taba. The Japanese Baseball Card Checklist and Price Guide, Vintage Edition gives this set a scarcity factor of R4, meaning that there are between four and nine copies of most known cards extant. The card attached to the cover of this taba was previously unknown. Nearly all cards in the set have the player name in Japanese printed on the front, but this card, like only a few others, doesn't. Just to make sure that this taba contains JBR 73 cards, we detached one packet from its bundle. Therefore, this taba is offered with one pouch detached (see images). The player on the sample card that was removed from the taba is Japan Hall of Fame member, Mr. Tigers, Fumio Fujimura.
The set contains at least 13 cards of Hall of Famers including Victor Starffin, Tetsuharu Kawakami, Sadao Kondo, Shosei Go, etc. However we have no idea which cards are included in the taba, or how many duplicates there are.
Size: Each card is 1 3/4" x 2 3/4". The taba is 3" x 4 1/4" x 1 1/4".
Condition: Most cards inside should be Nm/Mt and Mint, but with unopened material, one can never be certain. The taba cover is in outstanding condition for a taba of this vintage. The packs within the taba are Nm/Mt.