Signature quality

[Muzza]

Just a thought, as I was browsing on ebay with regards to signature cards.

Does anyone buy or not buy a card based on the quality of the signature?

I have been specifically looking at Broncos sig cards recently and noticed that the players signature differs considerably in some instances within sets, from set to set and from year to year.

Examples

Both from 2012 Prestige

2011 version

2012 version


I know these guys can sign literally thousands of cards and must get sick of it at some point, not blaming them one bit.

But does sig quality effect your choice of which card to buy?

 

[Matty4292]

Yeah, just the other day I paid about $10 more for a card because the auto was neater than the cheaper one.

 

[ekalb]

On other boards/forums, there have been lots of cases mentioned recently where players are believed to have been getting family or friends to sign the cards for them - Dez Bryant comes to mind as being a big culprit.

 

[Muzza]

That wouldn't surprise me at all. Any player might have to sign several thousand cards in one season. I'd expect that Panini, Topps etc might have some quality control in place but that might be too much of a task as well.

 

[ooneil]

Dont forget autopens. Did any of you see the story about the NHL player that got caught using one?

http://myhockeycardobsession.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/opinion-autopens.html

 

[Muzza]

Dont forget autopens. Did any of you see the story about the NHL player that got caught using one?

http://myhockeycardobsession.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/opinion-autopens.html

Well I reckon that's better than joe blow or cuzzy bro signing them. At least it's gunna look legit.

 

[Matt26]

Yep, ill certainly pay more for a better looking auto.

Players at a time will sign thousands of cards........I wouldn't put it past some players in rare instances to have others sign on their behalf, but id say 99% of the players would be doing the right thing even though its a chore for them.

Also pays to do a bit of research as well. It pays to spot any differences. for someone like Steve Nash, he has had multiple auto variations over the years. All of them are his auto, just changes from time to time.

Cheers
Matt

 

[ekalb]

I think thousands is actually an understatement to how many Auto's these guys are doing. For example, Dwayne Allen (I will use him as an example as I have him in front of my currently) has 1618 autos in Topps Platinum alone! And this is just the serial numbered versions - there is also one that is not serial numbered!! Topps Finest he has another 3379 autos. Already from those two sets alone he has had to sign just under 5000 autos.

I can kind of understand why the players would get someone else to sign these for them as much as I hate to think of the fact this could be true.

 

[Muzza]

No wonder I'm still waiting on Redemptions. Actually, the Panini Redemption update blog that comes through every week or so has some dating back to 2011!!!
I can't work out how some sets released before the 2012 season started have outstanding redemptions but sets released just weeks ago have the same players with packeted signature cards.

 

[Matt26]

As an FYI, for Andrew Boguts rookie year, he had in excess of 10,000 autos. I did the sums and it was past that mark.

 

[ekalb]

I guess this shows too why you can purchase some autos so cheap. Looking at those Allen numbers, at least 5000 autos from those two products alone. Imagine how many he actually has signed altogether this year - I would estimate it to be closer to 100,000 than not.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Must admit I have not bid on a few 'sticker' autos that I would have liked where part of the sig is missing from some pen flourish that has gone over the edge. They do seem to be cheaper but seems a waste if you don't have the full auto.