CollectingJapaneseMenko

JCM 165: 1975 Rocket Robot is a very late tobacco-sized menko set. It consists of 8 cards, 1 5/32"x2 15/32". The backs are random to the front.

JCM 141: 1962 War/Playing Card Back is a short set of 8 cards, measuring 1 5/8" x 2 5/8". As with other playing card backs, it matters for the arrangement - this one has a horizontal card on top, and a war-themed image beneath, along with a massive menko number. The backs seem to be unrelated to the fronts.

JCM 139: 1962 Marukami Cartoon is a fun set, different from other JCMs from this period. It is a bit smaller, at 1 3/16" x 2 7/16", and there are 20 in the set.

JCM 137: c.1960 Maruten Question Mark Back is a set of 40 cards. These have a very busy back, including the team name, a question mark, a menko number, etc. While the menko numbers are duplicated, they are unique to the front side at least.

JCM 136: 1959 Maruten Blue Pitching Back continues the pitching back line with blue colors, but sadly the backs are not unique to the fronts.

JCM 135: 1959 Maruten Sequential Black and White Blue Pitching Back is a unique set with almost 100 cards in it. This series features a dozen players, with a sequence of around 10 cards that provide a "flip book" of sorts of an action shot. Cards are numbered on the front for what part of the sequence they are part of.

JCM 134: 1958 Black and White Space Fantasy is another fun set, with at least 22 cards in it, featuring fatasy cartoon characters on the back with unique menko numbers. I've included a few here that haven't been catalogued yet.

JCM 132: 1957 Black and White Six Digit Back is a black and white version of the earlier set. It's unknown how many cards there are, as this set has not been catalogued yet.

JCM 131a: 1957 Color Six Digital Animal Back Type 1 is an early set, with at least 71 cards in it. They feature a cute animal, and a long menko number, which is not unique to the front of the card.

JCM 86: 1960 Yamakatsu Home Plate has over 58 cards, and features a clear baseball plate on the back side, a unique menko number, and has the player's uniform number on the back as well. I've included here one that is as of yet uncatalogued.

JCM 74: 1947 Pastel consists of over 12 cards, 1 11/16"x2 5/8". Their backs could be blank, or have scoreboards on them.

JCM 70: 1960 Maruten Grey Pitching Back is a set of over 38 cards. They have a simpler pitching design on the back than previous sets. I've included here a number of cards that are uncatalogued as of yet.

JCM 69: 1959 Red Pitching Grip Back continues the line of pitching grip backs with various colors. This one has more than 73 cards in it. Sadly the backs are not unique to the fronts.

JCM 68: 1958 Green Pitching Grip Back is another in the series of pitching grip backs, this one having over 77 cards. They are suposed to be all printed in green ink, but I've found some in purple, which I believe belong to this set.

JCM 67: 1958 Maruo Military and Space Backs has over 51 cards, with what you'd expect from late 1950's scifi artwork. Quite a fun set, but the backs are not unique, sadly.

JCM 66c: 1957 Maruya Black and White Chain Menko Type 2 is similar to Type 1, but the backside is a lighter grey ink. There are around 27 cards identified so far, but they do not have unique backs.

JCM 66b: 1957 Maruya Black and White Chain Menko Type 1 is a set that we don't know much about. The catalogue does not have a list for them yet. Which makes it distinct from Type 2 is that the chain in the background is in a dark blue color. I also have found a Nagashima rookie card from this set, which would indicate that it actually came out in 1958 (when he started playing). I'm including here my uncatalogued cards in hopes of eventually getting more information about this set in the guide.

JCM 66a: 1957 Maruya Color Menko 2 is about 67 cards, but instead of a grey pattern background, these have a more defined cable pattern. Sadly the backs are not unique.

JCM 65: 1957 Maruya Color Menko 1 is an old set, consisting of at least 58 cards. These have a grey background pattern (as opposed to a later chain-link pattern).

JCM 57c: 1960 Maruya Green Pitching Grip Back is another in a number of varieties featuring a cool pitching grip/advice backside. There are at least 33 cards in this set, and I've included some that seem to be uncatalogued as of yet.

JCM 57b: 1962 Maruya Green Pitching Grip Back is another in a number of varieties featuring a cool pitching grip/advice backside. There are at least 39 cards in this set.

JCM 57a: 1961 Maruya Green Pitching Grip Back is the first of a number of varieties featuring a cool pitching grip/advice backside. There are 40 cards in this set.