Hobby Musings: Preview of Historic Autographs 2024 – For years, Historic Autographs has been bringing collectors unique cut autograph products featuring some of the biggest names in sports and non-sports alike. In previous years, they’ve also been branching out into making other unique cards with historical memorabilia among other things. Curious about what they had in store for 2024, I had the chance to catch up Kevin Heffner.
KS: Kevin, we’re in a new year. What does Historic have in store for products in 2024?
KH: Historic Autographs has so much coming to the hobby in 2024 not just new, innovative products but new pack and box configurations to better meet our ever-changing industry. For starters, our upcoming YesterYear product is being released in single-pack form and at a great price for streamers and breakers. This single-pack model will also be implemented in our release of Founding Fathers, making the packs affordable to everyone while still maintaining big hit ratios in case form.
KS: Which product are you most looking forward to releasing this year?
KH: Upcoming products for Historic Autographs in 2024 are PRIME 2, Founding Fathers, POTUS, White House Edition, Celebrity Quads, Celebrity Vintage 8x10s, Celebrity+ and Originals, 1939 Play Ball edition. We are also working on several products that may be released in 2024 if the market is healthier. And those products are Famous Americans Series 2, All-Time Baseball Greats, World War II, and the 1980s.
KS: The Mob 2 released this week. Among the cool cards in the product, you had relic cards of Al Capone and Meyer Lansky. What more can you tell us about those?
KH: The Al Capone tablecloth and Meyer Lansky suit cards have relics of each of the infamous criminals that came from University Archives. The autograph and Written Word cards have been made from portions of jailhouse letters, envelopes and signatures purchased from reputable sources. As always, HA does the research to make sure that our collectors get real relics in their cards, not “period” items that have no real connection to the person featured on the card.
KS: How the heck did you get those relics and the rest of the materials for the product? It can’t be easy to track those down.
KH: It is not as easy as you would think. I would love to be able to find more real items, but we pass on so many things because we cannot get the proper provenance to warrant putting them in our cards. Not everything out there is authentic.
KS: Do you think you’ll put together a third series of it?
KH: A third installment is not a guarantee because HA tries to make products that the hobby wants. If we get enough good feedback, then we certainly will consider making the Mob Series 3.
KS: A number of your products utilize cut autographs. Who would you say are the toughest people to track down autographs for in terms of bigger names, as well as some relatively obscure subjects that collectors may not know.
KH: Obscure autographs are always the toughest to put in products, especially in a product like the Mob. If the person or autograph is obscure, then it may not be recognized in the market as a big hit. If the card is under-valued by the collector that pulled the item, then it might sell for under-market value. That hurts the overall perception of the product, so HA refrains from using the obscure signature and tries to put more recognizable names instead.
KS: What is the biggest challenge in putting together your products now compared to maybe a few years ago?
KH: That is an easy answer, everything! The market has slowed down considerably and the non-mainstream, historically-based products have taken the biggest hit. Pre-order sales are way down. Although, after-market sales of the cards and single cards are rock steady. With that in mind, the price of autographs and relics that everyone wants to see, and manufacturing costs have gone way up. Do the math. Sales are down and costs are up. It is a rough ride in the current market.
KS: Overall, what do you hope to achieve the most with the company this year?
KH: Historic Autographs has the same goal every year, to make great products that the collectors enjoy opening.
Hobby Musings: Preview of Historic Autographs 2024 – More Resources
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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