Fun article about a Tiger autograph collector
 

https://www.motowntigers.com/2023/02...rs-autographs/

"He counts more than 1,100 autographed Tigers’ baseballs — he’s got lots of doubles, but doubles don’t count — most of them single-signed, including almost all the players from the Tigers’ four World Series championships: 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984."

Hi Scott,
Good story! Thanks for sharing this...

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Thanks for sharing. I could not imagine attempting to collect that many individually signed ballplayer baseballs for that entire period. Hell, it was tough enough to collect 75-80% of the Tiger ballplayers from between 1901 - 1945 on various flat mediums.

Curious to know how complete a run of Detroit team signed baseballs he happened to purchase over 35 years. That is one of the valuable lessons (IMO) about this hobby; it can be very humbling to realize that as nice a collection as one might think they have built, there are other collections vastly superior.

Ouch. You'd really have to know what you were doing in order to amass a run of Tigers team balls if you wanted to avoid all the inevitable clubhouse issues. One of the most problematic teams to collect in this regard. It would be a practically impossible task to assemble a lengthy run of entirely authentic Tiger team balls. There's a period of more than half a century where you really have to be careful. In particular, the 1960's was a minefield.

Neat article for sure although I'm left wondering if that Eddie Gaedel signed baseball he mentioned was from Coaches Corner (or something along those lines)?

His Bucky Harris team ball sure looks like an Autoball from here...

Article said the Gaedel was on paper, not a ball.

I noticed they inducted Pete Rose into the HOF in the article, a small mistake that I can forgive.

I would feel the same way as his wife, advertising something like that nationally or even regionally, with your name and hometown, stating you have a $500K collection in your house. No thanks.

Cool article though. I prefer flats and could maybe give him a run for his money with Dodgers, but I am not spending $11K or anywhere near that on any one hobby related item, so I will always have to accept that my collection will never be top tier.

I see that too. I sure goes look like one,

I don't know how you autograph collectors do it. Operation Bullpen scared me completely away from collecting autographs. Unless you get them in person or maybe through the mail, I just don't know how you can ever really be 100% sure that what you own is genuine. That notion just messes with my OCD too much!

This guy seems to be making the rounds:

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rap...ollection.html

Similar article also exists behind a detroit news paywall

I think autograph collectors who don't deal much in unsigned cards feel the same way about cards. How can you be 100% certain that something isn't trimmed, recolored or otherwise altered? Card collectors have their own problems to worry about.

Nobody can be 100% certain about anything, unless they pulled the card from the pack or saw the autograph signed themselves.

It's completely understandable that anybody without a lifetime of knowledge behind them would feel trepidation in starting out in either side of the hobby. In fact, a lot of people could have saved themselves a lot of money by not jumping into this hobby blindly, their experience being far outweighed by either overeager passion or avarice.

Edited to add: That Operation Bullpen forged material is child's play compared to skilled forgeries. It's become quite easy for many people to identify it over the passage of 20+ years. If that stuff scares or confuses anyone, then yes, time to go back to the drawing board to determine if:

A) you can learn more
B) even possess the aptitude to learn more, and/or
C) need to either stick to safer aspects of this hobby or simply find another hobby.

Also, option B is not intended to come across as condescending nor is it directed at anyone in particular. It's certainly better for people to be honest with themselves about it, though. If this hobby interests you and you're starting from square one, set yourself a timeframe, whatever that may be. If you don't feel you've made significant headway with your knowledge at the end of that time, then definitely reassess if this is the right hobby for you. I've seen many people involved with autographs for decades who somehow can't buy even the most rudimentary of clues when it comes to detecting forgeries. While this is confounding enough, even more strange to me is their continued devotion to something they will never seem to comprehend. We all have our own skill sets.