Thanks. The reason i wanted to see them was to determine if the Mays looked similar to the ones I got TTM in the late 70's/early 80's (below), because the signatures you acquired seem to be pretty old, and some possibly originating from that same time period. Did the person you bought them from give you any sort of provenance? Or were you told where they came from? In other words, is there any reason to believe they are not valid?
You so often hear around these parts that Willie Mays never signed his autograph with such flair (even though the one on his 1967 card has similarities to it) and/or it's "his wife's" handiwork. Perhaps it's wishful thinking on my part, because he's my hero, but I never bought any of that and no one ever offers any sort of proof to that being the case. Plus, in my mind it's pretty simple to see how his modern signature (with the 'W' in Willie looking like a '4') evolved from his old signature style.
Very interesting.
mayssig.jpg