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Topnotchsy
Featured Contributor, The best players in history?
- Aug 7, 2008
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I've started dabbling in ***** League collectibles and thought it would be nice to create a thread that shared knowledge on the subject, showed off items and perhaps was a bit educational on a part of American history that should not be forgotten.
Here is what I've found:
If you are interested in signed ***** League items, check out "The ***** Leagues Autograph Guide"
Because it only became popular to collect ***** League signatures in the last couple of decades, many players are incredibly difficult (if even possible to find). That said, those players who were in the last couple of decades, including some all-time greats, are readily available and are not expensive. For example: When the Pittsburgh Courier developed lists of their all-time best ***** League teams (spanning the history of the ***** Leagues) their "First Team" included Buck Leonard and Monte Irvin, whose autographs can be found for $20 or less. Leonard played from 1934-1950 and was often compared to Lou Gehrig. Note that Leonard has 2 versions of his signature, as he had a stroke which left his partially paralyzed on the right side of his body and he subsequently taught himself to write with his left hand. His pre-stroke signature is a little more expensive, but is a beautiful flowing signature. Irvin has a ton of signed cards out there.
There are many recent sets that include ***** League Signatures. These include: 2001 Fleer Stitches in Time (I believe the only set still comprised solely of ***** League signers), Fleer Greats of the Game (they had some each year) and Allen and Ginter.
The ***** Leaguers had reunions in the 90's where dozens of players would show. The signers were happy to sign but people rarely had individual or unique items for each person to sign so bats and photographs with 50+ ***** League signatures are not that unusual and can be had relatively cheaply. A really cool starting point for someone looking to explore the history of the ***** Leagues.
***** League players had ridiculously (and sometimes ridiculous nicknames...)
The ***** Leagues had a number of female players
Places to buy ***** League related items
Here is what I've found:
If you are interested in signed ***** League items, check out "The ***** Leagues Autograph Guide"
Because it only became popular to collect ***** League signatures in the last couple of decades, many players are incredibly difficult (if even possible to find). That said, those players who were in the last couple of decades, including some all-time greats, are readily available and are not expensive. For example: When the Pittsburgh Courier developed lists of their all-time best ***** League teams (spanning the history of the ***** Leagues) their "First Team" included Buck Leonard and Monte Irvin, whose autographs can be found for $20 or less. Leonard played from 1934-1950 and was often compared to Lou Gehrig. Note that Leonard has 2 versions of his signature, as he had a stroke which left his partially paralyzed on the right side of his body and he subsequently taught himself to write with his left hand. His pre-stroke signature is a little more expensive, but is a beautiful flowing signature. Irvin has a ton of signed cards out there.
There are many recent sets that include ***** League Signatures. These include: 2001 Fleer Stitches in Time (I believe the only set still comprised solely of ***** League signers), Fleer Greats of the Game (they had some each year) and Allen and Ginter.
The ***** Leaguers had reunions in the 90's where dozens of players would show. The signers were happy to sign but people rarely had individual or unique items for each person to sign so bats and photographs with 50+ ***** League signatures are not that unusual and can be had relatively cheaply. A really cool starting point for someone looking to explore the history of the ***** Leagues.
***** League players had ridiculously (and sometimes ridiculous nicknames...)
The ***** Leagues had a number of female players
Places to buy ***** League related items
- eBay
- Hakes.com
- Auctionscc.com
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