MICKEY MANTLE AUTHENTIC EXEMPLARS... READ ALL ABOUT IT!

I just wanted to post these here to see what Fudd the Lowly Mantle Collector can do to help stop the flood of forgeries into the market place. The goal is that we can all start educating ourselves before we buy. To see what a beautiful signature the Mick had, and to learn to distinguish it from the obvious forgeries at first glance. Something TTA, STAT, DREW MAX, GAI GLOBAL (Baker certs) My Favorite Players Reborn (Tony Podsada) & Christopher Morales can't seem to do....at all? You will almost never see a signature in this photo album collection that would match or come close to anything that has been certed by any of those guys. Maybe you'll find 1 in a 1000 if you're lucky. To tell the difference between what an original hand signed Photo by the Mick looks like vs. an obvious Fake at first glance is easy. Give it a try. It's Fun!

As has been told many times, The Mick made more in one signing than his dad did in 1 year. He felt obligated to his fans to give them a "work of art". He did this by signing on just the right spot for the particular photograph he was presented. The size of his signature was determined by how big the sweet spot was. He knew EXACTLY how to fit his signature in so it looked perfect. A thing of beauty really. Please note that these are not all the same signature over and over, but merely a sample from my collection. What I do know is that these are consistent with the WAY Mantle signed and structured his Autograph as we know it. Good luck! FUDD

AUTHENTIC EXEMPLARS-PHOTOS

http://s1342.beta.photobucket.com/user/fuddjcal/library/Mickey%20Ma...

AUTHENTIC EXEMPLARS-BALLS

http://s1342.beta.photobucket.com/user/fuddjcal/library/Mickey%20Ma...

Tags: forgeries, genuine, mickey mantle

10 members like this

Comment by CJCollector on October 11, 2011 at 3:34am: Greg Marino's Mantle forgeries fooled people simply because there wasn't as much info as there is today. I learn something every day about Mantle's autograph, The Babe's autograph, etc. But like I wrote 3 hours ago, that is a 100% good Mantle.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on October 11, 2011 at 5:28am: After looking at the closeup, I am confident this ball is good. Just a little loose, but all the right tells are there. You could send to PSA or JSA if you'd like... I'm sure the outcome would be favorable.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on October 11, 2011 at 5:37am: I have never seen a "killer" Mantle forgery. And those Mickey Mantle autographs from those "other" websites aren't close to being or looking authentic.

I think there are some pretty deceptive Mantle fakes. Here are two that I got burned by. A cut above the mass produced obvious junk. In fact, one of these I bought from a well know sports dealer. (He issued a refund earlier this year, even though I bought it 10 years ago.)

These would not fool me now, but if you are just looking for the obvious ones, examples like this can slip by.

Comment by CEE GEE on October 11, 2011 at 6:10am: THE RUN OF THE MILL FAKES THAT ARE THE MOST COMMON

Comment by CEE GEE on October 11, 2011 at 6:20am: ALTHOUGH THESE ARE THE BEST FAKES I HAVE EVER SEEN IF YOU LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH YOU CAN SEE THERE JUST NOT CORRECT...

Comment by CEE GEE on October 11, 2011 at 6:20am: HERE IS THE REAL DEAL

Comment by Steve Zarelli on October 11, 2011 at 6:31am: Regarding CEE GEES three fakes...

The formation on these is a vast improvement over the typical mass produced forgeries. However, I sense in-hand it would be obvious they were slowly drawn. They just have that look, but it's hard to tell for sure on a fuzzy scan.

Comment by Fuddjcal on October 11, 2011 at 9:45am: Comment by Fuddjcal 1 second ago Delete Comment
Fudd, the Lowly Mantle Collector, also likes Rhonda's ball. I didn't like the "c" at first but balls signed in pen have a little bit a diffent look than photo's with sharpie. After looking at the 5 I have (1 upperdeck, 1-PSA, 1-JSA 2-None) I notice the "c" can be left open a bit. I like the "Ma" in Mantle. In Fact, I like the entire flow, slant & penmanship of "Mantle" I also like M's where ink daubs are left. None of mine are Perfect, but they are "PERFECT" if that makes sense. the "i" in Mickey can also have a loop from time to time when signing in ballpoint. Personally, I think $575 is a little much to be chasing a certificate at this point. An Upperdeck ball could be had for less with a rock solid certificate. You already have piece of mind from some decent Mantle collectors so just enjoy it and go from there. I'd be looking to buy a ball like that for between 2-$350.00, depending on how nice the ball is. Fudd the lowly Mantle collector only likes "MINTY White" balls, (not on chin), but that's just me.

As for those "killer fakes" OMG. I actually like the top one of 2 (FROM Mr. Zipper)????????????? That's why it's possible for a even an advance collector to get burned. I'm usually buying Mantle's these days that only meet my "10 POINT " system or 10 things I'm looking for. The avg run of the mill AAU, MORALASS, BIRDSICK, GAI fakes meet "0" points, FYI

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 11, 2011 at 10:25am: @Fudd:

You're not alone in liking Mr. Zipper's top Mantle. I don't recall anyone say they didn't like it except for the dealer who sold it to him, which is quite commendable. Is it really fake? I'd love the dealer to point out why he thinks so. It would be one heck of a good education.

How sure are you Zip's other one is bad?

Comment by Steve Zarelli on October 11, 2011 at 11:04am: To respond to the inquiries on these...

I initially purchased this from Richard Simon in 2000. It was a consignment item shipped directly from the consignor, a Long Island dealer. After this was questioned on a chat board earlier this year, I showed it to Richard and he was certain it was not good. The Bill Dickey on the photo was also bad according to Richard. He offered me a full refund. Unfortunately, to replace this now with an authentic version would cost me three times what I paid in 2000.

My sense the problem with it is that it is carefully drawn. It is not "slow" with stops, but it was not signed quickly either. You can see some very slight hesitation in the first M. There is no interaction between where one letter ends and the next begins. Also, the A is fully connected to the M, which I'm not sure about.

The next one was purchased form a NY area show dealer in 2000 or 2001 and it was allegedly from the collection of Gloria Rothstein, a NY area show promoter. I sent this to Richard Simon for examination and it failed as well.

Like the previous example, it is a bit too carefully drawn. There are hard stops at the ends of letters instead of quickly moving on to the next letter. In my view, the portion of the loops under the Ms angles up a bit too much. In both examples, the top of the "n" is just a bit too soft.

Now, look very closely at both of these forgeries. I beleive they may have been done by the same forger. The "ickey" "antle" portion of the signatures are almost identical. The same slightly off "antle" formation. Only the Ms are different. My suspicion is that they were done by a metro NY area forger who was distributing through local shops and sellers.

It's possible that Richard has further information and may be aware of this style, thus the reason for his certainty they are fake.

Interestingly, as deceptive as these may be, I have not yet seen additional examples that I beleive came from the same forger. Whoever it was, he may have played it smart and did not flood the market like the mass produced fakes.