Robert Edwards preview is up

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

A Dan Brouthers signed baseball.

And a Frank Chance. And a John Ward. I've never seen these single signed.

[jgmp123]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

And a Frank Chance. And a John Ward. I've never seen these single signed.

And Babe Ruth's galore....

[prewarsports]

Now I am the only skeptic?

Whats this forum coming too

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Now I am the only skeptic?

Whats this forum coming too

I actually was thinking that when I saw the Brouthers ball. I know nothing about authenticating autographs, but I know he is one of the toughest HoFers.

There are also several Christy Mathewson autos, including an autographed copy of "Won in the Ninth." I know in the past there has been much conjecture over whether or not Matty himself actually signed those books.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

I actually was thinking that when I saw the Brouthers ball. I know nothing about authenticating autographs, but I know he is one of the toughest HoFers.

There are also several Christy Mathewson autos, including an autographed copy of "Won in the Ninth." I know in the past there has been much conjecture over whether or not Matty himself actually signed those books.

Yeah, there are a few Mattys, including a hard-signed book in addition to the bookplated controversial copy. Interesting to put them side by side.

As to Brouthers, I have no knowledge. One would have to be skeptical of anything with his purported signature, but those who can afford it can research it (or not) accordingly.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Now I am the only skeptic?

Whats this forum coming too

I prefer to drool over the spread of items for a while before skeptically inspecting any individual items. Plenty of time for that.

[Runscott]

Never got to the Brouthers - my bursitis was killing me, just paging through all the new Ruth autographs. And of course, I don't mean 'new' as in freshly-inked.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Now I am the only skeptic?

Whats this forum coming too

No Rhys, you are not the only skeptic.

[jgmp123]

Quote from Ron K's book:

"Many well executed forgeries exist in the market. Just about 100 percent of Brouthers signatures in the market are forgeries."

I know nothing about Brouthers autographs and I certainly do not have the experience to give an opinion, but I will add that the signature itself looks nothing like the two exemplars in Ron's book. Heck, the two exemplars don't even look like the same person. 27 year difference between the two...

[mighty bombjack]

The Brouthers is tough to authenticate, no doubt. There are two exemplars in Ron K's book, and the REA ball doesn't really resemble either, though they are fairly different fom each other as well. They are almost 20 years apart, whereas one of them is only two years from the purported signing of this ball. Further, the exemplars are both flats.

I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a LOA from "legendary handwriting expert Charles Hamilton," which was part of REA's original sale of this ball in 1995. Never heard of the dude, but I wasn't buying autos then, just getting them IP. Anyone know what makes that guy so legendary? Morales is pretty legendary around here as well...

[jgmp123]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

The Brouthers is tough to authenticate, no doubt. There are two exemplars in Ron K's book, and the REA ball doesn't really resemble either, though they are fairly different fom each other as well. They are almost 20 years apart, whereas one of them is only two years from the purported signing of this ball. Further, the exemplars are both flats.

I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a LOA from "legendary handwriting expert Charles Hamilton," which was part of REA's original sale of this ball in 1995. Never heard of the dude, but I wasn't buying autos then, just getting them IP. Anyone know what makes that guy so legendary? Morales is pretty legendary around here as well...

Wayne,

Glad to see we were on the same page.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by jgmp123

Wayne,

Glad to see we were on the same page.

Yes, quite literally. I love Ron K's book.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

The Brouthers is tough to authenticate, no doubt. There are two exemplars in Ron K's book, and the REA ball doesn't really resemble either, though they are fairly different fom each other as well. They are almost 20 years apart, whereas one of them is only two years from the purported signing of this ball. Further, the exemplars are both flats.

I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a LOA from "legendary handwriting expert Charles Hamilton," which was part of REA's original sale of this ball in 1995. Never heard of the dude, but I wasn't buying autos then, just getting them IP. Anyone know what makes that guy so legendary? Morales is pretty legendary around here as well...

He authored several books about autographs.
His NY Times 1996 obit:
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/13/ar...ndwriting.html

[frankbmd]

Lot #913 = http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=149708

It's not mine and never will be, but for those who expressed an interest the ball is now up for auction.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

He authored several books about autographs.
His NY Times 1996 obit:
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/13/ar...ndwriting.html

Does a letter from him carry any weight for you at all?

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a LOA from "legendary handwriting expert Charles Hamilton," which was part of REA's original sale of this ball in 1995. Never heard of the dude, but I wasn't buying autos then, just getting them IP. Anyone know what makes that guy so legendary? Morales is pretty legendary around here as well...

Hamilton is pretty much the godfather of autograph collecting in the second half of the 20th century. Widely respected and admired.

Given his reputation, I'd presume he thoroughly researched the ball before authenticating it.

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by mighty bombjack

I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a LOA from "legendary handwriting expert Charles Hamilton," which was part of REA's original sale of this ball in 1995. Never heard of the dude, but I wasn't buying autos then, just getting them IP. Anyone know what makes that guy so legendary? Morales is pretty legendary around here as well...

Yikes, please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're going to collect autographs it would really pay off in the long run to learn a little history. Hamilton literally "wrote the book" (several, in fact) on autograph collecting and while he certainly was a self-promoter, his writings, passion and his catalogs certainly had a lot to do with fueling the fire that led people like me into this fascinating (and frustrating) hobby.

Get a copy of "The Book of Autographs" or "Great Fakes and Forgers" each about $10 used on Amazon. Great reads and highly educational.

[RichardSimon]

"They say the acquisitive desire, strong in a magpie and even stronger in a human, is nothing more than a savage instinct, an uncontrolled desire to seize upon a treasure and hoard it away."
----Charles Hamilton in Auction Madness*
(kind of sounds like everyone on this board)

*Reference:Auction Madness by Charles Hamilton, Everet House, New York, NY, 1981.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by MooseDog

Yikes, please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're going to collect autographs it would really pay off in the long run to learn a little history. Hamilton literally "wrote the book" (several, in fact) on autograph collecting and while he certainly was a self-promoter, his writings, passion and his catalogs certainly had a lot to do with fueling the fire that led people like me into this fascinating (and frustrating) hobby.

Get a copy of "The Book of Autographs" or "Great Fakes and Forgers" each about $10 used on Amazon. Great reads and highly educational.

Interesting. I pretty consistently read about the history of baseball, as that is my love. Further, baseball and autographs have always been intertwined for me, though the history of autographs is something I have not really considered. I do know, that in many years of perusing high end baseball autos, this is the first time I've seen Hamilton's name.