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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Simply put, this one is all about the best of the best.

Baseball's global icon and living legend Ichiro Suzuki takes his spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame later this month in Cooperstown, N.Y., and just one piece of all that's to come with his history-making day is Baseball America's special issue that's precision-crafted with a little bit of everything inside when it comes to Japan's greatest player and an icon among the elite in MLB history.

The Ichiro Baseball America Hall of Fame Commemorative is 50 pages of full-bleed retrospective splendor that showcases all of the memorable moments, rarely seen photographs, historic analysis, other memories and stories from yesteryear, thoughts from opposing pitchers and, of course, it's even got some baseball cards inside.

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As the world awaits his first MLB Rookie Cards in packs, there's still plenty to chase right now when it comes to this phenom.

Los Angeles Dodgers prospect and former Chiba Lotte Marines superstar Roki Sasaki won't have an in-pack RC until his official regular-season MLB debut and he won't have any other in-pack Dodgers cards as a prospect until the first Bowman sets of the year arrive. But, he's still got a bunch of cardboard already thanks to appearances in World Baseball Classic releases and Nippon Professional Baseball cards made by Topps for the Japanese market.

Sasaki's debut comes next week as the Dodgers take on the Cubs in the Tokyo Series, a two-game set that starts the MLB season in an international way and that location is fitting as Sasaki's four seasons in NPB once included a 19-strikeout perfect game and then eight more perfect innings in his next start after that to put him firmly on the radar of collectors around the world.

What's he got for cards? Keep reading ...

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2025 Topps Series 1 baseball cards (hanger)
First Buzz preview & checklist/odds: Click here
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com (for a few formats)

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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What's Buzzing: NFL chatter and pulls, Roki Sasaki, 2025 Topps and more in this Tuesday edition.

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What's Buzzing: New pulls from WWE, MLB and NBA pulls boxes as well as Victor Wembanyama, NFL chatter and Roki Sasaki.

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What's Buzzing: Card economy thoughts, NFL Week 10 chatter, Roki Sasaki reactions, new pulls and more in today's edition.

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With these Ticket Stud or Ticket Dud stories I'm turning just a tiny bit of that energy just a few degrees away from cards (we'll still have plenty of them here) for a different kind of cardboard. What am I doing? Simple ... this is an occasional dip into some random ticket lots -- a show and tell showing something small with a story.

This time? A big night for one rookie six years ago tomorrow night in The Bronx.

Keep reading to see the details this time ... and tell me if you think it's a Ticket Stud or a Ticket Dud.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The pack: MJ Holding one-pack & more baseball repack
Where to buy: Retail -- click here for Topps Nippon Professional Baseball boxes

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Chet, Coach Prime, some fresh WNBA pulls, NFL chatter, college football reactions and ripping some retail repacks pays off.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

IMPORTED PERFECTION
The Card: Ichiro Suzuki 2000 Upper Deck Ovation Japanese (Nippon Professional Baseball)
The Reason Graded: This set is a favorite of mine among oddball/international releases and while it might look familiar it's not one you found at, say, a Toys R Us store back in the day. This is from a set made for the stars of Nippon Professional Baseball and was sold in Japan and it uses the familiar Ovation MLB design that really does stand out as a unique one from the past with its embossed baseball seams framing the photo. The core of this set isn't huge -- you'll get that part in a typical box -- but there are short-prints in th set that are serial-numbered as well as a number of inserts to chase as well as some MLB player cameos ... but this one is the biggie. It's not super-expensive and it's not a NPB Rookie Card or anything as that's 1993 for this lock of a future Hall of Famer, but this one is from the year before his MLB Rookie Cards arrived. I own two or three of these after opening a couple boxes long ago and one more recently and this one made its way into a bulk lot as my first one or two I graded came up a little short on what I wanted.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: This time? That's the kind of grade I was hoping for and that alone is a reason this one is batting lead-off this time ... it's not my biggest card in this lineup but it's a nice copy of an oddball card with a historic name attached. This grade has the highest pop but two thirds of slabs check in lower than this one ... it's not a super-easy 10 if you ask me with the soft stock and the embossing perhaps being problematic along with a foilboard (front) and glossed (back) surface.

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Scouting Black November, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pondering Hall of Famers, NFL Week 12 and more.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Bronny James, MLB chatter, big on Japanese Bowman Chrome, a grading question, scouting Black November and NFL Week 11 chatter.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Matt Olson, new MLB pulls, NFL preseason chatter, lawsuit reactions, a huge Japanese Chrome card and ... "how long should you hold prospects?"

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: "Hobby good" MLB players, NBA Playoffs chatter, new pulls, Spencer Strider and more in today's edition.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

LEADING OFF WITH THE RECORD-BREAKER
The Card: Aaron Judge 2017 Topps Archives 1960 Rookie Stars
The Reason Graded: He has been an established slugger since his 52 homers as a rookie in 2017, but to a degree he'd fallen off card-wise (and power-wise) the last few years until smacking 39 in 2021 and his Yankees team record (and American League record) 62 homers this year.  I got rid of pretty much all of my RCs in 2017 -- no regrets -- to turn them into stuff I actively wanted (I'm still working rather glacially on some of those Clerks autograph runs) but some of my late-year Judge pulls and some inserts were saved along with my lone autograph. While I haven't yet slabbed my ink -- I probably will here at some point once I figure out what box I put it in -- this insert modeled after the memorable-but-overbearing 1960 Topps design was one that jumped out at me. Why? It was soooo clean.
The Grade: CSG 10

Reality Check: I was right and that pop shows me I'm not alone -- but it is surprising given how skinny the stock is here.

