We are an eBay affiliate and may be compensated for clicks on links that result in purchases.

Official Trading Card Autographs

Hello all, I've read quite a few differing opinions recently about autographed official issue trading cards (both sport and non sport)..although the reverse of the card might state it contains an authentic signature some think most are produced by some sort of auto pen or copying process, others are convinced they all have a real hand signed autograph, how are these cards produced? Do celebrities really sit down and sign many hundreds of cards/stickers?

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on May 16, 2019 at 4:17pm

The vast majority of autographed cards issued by the large card manufactures are authentic. I'd say in the 99.99% range. Companies like Upper Deck, Panini and Topps contract with athletes and celebrities to sign their products. And yes, many sign thousands of items.

However, most of the time the cards (or stickers) are sent to the signers representatives. The person under contract sings and returns the cards or sticker to the manufacture. There have been some isolated cases where it appears a person under contract returned the the cards/stickers after they had been signed with an autopen. But this has been rare and autopen signatures are relatively easy to identify once the cards are released. It took collectors about a day to determine Dak Prescott (Cowboys Quarterback) had used an autopen to sign his cards from Panini. All the signatures were exactly identical (which just doesn't happen).

It's rare that there is an issue for certified cards from manufactures. And when there has been an issue, it's discovered quickly. It's still good to research any purchase, even if it is an autograph from a card manufacture.

https://blowoutbuzz.wordpress.com/2017/07/07/panini-america-address...