Opening a pack of 1997 BBM Pro Wrestling cards

Today, we will open a pack of 1997 BBM Pro Wrestling cards. Distributed in Japan, it originally carried a price tag of 200 Yen, about $2 in today's money not adjusting for inflation. The pack feature a Japanese style statue of two men in wrestling combat. The pack contains 8 cards, not including an blanked-back ad card of paper stock. The ad card appears to adverting this wrestling set and two other trading card product.

The first card features the logo for ZEN. ZEN was a professional wrestling stable in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), similar to the nWo wrestling stable of WCW at the time.. Unlike most wrestling card sets published in the United States, the BBM pro wrestling sets from the 1994 to 2006 feature wrestlers from a variety of promotion instead of a single promotion, such as WWE.

The next card we pull is of wrestling great Jaguar Yokota, who is one of the most popular Joshi wrestlers, and is consider one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time. The majority of Yokota's career was a headliner for the All Japan Women's promotion (AJW). In 1995, she came out of her retirement to form her own promotion called Jd'.

Yuji Kito (real name Kido) is the subject of the next card. Kito debuted his carrer in 1997. In 2000, he won the BZW Heavyweight Title on United State territory. He was later known for his heel role, and went by a variety of ring names.

Yoji Anjo is featured in the third card from the pack. Anjor competed in several different promotions throughout his career, and held several tag-team titles, including partners Genichiro Tenryu and the Original Tiger Mask. He also competed in several mixed martial art and kickboxing events.

The fourth card features female wrestler Michiko Nagashima, who had a short career in Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling (LLPW)

Gran Naniwa (real name Yoshikuni Kimura ) is the character shown on the next card. Gran Naniwa. He was best known for his comedy gimmick, in which he performed mannerisms of crabs. He won the title of Central American Middleweight Championship of Michinoku Pro Wrestling. Gran Naniwa passed away at the age in 33 in 1990 due to a heart attack.

The next card features Zero. A face-painted character breifly performed by the famous wrestler Chigusa Nagayo for the GAEA Japan promotion, in which she is also the founder. Chigusa Nagayo is best known for being 1/2 of Joshi tag-team The Crush Girls, perhaps the most well-known female tag-team of all time due to marketing and merchandising of the brand.

The last card features Atsushi Kikuchi, who wrestled for the Japanese promotion WAR (Wrestle Association R).

Andre the Giant Japanese pro wrestling cards

In the world of Japanese pro wrestling, American fighters were often used as a main attraction to draw crowds to the stadium events. These included popular wrestlers such as Lou Thesz, Hulk Hogan, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, and Andre the Giant. As participants in the sport, may of these athletes were included into many Japanese pro wrestling card sets beginning in the 1950’s and continuing to the modern day.

Andre the Giant, best known for his 500lb+ frame was perhaps the biggest draw to events, and was included into many Japanese set beginning in the early 1970’s. Andre made his debut in Japan in 1970, billed as "Monster Roussimoff”. In 1972, Gong magazine published the first Monster Roussimoff card in a 4-card pull-out which featured two wrestlers per side. Wrestler Don Leo Jonathan was the subject on the reverse side of the card.

In 1974, card company Yamakatsu released the first Andre the Giant cards to be released in a package. The 1974 Yamakatsu New Japan Pro Wrestling mini card set was sold in 2-card packages, and featured two different Andre the Giant cards. Like Menko cards of the time period, a few cards in each box would have winner stamps of the back of the cards which could be redeemed for a prize. The Andre the Giant cards were numbered 25 and 29, and the #29 card has been found with an elusive winner stamp.

1974 also saw Andre the Giant on a set of menko cards. One card features Andre the Giant and Antonio Inoki, and the other Andre the Giant and Karl Gotch. The cards feature two different backs, although the company(s) aren’t known, the backs of referred to as "NazoNazo" and "Bat and Bone" (cataloged as JCM 15b).

In 1979, card company Amada released three wrestling card sets based on the film Kings of the Square Ring. All three sets contained various Andre the Giant cards based on clips from the film. The Bromide set was a postcard-sized set, sold in one-card Taba packs, a string-connected group of packaging in which each pack was to be broken off one at a time. This set contained four Andre the Giant cards, one with arms raised, and three showing in-ring competition. The Menko set feature three cards of Andre the Giant - one with arms raised, and two in-ring with Antonio Inoki (arm bar and headlock). The mini card set, also sold in small 2-card packs, also featured four Andre the Giant cards, all in battle against Antonio Inoki.

