Material

The biggest factor in how a menko performed was the material it was made out of.  Probably the most effective menko are the cardboard menko or thick paper stock menko. This material is very dense and stiff and was very effective for slamming.  It also made it difficult to be turned over when it was being slammed.  When these cards creased they would most always split the surface of the card resulting in a tear.  You can typically see these menko in better condition today since they survived the battles much better than the other kind of menko with thin paper stock.

Thin paper stock has cardboard characteristics, but isn't as dense and is flexible. These cards are often creased, but you seldom see a tear in the surface of the menko. Often times, children would glue two menko together to get their slamming menko the right weight.  This type of menko is seldom seen in excellent condition because they wore out much quicker and couldn't handle the rigors of battle as easily. 

The third and least common type of menko material resembles postcard material. It was made of paper and was thin and creased easily.  However, cards that are made from this material aren't your typical menko and in fact, one could argue that these weren't menko at all.  Sets made of this material didn't have Gu-Choki-Pa or Fighting Numbers. They are more along the lines of you typical trading card of today.