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Authenticity is Everything
Removing authentication sticker from baseball?
I had sent in this vintage ball to be signed by Yogi Berra, and they stupidly put their sticker on the ball. I'm wondering if there are any techniques that can safely remove the sticker without leaving damage or residue. On the ball, the sticker is a little bumpy in the middle, so maybe if I could grab it with a tweezer and gently take it off, it would be good but I don't want to attempt anything just yet. If anyone has any recommendations, I greatly appreciate the help!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tyler Johnson on
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I thought that the umps didnt have to do that any longer... haha
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that mud will be a different color
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Permalink Reply by hitmanten on
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Always wanted to try this. It's a pretty big risk to trust that each player is going to return the item.
How do you ship and/or track to ensure a return from each player? Appreciate any tips you can share.
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Permalink Reply by Mike P on
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Sorry, I just saw this.
It helps to look if a player has a signing service. Yogi Berra signs through his foundation for a fee, as does Johnny Bench.
Just email them and explain the item you have and they will ensure it gets back to you. For shipping, I ship a box within a box or a large envelope within a large envelope. In other words, inside the envelope/box you ship the item you want signed, you put another envelope/box with prepaid insurance and postage so they can send the item back to you in.
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Permalink Reply by Null on
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I'm not sure who started this whole "sticker" idea on historical memorabilia but I HATE THEM.
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So seeing the damage, would it be best to leave it be or to apply the dirt than Ryan Maxwell recommended? It seems like the ball wasn't even toned but rather had surface dirt since the bottoms of the sticker pieces had dirt stuck to them when I removed the fragments
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Permalink Reply by Ryan Maxwell on
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Message me your address and I can send you a small amount of mud in a Baggie. Just get your hand damp/wet and rub a little mud into your palm. Then with a finger, rub a little of the muddy water onto the spot and then "sand" with a clean dry finger until uniform.
Everyone rubs baseballs differently. Some use spit, some brush mud on a spot of the ball and then rub evenly on the ball (I find this makes dark spots). I like to use the same technique has above, but I pour water into the rubbing container and then dip my fingers in that muddy water and spread through my Palm and rub the ball in the wet Palm while sanding and evenly spreading it through the ball with my dry hand.
This is harder to explain than I anticipated.
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Thank you Ryan I appreciate the help. So just to get the procedure straight- you dampen one hand and in the other you put mud on your palm and with the water wet finger you rub mud on the spot? I'm a little confused on that part.
Also the scan shows another spot that was white that yogi or whoever had damaged (I think they hit the ball cube case on it to be honest) and id like to cover that too. So for both of these spots, would I also have to rub dirt on the areas surrounded the spots as well in order to keep the browning evenly coated?
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For just one spot, I was thinking you could make a little muddle puddle in your palm and use your finger a paintbrush for the small spots, then rub the mud out with a clean dry finger. It will take less mud than you think, it's almost like you just want dirty water. If you put actual thick mud on the one spot, it will leave a dark spot. If you have a old baseball around, you can experiment.
Here is an old video, although he is rubbing them pretty dark with a liberal amount of mud. We use more water in the jar for a thinner consistency. You can also see they are using a rosin bag to make the ball even tackier.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on
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It seems like the ball wasn't even toned but rather had surface dirt since the bottoms of the sticker pieces had dirt stuck to them when I removed the fragments
Maybe you should just apply numerous stickers over the entire surface of the ball. I'd clean right up. LOL
In all seriousness, I thought it was toning, not surface dirt... that's why I was surprised the sticker made such a dramatic impact. If it was just toned, it probably wouldn't have left a spot at all when removed.
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