Babe Ruth "Traced" Signed Baseball... $1900+??!?!?!?!?!?

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by sporteq

Yeah- that's pretty much it. Makes me sick that someone would pay more than $200 for a traced ball.

Makes you sick? FFS, why? As long as the buyer understands what he/she is getting, no problem. Then that's what it's worth to the buyer.

[sporteq]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Makes you sick? FFS, why? As long as the buyer understands what he/she is getting, no problem. Then that's what it's worth to the buyer.

Yeah- I'm fully aware what the buyer is buying. I guess to me, it doesn't make sense since the OP has a original ball for slightly more. That's the basis of the post. I don't understand the mindset I guess.

[egbeachley]

I once asked someone on this forum why they collected autographs. The response was something along the lines of "I like the feeling that I am holding something that was also held by the that person, there is an attachment to him". Many many folks agreed, more or less, to that statement.

If that's the main reason, then why do faded or traced autographs have such a negative stigma?

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Makes you sick? FFS, why? As long as the buyer understands what he/she is getting, no problem. Then that's what it's worth to the buyer.

I gotta agree with David. I rarely, if ever, feel sickness or outrage over any transaction on ebay.

[w7imel]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Makes you sick? FFS, why? As long as the buyer understands what he/she is getting, no problem. Then that's what it's worth to the buyer.

+1 I am with David on this as long as buyer is fully aware. Heck the ball was still held and signed at one point by the Babe so it has that going for it!!!

[Billyscards]

I'd be curious to see if this ball doesn't come back on the market for someone who realized they overpaid. I personally don't see a traced or enhanced ball as attractive. I'd rather have a partial or faded signature, at least I can see what exactly was written by the signer.

For some people this may be the only way to own a Babe Ruth signature.. but for $1900... they could have gotten a faded ball for $500-1000 more... I just see it as a no brainer but thats just me

[packs]

Count me in the group who doesn't see the appeal of a traced baseball. I think I'd rather have the Sinclair ball than one of these.

[yanksfan09]

One big problem I have with a traced ball is how can you ever prove the original signature is authentic? First of all it's been faded to near oblivion to begin with.
Then, someone years later comes along and boldly defaces and covers what's left of a near non existent signature with fresh bold ink from a new pen.

How does any authenticator truly authenticate what they can barely see?

I know many would argue, Yea, but who would trace over a fake right?

Well if traced signatures continue to bring $1900 a pop, that day may not be far off or may have already arrived I'd argue!

How to make a quick 1900 bucks plan:
Step 1: buy beat up old ball and ink/pen
Step 2: Fade your halfway decent or worse forgery attempt in sunlight
Step 3: Trace over faded away forgery with fresh different ink.
Step 4: List on ebay (grandpas attic story optional) and find a sucker.

Scary

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by yanksfan09

How to make a quick 1900 bucks plan:
Step 1: buy beat up old ball and ink/pen
Step 2: Fade your halfway decent or worse forgery attempt in sunlight
Step 3: Trace over faded away forgery with fresh different ink.
Step 4: List on ebay (grandpas attic story optional) and find a sucker.

Scary

Thanks for the "how to"!

[Stampsfan]

Here is one way it can be traced, innocently enough. When I was a kid (I was less than ten years old), I was at a charity softball game. Got a bunch of autographs, leveraging off other people's pens, etc. One autograph I got was in pencil. After a few years, the pencil autograph faded. I took it upon myself to "enhance" the autograph with a pencil so I could see it better.

End result is one autograph on the program is enhanced, and the others are in pen, untouched.