I bought this Beckett magazine from a ebay store by the name of Seattle Signatures, Inc. They had very positive feedback, and many autographed items for sale ranging from athletes to muscians. Looked like they specialized in getting magazines signed. I also verified that the seller has been on Ebay since June of 1999.

Contacted the seller and asked how the autograph was obtained and about his COA. I found his COA to be unique in that it offers a refund upon failing a "forensice/federal handwriting analysis". The owner defended his autograph claiming it was signed at the Fairmont hotel as that was the only hotel the Spurs stayed at when the came to Seattle to play the Sonics. He also expressed distrust for JSA and other reputable companies. An opinion I somewhat agree with as I personally don't know what kind of time these authenticators put into examining a signature or how many signatures they match against. Seller also offered a youtube channel he has with footage of signings etc. (like I care about footage, since that's hardly proof. I don't even know what you look like, not to mention the fact that your not in the footage with the athelete or celeb anyways). At any rate, because the price was right and I thought the autograph had a shot at being genuine, I took a chance.

The signature displays some classic Tim Duncan handwriting characteristics, starting with the double base on the T. The T also has the multiple "swoosh" like strokes across the top. Tim has a lot of variance in his signature. Early in his career he would squiggle out his last name. Commonly he will inscribe #21, but not always. His later autographs are sloppier. Often times he does a form of his initials, which can also vary at least 3 different ways. The autograph in question is a form of initialing and doesn't include the inscription #21. This seemed consistent to me with an autograph that might have been given in a hurry, such as at a hotel. However, the one thing that bothers me about this autograph is the backwards L that almost forms a very skinny "4" using the right side base of the T. This is not uncommon in tims signature, I've seen many initialings where he makes this kind of "4" using the right side base of the T, but he almost always carries through swooping back up to the top of the T. I can't find a signature where he stops abrubtly when making this "4" or backwards L if you will. Other than that, the ink patterns show no sign of hesitancy or stopping during the signature, the consistency of the ink pattern gives it a "signed" appearance. My guess is that if it was faked, it was faked by someone very good. If it is real, it is a very clean and somewhat unique Tim Duncan signature on a classic magazine cover. Opinions?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120921991789?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_...