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Title: | Sports Memorabilia |
Notice: | Wanted: 3.*; For_sale: 4.*; Traded: 5.* |
Moderator: | SCHOOL::KOPACKO |
|
Created: | Wed Aug 27 1986 |
Last Modified: | Thu May 08 1997 |
Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
Number of topics: | 730 |
Total number of notes: | 8547 |
278.0. "Card market opens in Japan" by SBGPX2::BELISLE (Mike Belisle MRO4-1/H20 297.3324) Mon Jun 17 1991 13:11
Printed without permission from USA TODAY BASEBALL WEEKLY
The USA's collecting craze has invaded Japan. The first official
Japananse baseball cards, made in the USA, are now available in
Japan.
Called "Q cards", after "yakyu", a japanese word for baseball and
"kyu" which means nine, the cards offer the traditional trading card
traits like statistics, color photos and team logos...all in Japanese,
of course.
"There hasn't been a market for baseball cards in Japan in the past,
but we're trying to build one," said Don Nomura, card entrepreneur,
who has offices in Los Angeles and Toyko.
Unlike most USA cards, the Q cards are plastic, similar to credit
cards. "When we did our reserch, the majority of the kids we talked
to liked the plastic better," Nomura said.
A pack containing two Q cards sells for 500 yen (about $3.62) at all
Japanese stadiums and some department stores. Later this month, they
will be sold at the more than 400 Denny's restaurants in Japan.
Some Q facts:
o A set has 120 cards, and 300,000 sets were made. Six cards
show former USA players now in Japan: Phil Bradley, Mike Diaz,
R.J. Reynolds, Jim Paciorek, Boomer Wells and Matt Winters.
o Each card has an embossed ID number on the front, based on
date and number of manufacture (only 9,999 cards of each
player were printed).
o Listed on the cards' back is the player's blood type. Nomura
said the Japanese believe this can be an indication of
personality.
Nomura is the president of the Salinas Spurs, a Class A minor league
team in the California League. His Japanese influence is evifdent there
as well.
The Spurs, in the third season, have the only Japanese manager in the
USA, Heidi Koga, and nine Japanese players. They also have several
Japanese executives in the front office.
"What I'm trying to do is mix the two different cultures and achieve
one goal, winning," Nomura said. "Unfortunately, we haven't had the
winning yet (19-37 as of June 7)."
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