Babe Ruth "Confirmed" Reproduction Signature Examples - Reference Post
 

Hi All
In reading some posts lately, and bumping into these images again I thought it would be helpful to post this in a clear and concise thread, because in the past I have posted them in individual threads and they are then lost to time. There are A LOT of Babe Ruth autograph replicas floating around lately, they can be found on eBay and even in some auctions from time to time. These are especially tricky (and troublesome), because the signature itself is correct, it's copied from an authentic example, and a lot of folks won't even know upon in hand inspection that it's not actually signed. You most often see them on single signed baseballs (sometimes dual signed with Gehrig), and also on darker color paper cuts (in order to help hide the fact that it's a printed replica). Here are the two most common signature styles that are seen, note that the type of ink used in producing them makes them look slightly different, ie thicker, coloring, etc, but they are still the same reproduction. I know there are at least a couple other signature styles that are commonly seen, and when I find them again I will add them to this thread. If others have confirmed examples, go ahead and add them too. To verify they are reproductions, please post two different photos of the same style on different items. Commit these signature styles to memory, it's very easy to spot them if you know exactly what to look for. If anyone has any questions, fire away as well :)

Good thread. Thanks for doing this!

+1

Yikes. Do you know how they are being printed on the surfaces (the ball especially)?

Great work. And I think we discussed this before. The blue green ink is kind of a give-away....

Thanks for posting this.

The cuts are just laser printed, nothing special but almost impossible to tell from looking at a scan if you don't recognize the signature as a replica style. And they have fooled experts who have likely looked at them in person more than a couple times that I have come across. The baseballs themselves I am not certain how they are printed, maybe some kind of screen print or transfer of some type. A lot of times the baseballs also have printed on replica stamping as well, and like Brendan pointed out the ink and color just has this look to it that stands out once you know what to look for.

To the others who posted, thank you for the compliments. Here's another example of the same replica style ball, that sold recently for $3150.