Ted Williams / Mantle 8 x 10 real or fake?
 

I have a Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle autograph 8 x 10 that was given to me a couple years ago as a gift and by reading some of the forum posts i'm questioning the authenticity. The autographs when i compared to others that are said to be real look very comparable. The problem is the hologram is from STAT Authentic and from what i read is not very reputable. Any opinions would be appreciated!

fOR A FINAL opinion, I defer to Chris, or Richard or someone, but looks lousy, esp the Mantle. Plus, SCAT Authentic stuff is almost always bad..

Comparison pics
 

Here are the pics i was trying to compare them to. This is from a recent auction that had psa/dna..and global...coa's with it and sold for $1900 that had a bunch of triple crown winners on it.

Ted Taylor. TTA, Stat Authentic
 

With all due respect, Ted, the majority of people who don't know autographs always say (when comparing a good Mantle to a Mantle autograph they have purchased) "It looks good to me."

That Mantle is one ugly forgery. In my opinion, the only people who get their autographs authenticated by Ted Taylor know he will pass anything that is barely readable. If he (Ted Taylor) is "authenticating" an ugly Mantle like that, then what the heck is he failing. I would love to see his (Ted Taylor) folder of rejections.

Also, Ted Taylor's COA (TTA and Stat Authentic) are banned on Ebay. In other words, if an autograph item is listed on Ebay with Ted Taylor's COA (TTA/Stat Authentic) and if it is reported, it will be removed. It's not easy to get on Ebay's banned list, but Ted Taylor's COA is on it.

So would you advise i just shread it then?

It's undoubtedly fake. Sorry.

Ted, maybe you should email or call Ted Taylor, give him the serial-number on the hologram and ask him why he "authenticated" it.

How would that help me? I'm sure he'll say it's real in his mind..

You're right, it won't help you, but maybe you can tell him that you were going to list the Mantle/Williams signed photo on Ebay and just discovered that you can't sell it on Ebay because his COA is on Ebay's banned list. I would love to know his reply to you.

I wouldn't shred it... I'd probably mark the back with a marker that says FAKE or something like that. I'd then display it in my office or home where I would not have to worry about sun fading real signatures, or someone stealing the item.

When I learned a few of my items were fake, I took them out of the frame immediately. I hated the reminder that I had been taken and I wanted that thing out of my sight. :D

By the way, for display purposes, I always make a photo print from a high res scan. Under glass, it's impossible to tell it is not the original. And the original sits safely away from UV rays in storage. :)

That’s much too smart for me... I let em fade with the huge 1/2 moon window and 8 foot glass slider in my office. When they start to fade ,I put it away and replace it with another. I might sell it if it bugs me too much, noting the fading.

I agree that the photo in question is a forgery. You could frame it and just enjoy the photo, but like Zippy, it drives me crazy to stare at the forgery. When I was learning, I have hit Fake balls into the wash, I have let my Birdsick forgery sit out in the sun for 6 months and the signatures didn't fade, before shredding it for s**** & giggles.

If you are a sicko like me, you'll study Mantle for hour’s day’s week’s months & years, so when you look at a Mantle signature, YOU can tell within 1 second with a 99% certainty that it is Fake. Then you can sort out the real ones and buy the one's YOU like. Not relying on all the nimrods that run the roust.

Good luck to you and enjoy the learning process and don’t let it get you down. Bottom line is trust no one but you.