1947 Ted Williams Back Menko Cards (JCM 44) Set and Checklist

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Ted Williams Back Menko Cards (JCM 44)
Year	1947
Size	1 1/4″ x 2 7/8″
Images	Color
Type	Game Cards
Number in Set	8

1947 Ted Williams Back Menko Cards (JCM 44) Overview

Ted Williams JCM44 Menko These unique Japanese cards featured Japanese players on one side and a depiction of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams on the other. This set is one of countless Japanese Menko game card sets.

Menko is a Japanese game involving cards. The general idea is to flip the cards of the your opponent with the hopes of receiving both cards.

The side with the Japanese players featured color cartoons of the subjects (along with their name and team in Japanese) while the picture of Williams is found on the back. Williams is pictured on the back of all of the cards in the set as well as a math equation at the bottom.

While the Japanese players were printed in full color, Williams’ image (as well as the rest of the back, for that matter) is printed only in blue ink. The cards have a similar size to old tobacco and caramel cards, only slightly narrower and taller than most of those issues.

It is important to note that Williams is not named on the card. However, the image is clearly his with his trademark swing. As a result, the card is bought and sold as if it was a Ted Williams issue. Typically, they start around $100 in decent condition.

While there are eight cards in the checklist, PSA actually reports a total of nine with one of Isamu Fujii’s cards being an error.