Fading Autograph Question

[CamaroDMD]

So, one of my favorite things to collect is signed baseballs. I limit my collection only to ROMLBs and normally prefer balls signed in blue ink.


I have a dozen balls from Braves players housed in a UV frame on my wall and have noticed that one of the balls has faded significantly over the last several years. See photos below...top photo was taken in 2014 and the bottom photo was taken today.


Looking at all the balls in this frame...three look different to me. Most notable is the John Smoltz (second row from bottom-right) which in 2014 was very bold and today it's very faded. This ball was purchased online and has a JSA authentication. The other balls that have faded a bit are the Dale Murphy (top left) and the Phil Niekro (second row from the top-right) which show minor loss of boldness. Both of these balls were obtained TTM and these as well as a handful of other balls signed with the same batch of Bic Pens have shown similar loss of boldness. The remaining balls look exactly as they have always looked and all have been stored under the same conditions.


Now, my question. Is it fair to assume that the culprit here is the pen used? If is was simply a light exposure issue, I would assume all the balls would show fading...but only a couple do (and two of them us pens I have found faded in different conditions). The only anomaly is the Smoltz ball as I do now know what it was signed with. Is it same to blame the pen here? If so, what can I do to reduce this risk in the future? When buying a ball, what should I look for in the ink?


Thanks.

[Case12]

I have same for hundreds of balls. Got Ryne Sandberg in person and auto completely disappeared in 3 years. Best advice that always surfaces is OMLB, blue ball point pin, touch only seams, no direct sunlight. Otherwise expect to loose some to fading or browning (even in a box in a dark closet.)
I have no idea how folk with super high dollar balls protect their investment.

[JMEnglish27]

It sucks, and I've dealt with this on balls too. There's no easy way around it...I've lacquered a couple balls I know I'll never sell but that's likely not recommended.

Honestly your best bet here is to pull that one out and stick it in a drawer, and get another Smoltz ball for the display.

[mr2686]

You can use a UV case, make sure it's on a OMLB, use a blue pen (bic med pt is my preference) and never touch the darn things, and still you can have this problem. Some of the problem, I believe, is the fault of some of these modern baseballs (Selig and after). Not sure how the hide is being treated, but it seems to be an intermittent problem. For this reason, I have a hard time investing any further in signed baseballs. I will get a few more to fill up the remaining spots in my cases, but I'll probably rely on older baseballs to get that done.
The other solutions I've thought about, is taking a new ball and (using gloves) wipe them down with a terry cloth rag (something a little rough but not enough to rough up the ball). May not do anything, or may allow the ink to adhere to the ball better. Just something to try.

[packs]

I find it's usually the ball and not the ink. Some baseballs are just bad. I've found Bobby Brown balls to be the worst. If it's not the signature being eaten by the leather it's the leather turning brown. I have more than a few Brown balls that have random brown spotting all over them.

[CamaroDMD]

Originally Posted by packs

I find it's usually the ball and not the ink. Some baseballs are just bad. I've found Bobby Brown balls to be the worst. If it's not the signature being eaten by the leather it's the leather turning brown. I have more than a few Brown balls that have random brown spotting all over them.

The balls have issues are all Selig balls.

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by packs

I find it's usually the ball and not the ink. Some baseballs are just bad. I've found Bobby Brown balls to be the worst. If it's not the signature being eaten by the leather it's the leather turning brown. I have more than a few Brown balls that have random brown spotting all over them.

true, but the Bobby Brown balls hold their ink. If they have not started to spot like a raccoon by now, they probably won't. Most of the balls from Haiti were prone to toning, due to the bad water used in production. It had nothing to do with the signatures fading off the ball.

ANY SELIG ball with a bic blue pen, given any light whatsoever, will eventually fade completely off the ball PERIOD. Brown balls hold ink like nobody's business....even with moderate+ sun exposure. I have a great experiment where I display 30 balls in a UV glass case, none of them great. They are all in UV ball cubes.

There were 5 selig balls & 25 brown. 20 pristine brown balls. None of the brown balls have toned anymore than when they were signed in the 1980's. All 5 selig balls that were graded 9.5-10's have the autographs that have completely disappeared. Mays, Berra, Ryan, McCovey and Ripken...BA BYE!

[pclpads]

All the signed BB's I have obtained were IP at shows by the signer. Never bought any at auctions. Haven't attended any shows in 20 years. All the balls have been in a dark, humid free closet in a covered plastic display case, no sunlight exp. I don't handle them. Now, most of the sigs are history. The blotches on the stained Aaron in the pic are similar to many of mine. Leads me to think that tannins used in the rawhide are the source of the light brown oil stains and the faded pen ink. As a result of this, i no longer buy or have signed, any BB's. Money wasted, like a lot of things in this hobby. Some day, I'll likely put the whole damn lot in a curbside bag for the Goodwill.

[tazdmb]

To the OP-Were those balls ever exposed to sunlight/UV lighting?