This is a super rare issue! We are not certain as to whether Elementary School Learning, the producer of this set, is affiliated with the Shogaku Nensei monthly magazines that have been published since the 1930s, but we believe that
there is probably a connection. The cards were produced for the February 1951 issue of the publication. We know that the cards were originally produced in six uncut team sheets of nine cards each, and that they were used for some sort
of baseball game. Each card has number and "suit” designations, similar to playing cards, except that the letter of the suit is the first initial of the team nickname, and the number indicates the player’s position. For example, G3 means
Yomiuri Giants 1B. We also know that these cards are truly rare, as no more than three copies are known of any card in the set. As of two months ago, three cards in the set were undiscovered. The near set being auctioned here was the
only large accumulation of JGA 37 in existence and was the personal set of Gary Engel.
All cards were cut from sheets by the original owner nearly 70 years ago. Nearly all are head and shoulders colorized photo portraits, which provide some of the best images of these players ever recorded. It is truly a stunning collection of
cards. The set includes 14 Japan Hall of Fame members: Tetsuharu Kawakami, Shigeru Sugishita, Michio Nishizawa, Michinori Tsubouchi, Hideo Fujimoto, Shigeru Chiba, Noboru Aota, Tokuji Iida, Atsushi Aramaki, Kaoru Betto, Shosei Go,
Makoto Kozuru, Yoshiyuki Iwamoto and Fumio Fujimura. There is also a card of Hawaiian Isao Odate. The six teams represented are the Dragons, Giants, Hawks, Orions, Robins and Tigers. These were the top teams in Japan Pro
Baseball during the 1950 season. The condition of the cards is top notch, the only flaw being the wavy borders, probably the result of the cards having been hand cut from the sheets by a youngster. This is truly a special group of cards.
Size: Each card is 2 1/4" x 3 1/8".
Condition: Nearly all cards are Nm or better. Hand cut.