Purchasing autos on other baseballs
 

I know this has been discussed ad naseum, but I always see baseballs that aren't ROMLB balls (like China balls) with PSA or JSA and they sell for way cheaper, and I know why. But maybe a more experienced collector and shine some insight on how important the type of baseball is.

I love open discussions :)

I don't follow. Are you saying official MLB balls sell cheaper than off brand?

I mistyped in the post, I corrected myself above, but I meant aren't not are

It is because the 'porcelain' baseballs don't hold the autograph over time. They tend to bleed, and form a shadow around the signature. With leather baseball, whether or not they are ROML balls, the signature sticks to the surface a lot better.

Not sure if there's much to discuss here. The off brand, non leather are cheap and the autograph looks terrible on them. The ROMLB typically look great. Case closed!

I agree that signatures on the synthetic covers is a bad idea and they sell for a deep discount.

That said, I will share some of my experience to the contrary.

Back before I knew better, I got a bunch of signatures on Rawlings Official League baseballs with a synthetic cover. Twenty years later most of them bled and the signatures look horrible. I have feathered rookie Jeters I can use for tossing in the yard. :(

BUT, for whatever reason, some of them held the signature perfectly with no bleeding and the balls are still snow white. They look and display great. :confused: I guess it depends on how the ink from certain pens interacts with the synthetic cover.