The Irony Of The Autograph Posts On This Forum

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

Speaking from personal experience I can say that I do feel the autograph market is not attracting new collectors.
Years ago, it would be easy to sell the $10-$50 Hall of Fame autographs, often selling many at one time and it became obvious that I was dealing with a relatively new collector. The buyers of Coveleski, Dickey, Appling, Averill, Chandler, Doerr, Gehringer, etc. are now few and far between.
I still successfully sell quite a bit of material but rarely see the type of buyer that I saw 5-10 years ago.

I can't help think the changing dynamics of the hobby may be at work here. 15 - 20 years ago vintage dealers were not competing for collector dollars with high priced Steiners, etc., etc. The modern players of that era were typically not signing for big bucks. Now, when a collector blows his entire budget on a Steiner Jeter, nothing is left over for the vintage material.

Just a thought...

[chaddurbin]

i am definitely scared, but i try to do my homework whether it be a honus wagner or a $2 steve avery signature...and i pass on stuff pretty quick if i'm uncomfortable with it.

having said all that i don't see myself buying a high end auto like ruth mathewson etc no matter how many loas it comes with...and that's directly because of this board.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

i am definitely scared, but i try to do my homework whether it be a honus wagner or a $2 steve avery signature...and i pass on stuff pretty quick if i'm uncomfortable with it.

having said all that i don't see myself buying a high end auto like ruth mathewson etc no matter how many loas it comes with...and that's directly because of this board.

There are ways of getting authentic ones and not having to really consider LOA's or making sure you buy from the forum-approved shortlist (sentence one of your post).

[packs]

I have two high-end autographs in my collection, a Roberto Clemente signed baseball and a Grover Cleveland Alexander signed baseball. I was very confident in the authenticity of each, though only after receiving the items and viewing them in person. Each came with a story about how they were obtained, like so many fakes. I consider myself lucky on these purchases and am wary to purchase more high-end signatures. JSA doesn't give me the same comfort it used to. Though I'm not sure anything will.

[baseballart]

As for the threads souring me on autographs? I only look for autographs in books (my main area of collection), and for me, I much prefer the book to be signed by the author, rather than the subject ballplayer.

In this regard, I don't think too many forgers are interested in replicating Fred Lieb's or Frank Graham's autographs.

That said, after all these threads, if I found a Mickey Mantle signature in a book in any avenue, I don't think I'd pay above the value for the book alone. My mind goes dizzy trying to see which Mickey is fake and which isn't.

Max

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

I can't help think the changing dynamics of the hobby may be at work here. 15 - 20 years ago vintage dealers were not competing for collector dollars with high priced Steiners, etc., etc. The modern players of that era were typically not signing for big bucks. Now, when a collector blows his entire budget on a Steiner Jeter, nothing is left over for the vintage material.

Just a thought...

yeah that is definitely a possibility and also a lot of the "new" autograph collectors, guys in their early 20s or early 30's are buying the more modern players that they grew up watching and the players that they are watching today. There is also a whole different area of autograph collectors that don't really care about sports at all and they are more into Entertainment/Celebrity/Music Etc. autographs.