Autograph experts: your help is needed!

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Posted By: Ben

what are your thoughts on this Marquard?

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Posted By: Hankron

I'm no Mike Gutierrez, but I think he spelled his name differently.

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Posted By: Hankron

I don't know about everyone else, but all I'm seeing is an 'angelfire' icon (Thus, my joke)

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Posted By: Ben

can anyone help me out? I'll send the pic to you if you give me your email address

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Posted By: leon

Hey Ben,
If you can send it to lluckey@tx.amherst1.com I will upload it for you....this is my work email....

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Posted By: runscott

I've had a couple of legit Marquards - send a scan and I'll let you know my opinion. I have at least one scan I can also send you.

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Posted By: Hankron

I recommend against the beginner buying autographs unless they come from a respected and recommended dealer or with respected LOA. Having said that, the signature on the card is consistant with the authentic Marquard samples I have. I am not saying it is authentic, merely saying that the signature your small picture is consistant.

Marquard is the most plentiful and cheapest of the T206 Hall of Famer signatures. He lived a long time and was a complying signer. Still, a Marquard signed Pre-WWI card would be neat to own.

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Posted By: runscott

I have a bunch of autographs, but I only obtain the ones that I feel certain are real - this means collecting signed documents or buying from legit dealers, and this still doesn't guarantee things.

And I stay completely away from baseballs - all those signed Gehrig and Ruth balls in the major auctions give me the willies.

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Posted By: quan

After blowing money on Ted W. and Joe D. baseballs, then finding out from James Spence (at $75/sig) that both were fakes...I got a little smarter and stopped trying to collect autographs. They just fade over time anyways

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Posted By: Hankron

I think buying autographs is okay, so long as you are careful and do your homework before buying. In particular, the buyer should have a handful of reliable and expert dealers who they do most of their purchases from. This doesn't mean the dealer has to be a MastroNet or such huge entity, as there are a number of reliable small-time dealers on eBay.

Also, people often complain about the Topps, Fleer et al memorabilia cards, but their autographed cards is a nice way to get an authentic signature, whether it's a Jose Valentin or a Tom Seaver.

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Posted By: Hankron

In the end, the most important thing for the autograph buyer is to know the seller. If you know that the seller is honest, reliable and expert/experienced in the area, then everything else usually falls into place.

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Posted By: RC_McKenzie

I guess I don't understand the autograph market. Unless you met the person who autographed the item... what do you have? I have very few autographs. I have a Dwight Gooden autographed baseball that my Uncle who lives in Florida gave me for Christmas in 1988. My aunt got it from Gooden after a spring training game. They gave away Gooden autographed baseballs for Christmas that year.

My parents ran into Rudy T back when he played for the Rockets at a restaurant one time and brought me home a signed menu stating, "To RC, Best Wishes, Rudy T" and I have a 1965 Dave Giusti that I bought at a card show in vg/e that I got on the cheap b/c the signature technically brought down the grade. I remember hearing that Steve Martin carries around business cards that he passes out to people that ask for his autograph that say.."I met Steve Martin"

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Posted By: Ben

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Posted By: Hankron

RC, I agree with you that collecting signatures is a bit daft. Paying thousands of dollards for some guy's scribble. But, I dare anyone to find me a genre of collecting that isn't a bit daft. Paying $1 million for a little piece of cardboard (T206 Wagner) or $3 million for a baseball (McGwire 70HR) is downright loopy! Heck, I own Ted William's half-empty shampoo bottle and Nancy Reagan's chalkboard, so I'm as goofy as anyone.

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Posted By: Hankron

I guess you could say that any popular genre of a collecting is organized insanity. The only reason it doesn't seem strange, is that everyone is doing it. If you was the only one paying $200 for little beat up pieces of cardboard or scribbles of index cards, you would likely find yourself under heavy medication and unable to legally sign contracts.

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Posted By: Hankron

Ben, as I said above, I'm not an autograph expert and am not pretending to be one, but the signature is consistant with the Marquard autographs I have. I got mine through MastroNet, and am confident of their authenticity. And there's no question that an HOFer autographed T206 is a neat piece of memorabilia. Even a common player autographed T206 is rare.

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Posted By: hankron

To whom it concerns, there's a Donie Bush signature(upsidedown) on this ball. Realize that a signature on a ball can appear different than on a flat item like a card. Also, the Bush signature is an old example.

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Posted By: rod

According to Richard Simon, who is an expert, the FBI reported that 75 to 80% of all autographs are fake.At least we can do better than that with cards.

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Posted By: Hankron

Fools go where angels fear to tread

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Posted By: jay behrens

One of my favorite gags to pull at a show was to have a friend walk around with signed Ruth ball that forged. When I was younger, I was quite proficient at forging sigs. Cut my teeth forging teachers sigs for hall passes.

Anyway, I waould take a new baseball, dirty it up a bit, practice my Ruth sig and then sign with a ballpoint pen. I would then give the ball to friend and have him walk it around the show and see just how many greedy fools were actually willing to buy the ball.

Most dealers when they say the ball just saw $$$ in there eyes. One or 2 would actually have a reference for sigs, but even thy were fooled. Never once did a dealer take a look at the ball to see who the league president was, which would have been a dead give-away, most people also don't realize that a Ruth signature in ballpoint, as far as I know, doesn't exist.

Too bad I have morals and ethics, otherwise, I could have gotten rich selling these balls.

Jay

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Posted By: rod

My favorite was the Lajoie signature on a Wiffleball in Sharpie.When I questioned the seller, he swore his father got it from Lajoie in Florida in the 50's. Yeah ,O.K. I can't even imagine asking a HOFer to sign a plastic ball.

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Posted By: Hankron

My all time favorite was the Princess Diana autographed obituary-- the obituary being hers