In 1981, Takara release a pro wrestling board game, whose title is roughly translated as “Blazing Fighting”. The game included cards of 4 different wrestlers, one of which is Andre the Giant. Each cards has a different value ranging from 1 to 10. In addition to to the numbering, there are two versions of each number, white and hollow.

In 1981, toy company Popy released a set of wrestling figures that contains a small number of wrestling card concealed within the packaging. These cards are best known as Kajiwara Productions due to a copyright statement on the back of the cards. In this set, there are two Andre the Giant card, one for each subset, Subset "A" and Subset "B"

In 1981, Marusho released a mini-card Pro Wrestling containing three Andre the Giant. Two of these cards showed Andre the Giant in the ring with Antonio Inoki (foothold and grappling). This set was sold in two-card packages, and like Menkos, contained cards with a winner stamp.

In 1982, BBM Sha produced a special publication about USA Wrestlers. The book contained a pull-out sheet of small perforated blank-back wrestling cards. Of these cards is a card of Andre the Giant.

In January of 1983, BBM Puroresu Magazine contained a page of hand-cut cards. Among the wrestlers was a card of  Andre the Giant, among four other cards.

In 2000, magazine and card company BBM Sha released a standard-size set of trading cards. Distributed in trading card packs, the Limited All-Japan Pro Wrestling contained two Andre the Giant cards, card #77 and card # 84 feature Andre the Giant in competition with Giant Baba

Have I missed any Japanese Andre the Giant cards? Let me know! Contact me on my Facebook page.

A look at the 1995 BBM Pro Wrestling set

The 1995 BBM Pro Wrestling set published by Baseball Magazine Sha (BBM) was a landmark set, and is one of the most important releases for the sport. It was the first standard-size wrestling card set in Japan to be distributed in packs. With a checklist totaling 241 cards, it was by far the largest wrestling card set published to date in Japan, and only second to the 1988 Wonderama NWA set released in the United States. At the time, BBM was a leading producer of baseball cards in Japan. The company would later go on to produce sumo cards, horse-racing, bowling cards, and other sport-related sets.

The set is composed of both men and women wrestlers, and contains a variety of small subsets. The set also features an insert set of 12 cards with separate numbering and cardstock from the standard base set. Card one through 132 of the set feature the men wrestlers, while cards 133 through 184 feature women wrestlers, known a Joshi. As a large set at the time, the majority of the cards are the first cards (also known as rookie cards) of the wrestlers that they depict. The card front show an image of the wrestler, their name in Japanese, and the logo of the promotion that they originate. The card backs show the names in English.

The tag team subset is entitled We Are the Team and consists of seven cards numbered 186 to 198. The card feature in-ring photography of the most popular tag team on the era. Cards 193 to 198 are a career tribute to the wrestler Atsushi Ohnita (also spelled Onita), who had been forced to retire due to multiple injuries. Ohnita would later seek fame as a founder of a form of hardcore wrestling, often referred to as deathmatch wrestling. Cards 199-206 are the Special Hold subset, feature top moves of popular wrestlers. Cards 207-212 are entitled Greatest Wrestlers, and feature wrestling legend Rikidōzan (Mitsuhiro Momota). The cards show various scenes from Rikidōzan's career. 

Cards 218-223 are entitled Farewell to Ring, and feature wrestlers who have recently retired. Cards 213-216 entitled Proof of King illustrate various title or tournament belts. Cards 224-228 are called Rival Story and show various rivalries between wrestlers, as popular technique to get viewer interest in wrestling shows. Cards 229-241 are Logographics and show the logos of various popular promotions (BBM was not restricted to wrestlers from a single promotion). There were also four checklist cards to the set, numbered 62, 124, 185, and 241.

The set also featured as series of 12 insert cards, entitled Pro Wrestling Super Stars, numbered SE-1 to SE-12. The cards were produced on foil cards stock, which featured a sparkling effect when viewed in-hand. BBM also pre-released several promotional cards for the set, which are highly valued due to their scarcity.

