Legendary cardboard: 25 fun & notable Ichiro Suzuki cards

Ichiro Suzuki’s 2001 MLB arrival didn’t just change the game on the field — he helped feed growing international demand for baseball cards via plenty of new premium brands that helped pave the way for the ultra-deluxe stuff of today.

-

A legendary career and baseball journey on two continents makes its final stop this month in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the Hall of Fame and there’s a lot that can be said about that in several directions. 

Ichiro Suzuki changed the game with his arrival in MLB, eschewing the longball in favor of speed and hits — lots and lots of hits. But, “hits” are also the story of all those years when it comes to baseball cards with the prized rarities found in packs with autographs on them — or pieces of memorabilia in them — being an unstoppable force in those years. 

Of course, hits didn’t start with the Japanese star’s arrival, but many of his cards in sets alongside another now-legendary 2001 rookie, Albert Pujols, helped change the cardboard world even faster. Demand for their stuff prompted several new brands from several companies making MLB cards back then to try new things, capitalizing on their new stars who could move packs and boxes of cards -- just like they could move players around the bases and move butts into seats to watch games. One could argue that 2001 was in part a big piece in the evolution of what we see in today’s sports card landscape -- a focus on rarities with small print runs and with premium prices that weren’t like the wax paper-wrapped pocket-change treasures of not that many years before. 

Now, what’s to come here is absolutely not a definitive list of top cards — and it’s not one purely based on volatile values or one limited solely to Rookie Cards. Why? There’s a lot to choose from for Suzuki on all fronts — there could be several ways to take on this challenge. He has more than 50 different Rookie Cards between his 1993 Nippon Professional Baseball and 2001 Major League Baseball debuts (depending on how you want to argue about RC definitions) and he had roughly 500 cards in 2001 alone. Many of them are rarer cards where it is impossible to own them all thanks to small print runs and rare serial-numbered versions. 

In all, he appears on more than 19,000 different cards made over the years between NPB and MLB -- and even though his playing career ended in 2019 his cardboard career has not. He’s got a place in the game in seemingly every new baseball card set on the way and that figures to be the story for the rest of cardboard eternity. He’s not just a Hall of Famer … he’s an international icon.

Here’s a small sampling of 25 Ichiro Suzuki cards that are both fun and notable.

THE MAINSTAY BRAND
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Topps No. 726 — Rookie Card
Why It’s Notable: A number of the card companies that made Ichiro’s first American cards are either no longer around or are no longer completely licensed to make MLB stuff, so that might perhaps put more focus on the basics from those that are found in the here and now — and that means the Topps MLB flagship set. This Rookie Card isn’t rare — it’s a standard card found in Series 2 packs — but finding a clean copy might be rare going forward. That green ink and the heavy gloss used here are problematic in general and those still sitting in packs or sets that have never been touched are likely stuck together all these years later. When they’re peeled apart, it may look like a snowstorm happened on your card … if you’re lucky. Thankfully, his popularity upon arrival meant that plenty of those packs were opened. For those wanting a bigger chase or goal here, there’s a rarer Gold parallel version of the card that’s really pricey — and only 2,001 serial-numbered copies were made — and then some special factory set versions where there’s just some extra foil stamping for that edition.
Other versions — Gold parallel (/2,001), Employee stamp, HTA stamp, Limited stamp (announced /3,085) ... the one up top is just a Gold signed in-person.

HERE COMES THE MONEY
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Ultimate Collection No. 120 — autographed (/250) Rookie Card
Why It’s Notable: Unlike a lot of his standard cards made by Topps, Donruss/Playoff and Fleer, this Upper Deck creation was from a new premium brand that arrived with a then-unheard-of price of $100 a pack thanks to an autograph or memorabilia card in every one of them. There are only 250 copies of this card made and signed and it’s the only version of this card to be found, too, though every box did include some type of other Ichiro card inside. The ink quality here can be remarkably bad — the copy seen here is one of the better ones — and high-grade copies have sold for six-figures. 

—

THEY’VE GOT IT COVERED
Ichiro Suzuki 2021 Topps X Sports Illustrated No. 29 — announced /1,746 made
Why It’s Fun: Unlike the first two cards here, this one isn’t that pricey — but it’s actually still pretty rare. It’s from an online-sold set where past Sports Illustrated covers were revisited on cards that were printed to order. This one shows his first cover appearance — an in-demand collectible of its own — and only 1,746 copies of the regular card were ordered. There are a few versions with different colors of borders that also exist — those were randomly inserted in orders — to add a chase. He also had an autographed (/25) version with varying colors, too.
Other unsigned versions — White/Red Stripes (/70),Yellow (/25), Orange (/10), Red (/5), Silver (1/1)

—

A BIG APPLE BOW
Ichiro Suzuki 2012 Topps Update No. US272B — short-printed photo variation
Why It’s Fun: Ichiro’s short time with MLB’s most-successful franchise has its fair share of cards but it’s obviously far easier to find him in a Seattle uniform. There are literally thousands of Mariners cards out there and an unusually high number of Miami Marlins cards for him (we’ll get to that later), too, but there are fewer than 700 different cards showing him with the New York Yankees. This one with an alternate photo is rarer than his regular card and it shows him acknowledging the crowd when he returned to Seattle on July 23, 2012.

