Live Ink or laughable?
 

I bought it. Could this be live Ink? Or just laser jet printed.

Story - 80lb card stock printed on one-sided and sent to player to sign some years ago. Owner has long story and swears it is true. So, we know the card is not real, but the signature should be?

First tale - colors around the letters don't match. Notice that even the E and D have no yellow in their loops. Second - I see no ink overlap or beginning/ending pressure when holding it up to light.

This exact same card is used in Baseball-Alamanac on line. Which has all the same characteristics - no yellow in the loops. The ebay name is 'everloven'.

Why do I care? It completes (sorta) an autographed card set for me.

Toss it?

Can't you just tip it in the light and see if it is live ink, kinda like when you look for small imperfections on a card? That is how I look for live ink.

Yes, I did. Since the card is not glossy, it is harder to tell. I also put it under high magnification. My vote is printed, not signed. Just interested in other thoughts. I am surprised it would be used in the Baseball Almanac as an example.

Is there literal white spaces inside the signature? If so, you're probably right on the printing

Fwiw
 

The signature goes into the border, which would be odd, I think, for a printed signature. Also, the ink on the signature is lighter in the white areas at the border,which suggests it was placed over the white space underneath. It might mean a later overprint of a printed signature but that would be odd in the printing process. The absence of yellow in certain parts of the signature and around the edges of the signature could be a function of the effect of live ink on the original colored printing surface, but I think that's a reach. Silly (probably stupid, actually) question: are there other unsigned versions of this card out there (Registry, etc.)? Seems like an easy way to tell. Edited: here ---> https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/ba...goss-598/28426

The sellers response ----- It is printed on a lighter 80lb card stock as mentioned in the description, and "homemade custom card" is also in the title. The signature is not a print, it IS signed by Ed, sent to him at his address in Puerto Rico a few years back. I got a variety of sigs from Ed, as he was once in the Twins organization. I've been parring down my collection as I age. Again, it is a real signatue, not a printed signature. But am refunding your monies rather than send the card back. Give it a good home. The actual Tops card is pretty expensive, which s why went with a "homemade" version at the time, just to fulfill the need when I was trying to get autographed images showcasing a player throughout their career for a website. I like happy customers, so am refunding your payment. Joel

I am 95% sure it can't be real, regardless of his claim. I am going to toss it...

Sorta fun trying to figure it out though....

Send it to me in a PWE and in a matter of seconds I can tell if it is live ink or not.

I really don't get the "I am going to toss it attitude". Anybody tossing autos please send them to me instead.:)

OK. Sent you PM. Let us know what you think.

I toss fake stuff so it doesn't make it back into circulation. That's the only reason. That, plus my bad memory :-).

I would invest in a $20ish dollar USB microscope, it'll help you determine whether items are printed or have live ink.

I think the ink affecting the printed area might not be such a stretch.

It won't be 100% since inks can be different, but printing yellow on a similar bit of paper and writing on it with a sharpie? Other felt pen? Should be interesting.

Having examples of different fakes is almost as important as having examples that are known to be real.

Ben is really good with this stuff, he'll get it figured out.

Just got it in the mail, I knew the second I pulled it out of the envelope it was fake. Glad the seller refunded your cash on this piece of garbage.

This is my opinion on it after looking at it with my top lighted microscope. The sellers story is probably correct on how he got the auto. Then he made a copy of that fake card with the real auto and that is what he sold you.

The seller went through all the trouble to stick to his story, even after refunding me my $5 bucks. No loss for me, but bewilders me that guys would do this....Copy signed cards and make up this kind of story.....(makes me wonder - was the real one used for the Baseball Almanac photo?)
Thanks, Casey