First off, I acknowledge that a person may be inclined to change their signature once they have enough celebrity to find themselves hounded nonstop for autographs. Still, it can't be easy to change something as automatic as a signature.
1971 Topps Steve Garvey.jpg 1975 Garvey.jpg
The 1975 resembles exactly the autographs I've received from Mr. Clean himself, but the 1971 feels too different to be real. Adding to my conspiracy theory, I believe I've seen other 1971 Topps cards where the signature looked wrong.
So here's my question. Does anyone know if Topps occasionally made up their own signature for a player? Or, if anyone has some early Garvey autographs, did his signature in fact change between 1970/1971 and 1975? Or, if there are handwriting analysts out there, do you see enough commonality to debunk my whole line of thinking?
Thanks!