I am new - need help with mantle, Williams, DiMagio

[Case12]

Hi all - I have been collecting for 25 years. I have over 100 signed baseballs -vintage. I also collect astronaut, military, politics, celebrity, and vintage race car drivers. I have studied exemplars all these years and know the "fake" stuff. Or so I thought. I bought mantle, Williams and DiMagio single signed balls in the early 90's (pre operation bullpen, JSA or even PSA) when I lived in FL. Got from dealers at shows (with COAs, but that means little to me). I got burned on a Robinson and Cobb. James Spencer helped me....and he had to study them and even get other experts. In the end they had to say no. Bummer - but he is an A+ guy to work with.
So back to these balls. They look darn good to me, but PSA at a show did a free look and said no. I must be missing the signs of what makes them think they are fake. Of course, these 3 are often faked, so I was hoping somebody on the board here could take a quick look at photos and let me know thoughts. It's ok if they are fake...I would like to know why since I thought I knew them pretty well. I thank you so much...it has bugged me for years ;-(. Casey

[Mr. Zipper]

0 for 3.

Sorry.

[Case12]

What are the signs they are fake?

[Lordstan]

Banana M's
Open A's in Williams
Joe d is just bad

[Duluth Eskimo]

I agree. Those are no good.

[Mr. Zipper]

What are the signs they are fake?

They are common mass-produced cookie cutter forgery styles.

[Case12]

Many thanks!! I will mark them and let the dogs play with them. I got 25 years of enjoying thinking they were real :-). Never planned to sell them anyway. Now...off to find real Mantle - maybe just a pic this time. See some on eBay I like.

[Case12]

Banana M's
Open A's in Williams
Joe d is just bad

Aren't most autographs of Mantle's M's banana looking? I see PSA pics on eBay that seem that way to me. Perhaps I misunderstand what you mean by banana?
Enjoy the hobby and trying to learn... Casey

[Lordstan]

Aren't most autographs of Mantle's M's banana looking? I see PSA pics on eBay that seem that way to me. Perhaps I misunderstand what you mean by banana?
Enjoy the hobby and trying to learn... CaseyYes...to a degree. The one we label bananas just seem to be more exaggerated like these are. Some are even worse.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[shelly]

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :mad:
Open d and open a on the williams Never good. Mantle you just have to look at real ones and you will figure it out. The Dimaggio the same thing.

[rschisler]

I've seen you guys post numerous times on the open d & open a. I see many authentic exemplars where the d is quite literally closed with an overlap, but I see many others I felt were authentic where the d is just shy of closing the loop like the one below. Is this the kind of d that causes concern or is it generally a bit more blatant than this? Thanks for the education!

[Mr. Zipper]

Closed "d" or not, I do not believe this one is authentic.

[thetruthisoutthere]

Closed "d" or not, I do not believe this one is authentic.

+1

That one looks like it took 45 minutes to pen it.

[rschisler]

Darn it, just when I was starting to think I knew what I was doing! Back to the drawing board. Tough hobby to figure out. Thanks gentlemen, I appreciate your feedback.

[Stampsfan]

+1

Thanks to those who respond with courtesy. Great group of folks here.

[Mr. Zipper]

Darn it, just when I was starting to think I knew what I was doing! Back to the drawing board. Tough hobby to figure out. Thanks gentlemen, I appreciate your feedback.

Here is a little hint on the Williams. Williams can be tough to nail down, but I have found the fakes often have a "too smooth and neat" look, whereas authentic examples have a more herky jerky messy feel.

The Williams you have shown... that style seems to have a soft loopy "lli"... once it "clicks" for you, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

[joed25]

Darn it, just when I was starting to think I knew what I was doing! Back to the drawing board. Tough hobby to figure out. Thanks gentlemen, I appreciate your feedback.

Your Ted ball is authentic.

[shelly]

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
To slow to neat