—

ONE OF THREE FROM 1993
Ichiro Suzuki 1993 BBM No. 239 — NPB Rookie Card
Why It’s Notable: His NPB debut comes in 1993 sets and there are three major cards to chase. One is from BBM, which is like Topps and still making cards today, while the other two are from the Takara and Tomy I.D. sets. The BBM set has a full-bleed traditional (yet still modern-looking) card design clearly akin to 1990 Pro Set NFL, while the Takara card looks like it’s from a gaming set and Tomy is more of a 1981 Donruss meets Score 1980s/90s hybrid when it comes to its design. All three are in demand and can be a bit pricey (dollars will vary with condition and fakes likely can exist so grab graded copies) considering they’re just standard cardboard and are reflective of his nine seasons with the Orix BlueWave. He’s got a boatload of cards one could consider for just that part of his career but we’ll let this one stand as the starting point here.

—

THOSE LITTLE EXTRAS = BIG CASH
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 SPx No. 150 — autograph-jersey Rookie Card
Why It’s Notable: This is his only autographed memorabilia card that’s part of a base set’s checklist in 2001, making it his only auto-mem Rookie Card. He has plenty of autographed cards and memorabilia cards from other companies and other releases from Upper Deck that year (only UD had his autos thanks to an exclusive deal) but this one benefits from that slight difference — the others are insert cards. This is not serial-numbered and it has a trapped autograph (he signed slips of cardboard that were then embedded into the layers of the card along with the jersey piece) but it still can command thousands for both graded and un-graded copies. 

—

A CAMEO WITH THE ROOKIE
“Japan’s Finest” Shohei Ohtani & Ichiro Suzuki 2018 Topps Update No. US153
Why It’s Fun: Maybe it’s the kid’s appearance on this card that’s sparking a lot of the dollar demand, but it’s an important one. While this ultimately is closer to a filler card in the Topps Update set — a number of cards will show stars and have checklist backs or a quick blurb about what’s seen like this one does — it’s one of the top rookie in the game with his fellow countryman when their paths crossed. It’s not their only time appearing together on an MLB card, but it’s one of the earlier ones showing them in the same photo at the same time. The standard card can sell pretty well, especially when graded, and the one seen here is a Black (/67) parallel where a color and texture was dropped into the background to add a chase card. This one has a number of colors (below) and also a Topps Mini version with its own chases in those packs.
Other versions — Negative, Rainbow, Gold (/2,018), Vintage (/99), Independence (/76), Black (/67), Pink (/50), Blue (/50), Camo (/25), Platinum (1/1)

—

THREE OF A KIND
Ichiro Suzuki 2024 Topps Transcendent Collection Triple Patches No. TPCI (/5)
Why It’s Fun: This is fun because it crosses off all three of his teams at once for memorabilia cards — a piece of Mariners, Yankees and Marlins uniforms all in one spot — but that can only happen for five collectors as this comes from a high-end brand and that’s all that was made other than a single 1/1 Platinum version. Ichiro has thousands of memorabilia cards and, thanks to that Upper Deck exclusive mentioned before, a number of them from other companies had to use “other” pieces of memorabilia such as bases and baseballs instead of pieces of his bats and jerseys. Not many mem cards show him with all three of his MLB teams. Will more all-teams cards be coming? It’s possible. 

—

ALL THAT FLASH
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Topps Chrome Traded Retrofractors No. T266 (announced /500 made)
Why It’s Notable: Back in 2001, Topps Chrome Traded cards were seeded into packs of Topps Traded — two cards at a time. With a 265-card Chrome set, you can do the math on finding any one player’s regular Chrome card. But, why is he in the Traded Chrome set here but not in the regular Chrome set? Good ol’ licensing/production delays and issues. (Chrome takes more time to cook and he didn’t make it into the set in time.) Now, what’s up with the “Retrofractor” name? Well, these are Refractors with a darker cardboard backing … just because. Chrome is seemingly Topps’ biggest focus today and there are many collectors there, so it’s easy to see how this rare version of Ichiro’s big card is a big deal. How big? This card as a BGS 9.5 sold for $8,540 last year via Goldin.

