I just got in a pile of Japanese Godzilla (and Toho) Menko cards. Menko is a game that goes back hundreds of years in Japan. Kids slam down cards, printed on thick cardboard, trying to turn over the cards of their opponents, and they usually get to keep what they win. This is sort of like the (old) milkcap game that was hugely popular in the United States in the mid-90's. The cards come in different shapes and sizes, but in this case, they are roughly 2 & 3/4" x 1 & 3/4." I was amazed at the condition of these...they are glossy, and were probably removed from a vintage pack like this not too terribly long ago:
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| This is even the same series, as you will see. |
Often, Menko cards will have extra information on the back, allowing them to be used to play different games, such as "Rock, Paper, Scissors," or something like that--I have even seen some with pictures of playing cards, allowing kids to sneak in some poker at recess. Here's the first half of my haul:
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| Baby Rodan! Awwww... |
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| Ebirah! |
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| Ganimes (from the mighty YOG aka SPACE AMOEBA) |
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| Strange paste-up of Angilas and King Ghidorah! |
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| Gigan! |
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| Gigan again! |
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| Big G Glamour Shot! |
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| Godzilla vs Angilas, colorized from GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN. |
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| Ditto--can't we just forget about that one fight and focus on being friends?! |
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| The underrated Gorosaurus--note that this is a "behind the scenes" shot because the top of the background is visible! |
Part two coming soon!
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2 comments:
How old are these? I have 5 sets of these and can’t find really anything on these. Do they have any value? Mine are all basically mint.
I've always assumed late 70's-to-mid-80's. You can see the photo I saved of a packaged example. I wish we could see the back and see if there was a bar code. There are no images featured that are later than the 70's, if that's a clue.
As for value, it's hard to say. Back then when I posted this, you could buy lots, and now on Ebay sellers are trying to get $13 for one menko card. I haven't really seen them selling at that rate though. That's true of any Japanese Godzilla trading cards, too, the prices are high and they rarely ever sell. I'd like to see a large pile of these go up as a lot at a decent starting bid, and then we could get an accurate idea of current value!
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