Where to buy Japanese pro wrestling cards

Collecting Japanese pro wrestling cards outside of Japan can often be a challenge. The typical card store in North America primarily caters to major team sports card sets and to trading card games, such as Magic the Gathering or Pokemon. Although not impossible, it can be rare to find Japanese products in stock at a local card shop. Card store owners consider Japanese cards a specialty item, and often do not have the time and resources to keep products in stock for a small customer base.

To locate and purchase Japanese trading card products from outside Japan, the best technique is to simply search online, but that can also be challenging. Shipping, language, and payments methods are all barriers to establishing an easy and enjoyable method of commerce.

The most popular method of purchasing cards online is through eBay, either though auction listings or buy-it-now items. Many Japanese sellers use eBay to sell their goods. eBay is a great resource to find popular items as that are released, as well as searching for vintage card that are hard to come by. The standard payment method on eBay is PayPal, and most seller accept that form of payment, which makes it easy for the buyer. A far second to eBay, Amazon.com is also a source for Japanese cards. COMC is a great site to purchase single cards. Cards from different sellers can be combined into a single shipping to save on postage costs.

Buying online from Japanese websites is the most efficient way to located Japanese wrestling cards, but the inherent language barrier makes it difficult for most collectors. Yahoo Auctions of Japan is the most extensive site for buying Japanese cards, however, the website is entirely in Japanese and most sellers do not know English. In this case buyer have the option of using a purchasing agent to select and buy from Yahoo Auction. I prefer the website Jauce for this service. When purchased, items are first mailed to Jauce and then are combined into a single shipment to be mailed to the United States. Using a purchasing service also makes payment much simpler and easier. One should note though that there are additional fees associated with using these services. The additional fees can be often be substantial.

In Japan, some commercial websites support English, and will ship to the United States. Amiami. is a great source for popular Japanese collectibles. They often have Japanese pro wrestling cards in stock, but they tend to sellout quickly. 

Lastly, it can be beneficial to establish connections with fellow collectors. People who collect the same sets or card-types as you do can easily be found on social media. There are many card groups on Facebook, as well as bulletin board systems, such as Net54 or BlowoutCardsForums. Forums are also a great way to share information and learn also new or vintage products.

Types of Japanese pro wrestling cards

Japanese pro wrestling cards come in many forms. The many different types of cards can often be confusing to a beginner collector. The cards can be broken down into several general categories.

The most popular modern cards are standard sized trading cards measuring 2.5 by 3.5 inches. These are mainly distributed in packs or as boxed sets. Collector try to build sets, or collect cards of their favorite players. In addition to a standard numbered set, collectors may also try to acquire insert sets, parallel cards, relic/memorabilia cards, or autographed cards. The largest producer of pro wrestling sets is Baseball Card Magazine Sha, often abbreviated BBM, which produces various pro wrestling sets on an annual basis.

Collector card games, aslo known as CCG's or TCG's, are also another popular type of Japanese pro wrestling cards. These are a similar the popular Magic the Gathering or Pokemon cards games. Players use the cards to battle each other according to the rules of the game. The Capcom company has been producing King of Pro Wrestling, as an ongoing series. Each pack of cards contains a random selection of common, uncommon and rare cards.

There are many types of vintage Japanese cards that include pro wrestlers or pro wrestling themes. These older cards have become highly collectible in recent years due to scarcity and an increase in demand for those cards from the United States.

Menko cards are game cards similar to American Pog/milkcaps that were popular in the 1990's. Unlike standard trading cards they were meant to be played with. They are similar in size to tobacco cards, but often contain very thick card stock. Due to cards being heavily played with it is not unusual to find many of the cards in very worn condition.

Bromides and mini cards are similar to standard trading cards, but different in size and often thinner or photogaph card stock. Like trading cards, these were also distributed in packs. Other types of misc. cards include Karuta (an educational card game), postcards, phone cards, vending cards, and food premiums.

A great resource for information about Japanese cards is Ryan C Laughton’s Japanese Sumo Wrestling Cards and Menko Blog at https://sumocards.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html. He is the author of the book Sumo Menko and Card Checklist.