—

LEGENDARY TRIO
Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui & Shohei Ohtani 2020 Topps Triple Threads Historic Ties Autograph Relics No. HTARIMO (/9)
Why It’s Notable: This trio of superstars who made the jump from NPB to MLB can be found on shared cardboard a number of times and autographed versions exist, too. Almost 30 different signed cards, all made in rarer volume, have happened in MLB sets since Ohtani’s arrival in 2018. The easiest card to find is limited to only 36 copies and the overall volumes are more often like this one … or far lower. It’s easy to say that the prices attached to all of them are big.

—

ONE FOR THE WBC
Ichiro Suzuki 2006 SPx Winning Materials No. IS
Why It’s Fun: A World Baseball Classic card of some type had to make this list and this one was among the earliest cards for the international showcase event that began in 2006 and was won by Japan that year. This card has a piece of one of his jerseys embedded into the “X” in the design and is relatively affordable vs. a lot of older, notable cards perhaps since it wasn’t serial-numbered. It only has a jumbo-piece counterpart that is limited to only five copies to compete with it — and those have probably been locked away in collections for years. He has a decent amount of WBC cards through the years to look for but perhaps not as much as some might expect.

—

A LEGENDARY DUO
Ichiro Suzuki & Albert Pujols 2004 Sweet Spot Signatures Dual No. SSPS (/10)
Why It’s Notable: The 2001 Rookie of the Year winners actually share a decent amount of cardboard going all the way back to that dominating year — around 200 shared cards in all. Of those, half of the 50 or so certified-auto cards signed by both are from Topps and the rest from Leaf save for one … this card. Sweet Spot cards have a piece of a baseball’s sweet spot panel signed and embedded into the card — in the case of deceased stars it would be a disassembled ball cut and put into a card, while newer stars just sign leather pieces that come compete with stitching. Only 10 copies of this one were made and this card checked in at just a PSA 5 but that didn’t stop it from selling for $1,500 (and that’s still low) via Heritage Auctions in late-2022.

—

FROM THE MID-SUMMER CLASSIC
Ichiro Suzuki 2007 Topps Update All-Star Stitches No. IS
Why It’s Fun: Like the WBC, this list needed some All-Star colors as Ichiro was a 10-time All-Star in MLB with a number of moments in the Midsummer Classic. Topps regularly included All-Star jersey cards somewhere in its flagship releases with basic cards having pieces of a jersey inside. (It’s not their game jersey, it’s from a workout/Home Run Derby day jersey using the host city’s colors for that year.) Other more-premium brands will include bigger patch pieces from jerseys during the year, so the basic stuff like this, even for a legend like Ichiro, can be found without breaking the bank. 

—

A PAST PHENOM BRAND
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 eTopps No. 100 (announced /10,000)
Why It’s Fun: There was a time in the collecting world where an online IPO-style brand sold as singles online was not a hit (it debuted in 2000), became a big hit a few years later (thanks to under-ordered early cards and smaller print runs for new cards) and then it all faded away (dead by 2012). That was eTopps and this is a key card there even with its meaty print run. It’s a key card for a brand that came and went — something that’s happened a lot in the last 25 years.

—

ALL THERE IS …
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Bowman Heritage No. 352 — Short-printed Rookie Card
Why It’s Fun: The long-running Topps Heritage brand arrived in 2001 with a remake of 1952 Topps as part of the company’s 50th anniversary celebration and it’s still going today with 1976 Topps getting the modern treatment this year. One thing that wasn’t in that first set? An Ichiro Suzuki RC. This card is from the less-beloved and short-lived Bowman Heritage brand (2001-07) that looked back at older sets from Topps’ past rival. This design is from 1948 and it’s a slightly rarer card on the checklist as one of the 110 SPs found in every other pack.

—

HALF OF THE DUO
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Topps Gallery No. 151 — Japanese variation Rookie Card
Why It’s Fun: There are two versions of this card — one with an English front and back and the other in Japanese. Neither version, however, was actually found in packs … there was a redemption card put into packs that had to be mailed in to receive one of these cards. (They were made in equal volumes.)

—

WAIT, WHAT?
Ichiro Suzuki, David Beckham & Kobe Bryant 2002-03 UD SuperStars Legendary Leaders Triple Jersey No. IDK (/250)
Why It’s Fun: With a number of A-list names locked into exclusive deals and with licensing for the four major sports leagues in hand, too, Upper Deck tested the waters of making a multi-sport release. Why? To see if a readily available set (this was easily found at retail) would work for collectors and spark crossover interest between fans of leagues and stars from past and present eras. One of those ways? Autographs and memorabilia cards of unusual big-name combos. This is not a cheap one, despite that volume of cards made.  

