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Babe Ruth Autograph Advice

Hi There,

Somewhat new to the collecting world and was offered these signature cuts at a really good price. No COAs but the person assured me they were real and they would pass PSA or JSA. Any advice would be great. I am wary of the signatures but the price is really good. That of course worries me too.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 2, 2011 at 7:30am

I think worrying about those autographs is a good thing to do.

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Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on September 2, 2011 at 10:41am

Unfortunately Daniel if something is to good to be true it most certainly is in the collecting business....the Babe Ruth is no doubt a fake....I dont like the Mel Ott...it just doesn't seem fluid to me....I would say if those 2 are no good the Jimmy Fox may be bad too...I have seen all authentic versions of these legendary Baseball icons and I don't like them...that's my collectors opinion...iam no expert...without a doubt the Ruth is no question bad...that Babe portion is hideous...I would estimate if all 3 cuts were authentic and that bold it should run between 5 to 7K

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Becerra Jr on September 2, 2011 at 12:31pm

That's what really worried. The price is so good that you would have thought anybody else would have jumped all over them. Like you said, it's too good to be true... I appreciate the input. I sent it to a couple of vendor around my local area and they all said the same thing. STAY AWAY. But I thought I'd get more people's opinions as well. Thank you very much for replying.

By the way, they were offered to me for under $2000.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 2, 2011 at 12:39pm

You're welcome, Daniel. Who offered them to you?

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Becerra Jr on September 2, 2011 at 1:42pm

I answered a Craig's list ad a while back for something else. Finally got a response a couple of weeks ago that he had other stuff for sale like Babe Ruth memorabilia. Thought that something was fishy but you never know as I've bought stuff on Craig's list before that have been authentic. So I replied and he emailed my the pictures above and said that he would give me a really good price if I bought them all.

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Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on September 2, 2011 at 5:15pm

Hey Daniel...a great way to determine if something is good or bad is by the asking price...not to say if it was going for authentic prices it would be purchase worthy....any seller that has any knowledge of authentic autos would have rocks in there to let an authentic lot with Ruth...Ott...and Foxx go for under 2 grand...if it was authentic and on the open market I would judge it probably would sell in less then an hour...the Ruth by itself if authentic should be a minimum 3 large...counter offer him 5 bucks for the entire lot

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Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on September 2, 2011 at 5:39pm

One more tip...and this little tip may save you a ton of cash...if some one also has for example this seller in question has 3 or 4 Ruths for sale....red flags have got to go off...how can some one have more then 1 Ruth for sale and sell them for outrageously lower prices then any one else...its because there not authentic...plain and simple....any seller that is selling large amounts of rare highly desirable signed items for extremely low prices is only for one reason...to dupe unsuspected buyers into getting robbed...iam glad you posted your pics on this site....either Steve or myself or any of the knowledgeable collectors on here are here to help...and sad to say 85 percent of questionable items I have looked at from other members asking to get another opinion on the item in question are FORGERIES...

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Becerra Jr on September 2, 2011 at 5:59pm

Thanks for the tips. Like you said the combination of the rarity of the items plus the price made it really suspicious. Since I'm so new at this, wanted to make sure I had all my bases covered and thought submitting it here would get me some more experienced advice. Who knows? He might think they are real or might be waiting for a sucker. Either way when he emails me back, I will be sure to tell him that I am not interested.

I really appreciate the input and will be sure to post other items I come across.

-Daniel

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Becerra Jr on September 2, 2011 at 7:28pm

Check this one out. Thoughts?

Zoomed in on the signature

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Permalink Reply by Hitch1010 on September 2, 2011 at 7:36pm

Looks a little cramped. Anyone else?

Permalink Reply by CEE GEE on September 6, 2011 at 10:05am

Joe Dimaggio is extremely in my experience hard to pin point a fake...hes signature patterns range from really nice to god awful sloppy on authentic versions...here is an authentic signed card to compare to its hard to judge on the ball....I have seen flat out forgeries...but that ball I cant really determine if its good or bad...the ball and card have some similarities to it...is it authenticated ?

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on September 6, 2011 at 10:10am

I struggle a bit with Dimaggio as well. He doesn't have as many tells as Mantle because Dimaggio was sloppier and not as consistant.

I don't like the straight "back" of the J on this ball... I like to see more curve to it. But I am not really sure if this is a definate bad sign or not.