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The pack: 2021 Topps Chrome Nippon Professional Baseball baseball cards
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Keep reading for a full breakdown and gallery of what was in this one.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: New pulls, international appeal, making changes, fighting bots as well as some NBA and WWE chatter, too.

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His first 10 games as a Chicago Cub have already generated headlines and some new ink in the MLB record books -- as well as a good about of Topps Now cardboard, too, if that's your way to measure popularity.

But Seiya Suzuki has a good amount of other cardboard you might want to chase, too, and there are even Superfractors out there to be found for this new MLB standout.

But first? Some basics. He's hitting .429 (12-for-28) this season with four homers and 11 RBI. He's got nine runs and a pair of doubles in there, too, along with nine strikeouts but nine walks to perhaps even things out. (How that looks so far in the record books? Click here.) In Japan as a member of the Hiroshima Carp he hit 189 homers in nine seasons of Nippon Professional Baseball play before coming to America. His Topps Now cards -- the newest dropped today above -- have averaged 4,562 copies sold so far and the newest will put him over 20,000 cards sold this year.

But, like Buzz said, there are Superfractors out there waiting to be found.

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A young player, international appeal, historic games ... and a Superfractor chase.

Those are some key ingredients making some hot cardboard right now -- if you know about it -- as 20-year-old Chiba Lotte Marines star Roki Sasaki has been arguably the most-dominant pitcher on the planet this month. A week ago, he threw a perfect game with 19 strikeouts in Nippon Professional Baseball action and he followed that up yesterday with eight perfect innings with 14 more strikeouts before the ball was handed to a closer.

Why might this matter to American collectors? Well, he's got 18 cards in both of Topps' 2021 NPB releases you can easily chase (or cash in on if that's your thing) with 10 in Chrome and eight in the basic set. They're all paralleled out so, yes, there's a Superfractor in play out there somewhere as he's dominating the game.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: Roki Sasaki dominates, a major price check, a huge blaster pull, the USFL and more in today's edition.

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Fast Five is a quick list that might offer a basic starting point for a themed collection or new focus -- five things that could be fun for a beginner or a new way to add something to your stash if you're a grizzled veteran.

This time? Five MLB players who impressed Buzz this week.

BIG NAME, BIG GAME
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B Toronto Blue Jays -- Rookie Cards in 2019 releases
MVP or not, you should all know Guerrero after last season and this year he's atop MLB with four homers in seven games -- and three of those were in a single game against the Yankees on Wednesday night. He's hitting .333 with eight RBI and six runs but I think the key here is that he's a main guy on a team with a crop of young home-grown stars -- and that is a recipe for hobby success if they get things done this season.

Keep reading for four more making up the list this time.

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The Blowout Cards Forums are where thousands of collectors converge daily to discuss, well, a little bit of everything. Here are a few threads about collecting and more that you should check out right now.

What's Buzzing: MLB breaks, Seiya Suzuki, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Julio Rodriguez, new pulls and more in today's edition.

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Like many collectors, Buzz is a fan of grading and knows that there are many reasons that collectors choose to slab cards. Sometimes it's to enhance the appeal and protect them when selling. Other times it's to protect an investment for the long-term or to protect for sentimental reasons. Or, it might be just for fun or curiosity about a potential grade.

Here's this month's grading diary here on The Buzz ...

A CAREER YEAR
The Card: Dansby Swanson 2017 Topps Heritage #76B action variation SP -- Rookie Card parallel
The Reason Bought: I'm a sucker for Heritage RCs and multi-player cards from the past, but I've never really chased the SPs that have been immensely popular since around this year where a few key names went solo from their card counterparts and have cards of their own -- both signed and unsigned. I had Swanson stashed on my fantasy league all season (mostly on the bench behind a favorite of mine you see here often) and saw the career year as it was happening. I had been eyeing this card for years now -- I own plenty of the regular ones as well as a couple of the Chrome types (I might slab those) -- and grabbed this awhile back. With the Braves' World Series showing, I figured I'd have him batting lead-off here ... and he won't be alone from the ATL here this month.
The Grade: BGS 9.5

Reality Check: I wasn't really worried about the pop report but I also didn't realize there were so few cards above this one. I will stash this one away with my Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr. slabs I've picked up or slabbed on my own the last couple years like I suspect many have and will be doing. I probably need to slab some of their pitchers and you might see a Freddie Freeman Heritage card or two here in the future. (I lean toward the new guys more but have had some good Heritage pulls.)

Keep reading for more of this month's pick-ups and new slabs for Buzz.

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Japan's professional baseball players will soon appear on Topps cards.

The company revealed this week that it has a new deal with Nippon Professional Baseball to make its baseball cards in Japan. This deal is a first for Topps with the debut NPB cards coming later this year.

"We have been actively pursuing the NPB league as a way to better serve baseball and sports fans in Japan and beyond," said David Leiner, Topps' Global GM for Sports and Entertainment. "We feel the licensing agreement will deliver fans an exciting range of collectible products and enhance how fans collect their favorite teams and players."

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