1993 Hawaii Winter League cards
 

Were these really 1993 issues? I have one of the cards with a gold kanji fascimile signature. There is another on ebay now but the signature is in a slightly different position. I know there are also 2001 reprints. I read somewhere that the 1993 cards didn't surface until 2001 and were printed by a shady character?
Does anyone know? I live in Hawaii and colect Ichiro but if these are bogus I will stop spending the money

Hi Mike,

I saw that card as well, and the title kind of threw me. I realize the signature is a facsimile, but the wording appears as though the card is.

Mahalo in advance

I feel like I remember reading that TPG's stopped holdering these cards because there was some doubt as to whether or not they were a legitimate release.

PSA labeled mine last year as a 1993. Of course the ones that say 2001 on back they labeled as such. What is really interesting is the signature is in a slightly different spot in terms of where is crosses his name in the beay compared to my card
Attachment 385151

Very surprised they graded that card. I thought it was almost universally accepted that these cards aren't a real issue. I've never seen another subject from them other than Ichiro, and only started seeing them after he came stateside.

If they did come out when he came to the US (I am not disputing that at all), it is interesting that some say 1993 on back while others say 1993,2001 as if it is a reprint of the 1993. So either they did come out in 1993 or a smart crook which it could be

I guess no one really know for sure, but if the league issued a set you'd think there'd be some surviving example somewhere of anyone else in the set. There were rumors of a Giambi from the set, but if you use the year 2001 as your guide, Giambi would have just won the MVP award in 2000. There could have been a monetary incentive to create cards of Giambi and Ichiro due to the hype at the time they resurfaced.

My betting is that the card is a 2001 creation. I'd rather own a Japanese RC instead.