I should apologize in advance for the lengthy post, but I want to provide as much info as I can....
I've always enjoyed collecting signed gold (or yellow) HOF plaque postcards. I would attempt the B&W ones as well if they weren't so expensive and, more importantly, so hard to find in authentic form.
I have always been under the impression that the George Weiss plaque was "impossible" to find signed even though he was inducted a year or so before his death. As I understand it, Weiss was hospitalized for the last few years of his life and did not even attend his own induction, so it is commonly accepted that he never signed his plaque. However, I recently came across this article, from 1998 or so. I included the link to the entire article but the specific parts of interest are in bold italics below:
http://www.psacard.com/articles/arti...tml?artid=2439
Including last year's hall of fame cards, it is feasible to have 130 autographed postcards. There are varying degrees of availability ranging from the extremely rare George Weiss (1EK469) card, to the overabundant Bob Feller (5DK714).
Does Weiss actually exist? Has anyone ever seen, or even heard of an authentic example?
Based on extensive studies, I believe that the plaques were initially offered to the public late in 1965. My theory is based upon the plaque numbers assigned by the Curteichcolor 3-D Natural Color Reproduction Company from 1965 through 1977. The exact date of issuance is unclear. It appears that during this time, the first plaques were not made available on Induction Day, which has been the case over the past two decades. Consequently, Paul Waner (5DK-772) who died on August 29, 1965 and Bill McKechnie (5DK-747) who passed on October 29, 1965 never signed their gold plaques even though they were present at the July, 1965 Induction Ceremonies.
I had never even considered the possibility of Waner and McKechnie existing on gold plaques. The explanation above makes sense, and I believe I remember reading somewhere that in the first few years of production the Hall was not as concerned with ensuring the latest inductees were available on induction day. That practice, I'm told, did not start until years later when the Hall realized they were missing out on a moneygrab opportunity. However, as Waner was inducted in 1952, and McKechnie in 1962 it does seem odd. The gold postcards were first produced in 1964, but I never heard that it wasn't until late 1965 that they were made available to the public. Does anyone know if this is accurate? It would certainly explain why two men who attended the '65 induction ceremony aren't found on the gold postcards. But, since it is 13-14 years after this article was written, I have the same question that I had about Weiss...has anyone seen or heard of authentic Waner or McKechnie signatures on gold postcards?
Any information at all is very much appreciated.