Autographs- Do you collect? Do your care?

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

I believe that is one of the reasons that I am drawn to vintage autographs signed with a steel-tipped fountain pen and great penmanship.

Absolutely, Scott.

(BTW, fountain pen nibs were (and still are) made of gold, not steel. Kinda makes ya wonder--if JSA knows so little about writing implements... )

[mr2686]

I love collecting autographs. There's just something about having an item that you know was touched and "created" by the player. I started collecting autographs as a kid at Dodger games. Morphed in to collecting only Hall of famers in the 80's and 90's, but have now turned my attention to autographs of members of famous teams. Every once in awhile, when I have a bad experience with a player at a show, I wonder why I still collect. Then, something happens that reminds me. Last week, I sent an autograph request to Tex Clevenger from the 61 Yankees. I sent a letter asking him to sign two enclosed 3x5 cards (one just in case the first one was smudged etc). He not only signed both perfectly, he also enclosed a signed Ron Lewis postcard and a 1963 Topps card. He response came back within a week. Honestly, I couldn't have been happier if I had found a great price on an authentic Babe Ruth autograph.

[HexsHeroes]

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For me, it’s about the thrill of the hunt, the joy of success, and the pain of the loss. For some, it’s about being passionate about something that touches a memory or inter-vibe. For many, it’s about the beauty, the ownership, and the fraternity.

I’ve always loved vintage baseball; even as a youth. I often had “games” featuring lineups of vintage all-stars versus modern stars. Bob Gibson versus Ty Cobb. Christy Mathewson versus Mickey Mantle. And there was no doubt that I was bias towards the vintage stars. So vintage card collecting was a natural fit.

But my ah-ha moment regarding vintage autographs occurred the day I heard of the passing of 1940’s Detroit Tigers pitcher Johnny Gorsica. For whatever reason, that news stung. At that moment, I had recalled that Sports Collectors digest had published an interview with Johnny G. just a summer or two prior. I realized upon hearing that news that many physical links to vintage baseballs pass were being lost nearly every day. That the individuals who played against historic baseballs best, and who could tell personal stories of such encounters, were dying off. And I felt a need to save a physical part of those ballplayers. Something they touched. Something they shared. And so started my efforts to collect the autographs of vintage Detroit Tigers ballplayers (which evolved to include other Tigers team personnel too).

Thirteen or so years later, I’m still at it. I have my good days, and then those days when I consider giving up the pursuit. It’s gotten to the point where a successful collecting year is now defined by being able to cross just one name off my want list. Not that the year was a complete failure. There are certainly all of those wonderful and rarely encountered non-Tigers autographs (or duplicates) that were added to my collection.

Forgeries are a problem. No doubt about it. But that is just one of the obstacles or challenges encountered in the hunt. But like many long term hunts (passions), an education process has occurred. I’d like to think that I am alittle better at judging the possible genuineness of an autograph than when I first started. I certainly would not pass myself as an expert or as being even minimally qualified to authenticate. There are too many talented individuals in the world, who have far reaching access to vintage materials and tools, and world-wide markets for effectively selling their misrepresented goods. I’d like to believe (foolishly?) that those individuals have focused their efforts on reproducing autographed items with the greatest dollar return (collector/dealer demand), and not the very obscure, and/or thinly collected. So if it were true that 90% of all autographs are forgeries, I pray that the percentage of obscure/thinly collected autographs forgeries might be just an extremely small portion of that 90% figure. It is quite possible that some of the obscure individual autographs I have obtained were not actually signed by those individuals. I would be a fool to think otherwise. But that does not deter me because as long as the passion burns and my memory of the passing of Johnny Gorsica remains fresh, I continue to hunt and to look forward to success.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by HexsHeroes

.
For me, it’s about the thrill of the hunt, the joy of success, and the pain of the loss. For some, it’s about being passionate about something that touches a memory or inter-vibe. For many, it’s about the beauty, the ownership, and the fraternity.

I’ve always loved vintage baseball; even as a youth. I often had “games” featuring lineups of vintage all-stars versus modern stars. Bob Gibson versus Ty Cobb. Christy Mathewson versus Mickey Mantle. And there was no doubt that I was bias towards the vintage stars. So vintage card collecting was a natural fit.

But my ah-ha moment regarding vintage autographs occurred the day I heard of the passing of 1940’s Detroit Tigers pitcher Johnny Gorsica. For whatever reason, that news stung. At that moment, I had recalled that Sports Collectors digest had published an interview with Johnny G. just a summer or two prior. I realized upon hearing that news that many physical links to vintage baseballs pass were being lost nearly every day. That the individuals who played against historic baseballs best, and who could tell personal stories of such encounters, were dying off. And I felt a need to save a physical part of those ballplayers. Something they touched. Something they shared. And so started my efforts to collect the autographs of vintage Detroit Tigers ballplayers (which evolved to include other Tigers team personnel too).

Thirteen or so years later, I’m still at it. I have my good days, and then those days when I consider giving up the pursuit. It’s gotten to the point where a successful collecting year is now defined by being able to cross just one name off my want list. Not that the year was a complete failure. There are certainly all of those wonderful and rarely encountered non-Tigers autographs (or duplicates) that were added to my collection.

Forgeries are a problem. No doubt about it. But that is just one of the obstacles or challenges encountered in the hunt. But like many long term hunts (passions), an education process has occurred. I’d like to think that I am alittle better at judging the possible genuineness of an autograph than when I first started. I certainly would not pass myself as an expert or as being even minimally qualified to authenticate. There are too many talented individuals in the world, who have far reaching access to vintage materials and tools, and world-wide markets for effectively selling their misrepresented goods. I’d like to believe (foolishly?) that those individuals have focused their efforts on reproducing autographed items with the greatest dollar return (collector/dealer demand), and not the very obscure, and/or thinly collected. So if it were true that 90% of all autographs are forgeries, I pray that the percentage of obscure/thinly collected autographs forgeries might be just an extremely small portion of that 90% figure. It is quite possible that some of the obscure individual autographs I have obtained were not actually signed by those individuals. I would be a fool to think otherwise. But that does not deter me because as long as the passion burns and my memory of the passing of Johnny Gorsica remains fresh, I continue to hunt and to look forward to success.

Well said, Vincent!!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

(BTW, fountain pen nibs were (and still are) made of gold, not steel.

That's not entirely true. They can be made of either metal. I've owned several of both.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by JBirkholm

That's not entirely true. They can be made of either metal. I've owned several of both.

Good ones are, and always have been, gold. Cheap $2.00 Schaefer cartridge pens are steel. You'd be hard-pressed to find a 1920s-vintage pen with anything but a gold nib. Either way, JSA's statement that an item was signed with a "steel-tipped fountain pen" is absurd; there's no way to tell what the nib was made of (although the most likely metal is gold.) I maintain it's just another example (albeit a small one) of authenticator ignorance.