Quote:
Originally Posted by balltrash
I am an autograph collector though I do dabble in cards. It is always interesting to me when people who fall to the card side of the hobby express that they would never collect autographs because "opinions are all over the board." I believe it is like any other area of collecting: do your homework and form your own opinions. In time you will see the pattern that what you consider real will largely overlap what other knowledgeable collectors do too. The converse argument that no one should buy high value cards (in better grade) because they must be altered is shored up by comments on this message board (card side) almost every day.
And while that Clemente autograph is perfectly real, in my opinion, the price is an outlier. I am all for third party authentication but it is amazing to me what PSA plastic and a number grade will do for value.
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Regarding the part in bold, very many card collectors say this kind of thing. Another one is that "No autograph can be determined authentic unless you personally witnessed the signing".
I must've heard that one over 100 times.
It would be akin to the autograph collector seeing an altered card or reprint residing in a PSA graded slab, and saying that no card is legitimate unless you saw it produced at the factory. There are fake autographs and fake cards. If you properly educate yourself, you can learn to avoid both.
And yes, the number grades PSA puts on things like this Clemente autograph are worthless and immensely overrated.