Babe Ruth
 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371546752665...3D978220295667

No provenance and "signed" er scratched onto the case. Leap of faith? I would imagine this would be difficult to authenticate?

Not for PSA.. They're the experts :D

"The signature is consistent considering slant, flow, pen pressure... " Flow? Pen pressure? They can't even be bothered to write a letter that actually refers to the item. Whatta bunch of assholes.

+1 David this piece is garbage...why would this even be concidered by a TPA to be authentic.??????

+2 simply a gong show at PSA.


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The letter does refer to the item.

Isn't this actually scratched into the case, as opposed to written with a steel-tip pen?

Absolutely! I recently had 2 autographs (which I obtained in person) rejected. Yet they give the ol' "thumbs up" on a piece like this. What a joke!

That's the point, Scott.

You couldn't give me this item . This is another example of why TPAs continue to lose the respect of knowledgable collectors and again I can only hope TPAs go the way of the Dodo Bird .....

Thanks, reading this thread I thought I was missing something.

Given that it's scratched onto the metal, it can't possibly look like Ruth's normal signature. I think it would be a good exercise for some of the more bored of the board to try scratching their own names onto a piece of metal, then report back on the results. We often see supposed example of ancient signatures on bats that look strange by the modern crowd that is used to Sharpies.

Was this item auctioned off by REA in 2013?

People think because it has a PSA or JSA that it is 100% real. Like many have said before they are buying the COA not doing any research. Lasiness or stupidity

From my long term observations I would say that the bigger the auction house the more the TPA's will bend over backwards. And who is bigger than REA? (good find Joe).

some funny business going on - the final day of bidding

bidders 451 & 1885, both of who have history of being last hour bidders, now become <8 hour bidders.

Not sure where it will end but if either idiot doesn't shoot their load early, they could have won it at 1000, but the 2 stooges bid each other up to 1800 and rising.

On the other hand, some think that because it is scratched onto a metal case, as opposed to being signed in ink on a baseball or paper, that it is 100% NOT real.

Maybe there are some who have skills in analyzing flow, etc., in a signature that cannot possibly have been made with any sense of flow. I don't know. It would be hard for me to accept the opinion of any TPA that has failed on paper and ball-signed items, for an item as odd as this.

Because of all the uncertainty, I can't imagine anyone with any knowledge of Ruth signatures, to bid even a nickel on this. It would be almost as bad as buying a baseball that someone's friend of a friend of a friend said Ruth hit for a foul ball.

I like to call them "the people who get paid for their opinions", but I think I might like this other term better...

Instead of TPG we could use WBA.

Doug

Wow. Went for 2200.

One person is :D:D:D at that result.
But some people are :confused::confused::confused::eek::eek::eek: at that result.

Nothing surprises me with Ruth any more - be it autographs or vintage photos. From my own experience of selling Ruth items, I'm convinced that many of the strong prices are backed by shenanigans, which cements my concern that ALL high-dollar items suffer from the same affliction.

Honesty starts with the individual collector. If anyone is going to complain about the sorry state of the hobby, they can begin by not consigning to snakes, not shilling items they consign, and also not having their friends do it for them. Once you hand something over to an AH, just close your eyes until the morning after. Then allow yourself 30 minutes of crying and move on.

It's Back
 

I wouldn't particularly want it, but IMHO, it's good.

Sooo, what happened to the last winning bidder?

Not an opinion on its authenticity from me... However, if real, maybe in 1000+ years when all the other ink signatures break down and paper disintegrates, this will be the last Ruth "sig" standing...:eek: