Early Zack Greinke
 

Hi all,

I'm looking to aquire a nice Zack Greinke auto and this 2003 Willmington Minor League auto is a contender for me. The auto is undoubtedly authentic, however, it is in pen. The seller tells me that the card was signed in 2003 and in person with ball point pen and I much prefer pen over generic sharpie as I feel sharpie has a tendancy to fade.

What I am curious about is to whether or not this pen auto will fade? I know the ink is not as strong since it was signed on a glossy card but should I expect it to remain as bold as it is? Is there a risk of fading for this medium on a glossy card?

The card has a nice feel being that it is an early in person auto signed in pen when most autos are sharpie nowadays but being that I'm not an expert on the longevity of autographs I'm outside my realm on this one.

Thanks and stay safe!

I'm not sure where the idea that sharpie fades comes from. I have cards signed in sharpie from 30+ years ago that look the same today as the day they were signed. Keep them out of direct light and store them where they will kept dry and at room temperature. That said, I have no reason to think this particular auto would fade.

Agree with Derek on the Sharpie fade. I have cards from 1980 I got IP in Sharpie that have been in boxes in card savers since. They are as bold as when I got them, even when some of the card savers have turned yellow.

They can fade on certain surfaces (baseballs, for example) but on cards and photos I've never seen spontaneous fading from Sharpie-brand ink when stored reasonably carefully.