Hobby Musings: Cracking 2019 Historic Autographs Fed League Baseball – Deviating a little bit from their normal box formula, Historic Autographs recently offered up a Federal League Baseball product. Each box features some of the best players in the Federal League, as well as players who could have theoretically played in the league. Like many of their previous products, cut autographs are a big part of this release. Unlike their previous products though, Fed League offers collectors some packs to bust in addition to their cut autograph.
Each box of Federal League has eight packs per box with 10 cards per pack. In addition to the packs, collectors will find either a cut autograph of a Federal League player, an original 1914 or 1915 card of a Federal Leaguer, or one of six player retro rookie autographs. The autograph checklist varies widely and includes notable HOFers like Babe Ruth and Chief Bender. My own review box provided by Historic yielded a cut auto of Dwight Stone. For those who may not know, Mr. Stone was a pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns and the Kansas City Packers. The cut autograph featured an abbreviated version of his signature as well as additional writing for an address. It came also came authenticated and slabbed in a Beckett holder.
I have to admit that I had a little bit of skepticism with this product before opening it. I wasn’t sure how the additional packs would mesh with the rest of the concept. With that being said, I also have to admit that I had a heck of a lot of fun opening this up after it was done. The packs helped to make the break more enjoyable. It also made for a longer box break that wasn’t over as soon as I saw the cut autograph, which was another perk.
Besides the base cards, collectors can also looked for numbered parallel cards. The parallels fell two per pack. With different backgrounds, the numbering varies based on the coloring of the background. The most coveted parallels though are the 1/1 custom art cards. Featuring a lot of notable HOFers, the custom hand enhancements were done by Historic’s staff.
I stumbled across a hot box as I pulled not one, but two 1/1 art cards. Both players were HOFers in Red Faber and Tris Speaker. I’m the first to admit that I think the 1/1 concept has been overdone in the hobby, but these cards were pretty cool. The Speaker especially had a nice design with the extra color on them. Historic really hit the mark on these, and it’s something I’d like to see them do again in the future.
Hobby Musings: Cracking 2019 Historic Autographs Fed League Baseball – Image Gallery
For more Hobby Musings from Kelsey Schroyer, follow him on Twitter @KelSchroy75.
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