1993～1994 Tokyo Snack Central League Popcorn Cards

 

 

 This is a fairly obscure and scarce set of 179 stickers (although they are labeled as “cards”). They were released by Tokyo Snack which is either some kind of Calbee affiliate or just a brand name Calbee uses although I don’t know for sure. I have a bit of a digression on this point, which I’ll put as an endnote if you care to read it*. Anyway, although the set contains 179 stickers many of the players have multiple stickers, so there are far fewer than 179 players represented. In addition, some of the lowest numbered cards also come in no-number variations. Hideki Matsui is the set’s headliner and he has no fewer than 8 stickers. Shigeo Nagashima, who was starting his second (and more successful) stint as the Giants’ manager is #1 in the set while his eldest child and filial underachiever Kazushige Nagashima gets #2-5. The set also contains several stickers of current Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo during his time as a hunky fan favorite on the Tigers, as well as journeyman Hall of Fame slugger Hiromitsu Ochiai among other notable players.

As the name implies, the set covers the Central League only, though I don’t know why this is the case. Vintage Calbee sets generally over-represented the Central League, although leaving the Pacific League out entirely here is peculiar.

The set was definitely issued starting sometime after the 1993 regular season given that each player’s final ‘93 stat lines are listed. Hideki Matsui has both a low and high number run of stickers (with no-number variants on the low number run). While it’s likely that the lower numbers were released in 1993, making them Matsui rookie cards of a sort, I can’t say for sure whether his higher number stickers, which includes my #97, were released in 1993 or 1994 therefore making this either a rookie or second year. 

Completing this set would be incredibly tough. The only checklist I could even find was incomplete with numerous holes in it, so many of these just don’t surface. I only have the one Matsui as of now, although I'd be interested in getting the Shigeo Nagashima at least.

By the way, this post marks a year since I started this blog. I just want to extend my thanks to any and all who read and get something out of it!

*Digression: Trying to look up more about Tokyo Snack and its relationship to Calbee was frustrating and pretty fruitless. To be blunt, I don't love the Japanese internet. If websites aren’t crusty, cluttered eyesores that look like they were made on Yahoo! Geocities in 1999, they are often completely lacking in adequate information and content. As far as I can tell Tokyo Snack, whatever it is, does not have a website, and I could find nothing on it from Calbee itself or any other secondary sources. I found a Japanese government site that listed a Tokyo Snack Corporation (ironically, in Osaka) as having shuttered in 2022. I think chances are decent that this was a different company altogether. Beyond that, I got lots of unhelpful reviews and listings for snack bars. (To those unaware a snack bar, or “snack” for short, is a kind of small hostess bar usually run by a woman of a certain age). I have little interest in snack bars, but if you know anything more about Tokyo Snack please let me know!