BC575

1957 Marusho Tawara 5 Set

BC575-1, Type 1: Green Ink on Back

BC575-2, Type 2: Blank Back

    Description:  This is a nice set printed in 1957.  The "Tawara" series of menko produced by the Marusho Gangu Company are quite confusing as they made around 6 sets of cards between 1957 and 1965 with identical backs.  This particular set has the light green back and some menko from this set have blank backs.  There is no rank information on the front of the menko so it's a challenge to figure out what set they belong to.  One nice feature of the "Tawara" sets is they typically feature a lot of low ranking rikishi.  A good menko to keep an eye out for is the Yokozuna Kagamisato card as this was one of his last menko produced before he retired.  There seems to be a bromide set as well produced with the green backs.

    Company: Marusho                                         Availability: Scarce

    Card Size: 1.75" X 3.0"                                   Card Material: Thin, Paper Stock

    # of Cards: 22+                                               Packaging: Taba

  Winner Stamp Description: Purple 1,2,3

   Front Design:  Most of the menko show the rikishi in various poses or action shots against a solid color background.  Some menko have the rikishi in their kesho-mawashi as well.  Shikona is vertical.

   Back Design:  The rikishi's statistics are printed vertically on the back with tawara on the top and left.  A Gu-Choki-Pa is on the bottom right with a 5 digit fighting number on the bottom.  Backs are printed in green ink.