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.

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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.

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Sure, today and this week is about the newest of the new in 2023 Topps, but Wheatland Auction Services has some of the biggest of the big cards up for grabs in an auction ending on Sunday.

Everything from iconic Hall of Famer tobacco cards like Ty Cobb above -- a card presently at $7,500 -- to slabbed Rookie Cards of the Super Bowl QBs, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are all presently on the auction block beginning at just $5 with the sale ending this Sunday evening (7 p.m. Eastern).

Keep reading for a look at some of the pieces and details on even more that's up for grabs -- cards, lots, memorabilia and more -- via the Lancaster, Pa.-based company.

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Have you seen the latest cool cards from a new release? With so many options for collectors of all kinds arriving every week it's possible you haven't. That's where Buzz comes in -- well at least on one brand you'll see here from time to time in what we're calling Buzz's Pick Six. Simply put, here are six cards from a new arrival that seemed interesting to this collector and we think they might interest you, too.

This week's release: 2020 Topps Series 1 baseball cards

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SMALL SURPRISES AND STRONG PHOTOS 
The Card: Big Air Big Hair ... Card No. 298
The Price: Cheap but fun.
Why it’s Buzz-worthy: This is a textbook example of how some of the basic inclusions in this one -- either team cards or checklists -- can have fun photos that help make the simple inclusions a little more interesting. This is something that some brands do often and with deliberate appeal -- think Stadium Club -- but flagship Topps has done this more in recent years and the results are getting a little better. One touch on this card that some might notice? The new (old) logo for the Brewers will be found in this series. It also doesn't hurt that one of the strong sophomores, Keston Hiura, is here, too. This won't be an expensive card at all -- it's just a nod to remember that fun stuff adds value in other ways and we might all remember that more often ... a good photo can make a good card, too.

Keep reading for five more interesting items in this one ...

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Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today's your day then as we launch 12 in 12 -- a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We'll post one every hour on the hour all day long today ... this is our finale for today. 

The box: 2015 Topps Heritage football 
The cost: Click here

What's inside this one? Keep reading ...

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Today's the day where everyone in Major League Baseball dons No. 42 as a tribute to the man who changed the game -- and America -- forever.

On this day back in 1947, Jackie Robinson became a baseball and social pioneer, breaking MLB's color barrier and helping change how the game was played. His actions undoubtedly helped with the civil rights movement, which had its landmark legal act nearly two decades later.

Collecting Robinson isn't easy on a budget, but there are a few options for fans.

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A near-perfect PSA 9 Hank Aaron 1954 Topps Rookie Card led the way in the Mile High Card Company auction that ended during the weekend -- and it was just one of 10 lots that topped the $20,000 mark.

All were graded vintage cards in high grades or key specimens slabbed by PSA or SGC -- meanwhile 13 other auctions topped the $10,000 plateau in the sale.

Click the first image below to enter our gallery and get a closer look at the top 10 lots as well their final sale prices. We added an extra one so you can see a surprising sale price on the only PSA 10 Joe Torre 1962 Topps Rookie Card in existence.

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

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

Demand for The Mick continues to be an all-time high.

A run of high-grade Mickey Mantle Topps and Bowman baseball cards from 1951 to 1969 sold for more than $750,000 this weekend in a Memory Lane Inc. auction.

"The Empire State Collection" consisted of 21 PSA-graded cards and, according to the company, 14 of them set new record-highs for their condition.

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