Hobby Musings: Historic Autographs preparing for big 2019 – Over the holidays, I was fortunate enough to receive a box of Historic Autographs’ Originals 1930’s Series 2 as a gift. A product line that I’ve had a decent amount of luck with in the past, I was curious to see how I would do this time around. Each box features one cut autograph with a corresponding vintage card of the player. Like recent editions of the product, the cards and autographs come encapsulated and authenticated by Beckett.
The checklist features a variety of baseball legends and Hall of Famers, including Ty Cobb and Jimmie Foxx. For extra value, Historic also included a number of rare 1/1 autographs, including Babe Ruth. While I didn’t pull one of those players, I did come away with an autograph I didn’t have in Ray Hayworth. Admittedly, I had to do a little bit of research on Mr. Hayworth and found out he was a catcher who played for a number of teams, including the Tigers and Dodgers.
My pull was numbered 9/11. The card itself was also in fairly decent shape. The autograph was missing a little bit of the R in Ray Hayworth’s first name, which was a little bit of a shame. Cut autographs are always a little bit of a risky business when it comes to proper placement, and there have been plenty of horror stories of cards that have less than ideal cuts. That being said, Historic has typically done a fantastic job of doing their cut autographs very well. For all I know too, that’s just how the autograph came to Historic when they sent it off for encapsulation.
Boxes of Originals 1930’s Series 2 are selling with the big online retailers for a little over $100 plus shipping. If it is a product you’re thinking of getting, I would recommend buying sooner rather than later. Boxes of Originals, especially when they’re on sale, have tended to dry up fairly quickly. While it’s a little bit of a risk at that price point, it can also be a very worthwhile gamble given some of the rarer and more valuable autographs in the product.
I had the chance to catch up with Historic’s Kevin Heffner to find out a little more about the product. He also shared some information as to what his company has coming this year.
KS: Kevin, what is the trickiest part for you when putting together these Originals products?
KH: The trickiest part may always be finding both the card and signature at reasonable rates so that I can keep the cost down for the actual collectors who buy Historic Autograph products. I 100% mean this when I say all we really care about is getting a quality product out to real collectors – profits are a secondary concern.
KS: With 2018 in the books, what does Historic Autographs have planned for 2019?
KH: Our early 2019 releases include Steele Engravings, which are utilizing signed Perez Steele post cards. We also have The Streak. Honoring Joe DiMaggio’s impressive record hitting streak, each case guarantees at least DiMaggio or Ted Williams autograph. There is also Triple Play, which will feature a traditional-sized 3-panel booklet.
Later in the year, collectors should be on the lookout for a new CIVIL WAR product and the most comprehensive Originals we have ever attempted – called HALF-CENTURY, which will include players from 1900-1949 – with multiple cards for ALL of the following players – Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Honus Wagner, Jimmie Foxx, Walter Johnson. Napoleon Lajoie, Tris Speaker, Mel Ott, Roy Campanella and Cy Young (Oh, and there will be ONLY 600 boxes made with 10 cards per box).
KS: Out of all of your upcoming releases this year, which one are you most excited to offer collectors?
KH: The Civil War product and Half-Century and one other that we are keeping under wraps for right now, but it will have another stunning autograph line-up.
KS: What’s the one autograph you haven’t been able to feature in a product yet that you’re most hoping to eventually include in a checklist?
KH: We have used Joe Jackson and Christy Mathewson (twice each) and dozens of Babe Ruth autographs in the 9 plus years we have been making cards – so we have the baseball world covered – and since our huge hit POTUS had all the Presidents and VPs, we have done politics. I’m guessing that product we are keeping under wraps will have some people we never have had before that will rock the collecting world.
For more from Kelsey Schroyer, follow him on Twitter @KelSchroy75.
Hobby Musings: Historic Autographs preparing for big 2019
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