Legit eBay seller? ~ khw
 

Checking out "khw" on eBay, and he has a ton of old HOF stuff, most all of which is PSA authenticated, but a couple items raised my eyebrow. Specifically, Ernie Lombardi and Cal Hubbard autos that appear to be signed in blue sharpie. :confused:
Both men passed in 1977, and while I'm pretty sure sharpies existed then, they definitely weren't widely used and it would seem fairly revolutionary for anyone to have gotten either of these men to sign with one. The majority of the stuff I looked at from this seller looked good, at least to my eye, but these items got me a tad nervous.

Does anyone know anything about the legitimacy of this seller?

Thanks in advance for any insight...hopefully I'll be able to answer a few questions in the near future instead of always posing them....

Legit seller

I have bought from him numerous times and never had any issues

Good seller although he is sometimes slow to respond via e-mail. He definitely has some nice inventory.

Obviously, if you are looking to add an Ernie Lombardi to your collection, there are lots of great sig options available. I recommend holding out for a nice example of his sig in fountain pen such as this one that I picked up within the last two years.

Kirk is a great seller, have bought from him numerous times. I had the same question you did about blue sharpie and contacted Sanford Corporation and they told me the blue fine tip sharpie was introduced shortly after the black came out in 1964.

Great seller, I have purchased from them numerous times, never had any issues.

As others have said, KHW is a good seller and I've done business with him several times and will do business again with him in the future.

Just bought my Billy Evans from him. Shipped next day....

He's got many toughies, and is very flexible with 'Best Offer'. Knocked ~20% off his orig. BIN price.

Never had any problems dealing with Kirk.

Outstanding, thanks everyone. This makes me feel a whole lot better as I had purchased a Heinie Manush gold HOF plaque from him a few years ago. I had no doubt of its authenticity but seeing the Lombardi/Hubbard pieces got me scared. Thanks for all the vies of confidence!

Kirk has always been a pleasure to deal with. Has done a great deal in helping me build my HOF collection....always willing to negotiate as well.

I had no idea Sharpies were around in the 60s. I believe it wasn't until the late 70s/early 80s that they became widely used in autograph collecting though. Is that about the right time frame?

1964:

Sanford turns its focus to the emerging marker business and introduces the Sharpie marker. The Sharpie Fine Point black marker becomes the first pen-style permanent marker. It writes on almost any surface from glass, wood and stone, to plastic, metal and, of course, paper. NBC talk show hosts Johnny Carson and Jack Parr are some of the first celebrity endorsers.

Kirk is a great guy and a great seller. Does massive business with PSA just shipped him something yesterday.

Early 80's at the very earliest that it started to become widely used. the mid 80's private signing saw a proliferation of sharpie usage, but in the late 70's and even early 80's, not a lot, there werent a lot of show signings and private signings and players just didnt think to use a sharpie when signing a one off or through the mail.

the promoters and people organiziing the signings were the ones who started having the players use the sharpies. Roger Maris died in mid 80's and only did a couple of signings. the mass signings didnt really start in earnest until mid 80's and on.

There are always exceptions.

I bought a 1934 Yankees team signed ballfrom him at the Ft. Washington show years back. Good guy.