It's happened to the best of us. And any autograph collector who claims they've never been burned is lying. It's an unfortunate part of the learning process, and serves to motivate us to educate ourselves and make smarter decisions moving forward.

Because of greed, there are fakes in every realm of collecting. It's not limited to autographs by any means. At least this was not a super high-priced item, like a Ruth, Gehrig or Cobb. Still a bummer... and most of us reading this can feel your pain.

But thanks for posting it, and helping to further educate the community ;)

This has been a few tough weeks for me. :(

I released a study on my blog showing Charlton Heston signatures TTM were secretarials. Long believed to be authentic even by TPAs.
http://zipper68.blogspot.com/2011/03...graph-its.html

I found out one of my Mantles was fake, and a second one probably is as well. And now the No Hit King ball. Ugh.

And I consider my self a pretty informed buyer... none of this was the obvious junk from ebay. It was all bought from supposedly reliable sellers. Except for the Hestons of course.

The risks of the hobby I guess.

Thanks for the info... I guess I'd rather be informed and know than have my head in the sand. :D

It's getting scary out there! My concern on the Koufax was the "o" in his last name looks like it was very slowly written. And the Feller looks nothing like the Feller I own.

I have a signed Branch Rickey photo that I need to send in for Authentication, but I'm worried. He signed his name quite a few different ways though so it's hard to pinpoint if mine is good or not. Nothing to do but send it in and see, I guess. Sorry to hear about your Mantles.

Hmmmm.....

I immediately thought "Forgeries." I have a genuine Ryan-Koufax dual signed, personalized and inscribed ball. The Ryan signature came from a cousin who worked for Advil and got it at a commercial shoot and the Koufax came from a client who is a FOS [Friend Of Sandy] and got it in 2005 when Koufax was out here for the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1955 WS win. Your ball's signatures are both too wide and show signs of hesitation. The "Koufax" also is way too defined--he stylizes his last name to a greater degree.

I still can't believe a FAKE SIGNED FELLER.. Fascinating to read how you guys came to your conclusions, which I agree with, after really studying them. To me, the Feller looks really off. I have a signed book of his, and the difference is pretty obvious.

Good detective work everyone, and sorry that you got stuck w a lousy ball too.

PS. I hope this isn't a BOGUS BOB..haha

Just saw this one on ebay, I know it comes with a Paul Goldin Score Board COA. Any thoughts on this "no hit kings" ball?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nolan-Ryan-Sandy...item1c1a60c61a

This has been an instructive thread. Although the news was not good for me, I'm glad I posted it because I learned a few things.

* Always look at multisigned items as a whole... not just individually. Separately, the Koufax and Ryan were pretty deceiving, even to some here. But looking at the Ryan with the Feller, there were some alarming similarities in the two.

* Don't just focus on the more prominent signatures, The one you expect the least can be the tell. Apparently, Greg Marino didn't practice his Feller as much as Koufax and Ryan.

Clearly the Feller looks better. :D And the Ryan appears to be signed with speed, unlike my forgery which is more tentative.

I noticed that on PSA or JSA approved exemplars on eBay, the Ryan was typically on the sweetspot, as is the case with this one.

On my forgery, the Koufax was on the sweetspot.

I found this old thread...

Is the consensus that a triple signed ball with Koufax on the sweet spot is not authentic? Most of the ones I have seen they are authenticated have Ryan on the sweet spot. Thanks!