—

WATCH ME …
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 SP Authentic No. 91 — Rookie Card (/1,250)
Why It’s Notable: Don’t let that simplistic design fool you, this is from a premium brand back then and thanks to its serial-numbering it’s among his favorite RCs (cards in the standard set) for many and it can be pricey. It’s also not alone as one of several cards in the release showing the new star, including some that pair him with other Japanese stars on regular cards and memorabilia cards. 

—

BIG INK
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 SP Authentic Chirography Update Silver parallel No. SPIS (/100)
Why It’s Notable: That last set also included a trio of Ichiro autographs — but they weren’t in the same box. These autos were found in a catch-all Rookie Update set that added to a number of the brands in the company’s portfolio at the end of the year. His regular card is limited to 250 copies with this Silver version and a Gold (/25) version in there, too. That’s it — 375 cards. Unlike the super-pricey Ultimate Collection card previously mentioned, these have clean and easily seen autos. 

—

AN AFFORDABLE ROOKIE
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Fleer Tradition No. 452 — Rookie Card
Why It’s Fun: Fleer made a lot of strong cards over the years before it folded and then had its properties bought up by Upper Deck to become some of its brands in 2006. While Upper Deck made a majority of Ichiro’s 2001 cards by a wide margin, Fleer actually made almost double the number of cards that Topps did. That was surprising, really, even to this veteran collector, as a lot of the Fleer cards might not come to mind quickly when one thinks of his RCs. This one also is an homage of sorts to 1956 Topps with its design and isn’t too tough to find. An affordable card to pick off.

—

PREMIUM INK
Ichiro Suzuki 2003 SP Authentic Chirography Bronze No. IC -- “2001 ROY” inscription (/50)
Why It’s Notable: This one makes the list as a prime example where Upper Deck’s past design and photo choices came together in simple yet high-end ways to create a premium feel on everything — even moreso if you land a rarity like this inscribed auto. The basics in this set are, well, pretty basic but the lineup of rare finds is as strong as it gets — it’s the kind of stuff that got way-meatier price tags on boxes in the years after this. Among his cards? A jersey card pairing him with Ted Williams — and a cut auto pairing them, too. Also in there are shared-auto cards with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa (same card) and then another with Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. This is a Bronze version of a regular card that didn’t have the little extra. All of his stuff here is obviously pricey and boxes aren’t likely to exist these days with so much good finds potentially inside for a number of names. 

—

A RARE ROOKIE CARD
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Studio No. 186 — Rookie Card (/700)
Why It’s Notable: Like Fleer, a lot of the Donruss/Playoff creations are really nice but perhaps don’t come to mind first when looking back at his arrival. (Why? No autographed cards for starters.) This is one of about 60 cards made by the company that year and a lot of them — even for established brands — are low-volume creations perhaps never even seen by anybody who isn’t a more-focused Ichiro collector. This one? Just 700 copies were made and its lone proof parallel version only adds 25 more. His 2001 Donruss Elite and Donruss The Rookies cards are probably best-remembered but a lot of the other stuff is on the rarer side like this (or far, far rarer). Studio is a stronger card.

—

GOING FOR GOLD
Ichiro Suzuki 2001 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractors No. 351 — Rookie Card parallel (/99, first 50 in English & rest in Japanese)
Why It’s Notable: Why didn’t this mainstay of a brand get mentioned sooner? Well, it’s not like you can go find a box of this one and hope to find an Ichiro RC inside … everything for him was released as a redemption card for this set — his regular cards, his Refractors, his X-Fractors and then these Golds. All of them have the approximate 50-50 split between English and Japanese card backs just like Gallery and all those redemptions are long-expired. This particular card seen here sold via Heritage Auctions for $43,200 as a PSA 10 back in 2021.

—

RECORD-SETTER
Ichiro Suzuki 2016 Topps Now No. 327 — announced /11,550 made
Why It’s Fun: This list needed a Marlins card and, well, this one was a biggie … for a time. When it arrived in real time for his 3,000th hit — not in a pack months later — it sold a record amount of copies for Topps’ on-demand card program, dethroning a viral Bartolo Colon home run card. By the next year, Aaron Judge had topped the mark with his rookie home run record and they’ve all been topped a few times over since. Oddly, but perhaps because of 3,000 and the near-end of his playing days, Ichiro actually has far more Marlins cards than Yankees cards when looking at overall totals. 

—

END OF THE LINE
Ichiro Suzuki & Yusei Kikuchi 2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy Series No. 11 — announced /893 made
Why It’s Fun: Ichiro’s final MLB game came on March 21, 2019, during the Opening Series at the Tokyo Dome and his final moment on the field included this interaction with a Mariners rookie and fellow Japanese star who made his MLB debut in that same game. They share a few cards but this photo, where there’s crying in baseball, might not appear on any other.

--

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

>> Click here to buy cards on BlowoutCards.com.