Mantle Opinion
 

This is bad, correct? Thanks for the help.

Hey,

I have been doing a lot of research in books on his signature. Definitely bad imo.

Looks good to me

I think it's good, actually.

The M to A transition in Mantle along with the A in Mantle looked off to me. That is why I was giving it a thumbs down. Hopefully Shelly and a few others can get their opinion. Thanks for everyone's input.

It's not the prettiest but I like it

I don't like the M in mantle or the A in mantle.

:):):):):):):):)

I get that's why you're questioning it, but take each signature as a whole, they are a bit atypical but the flow of the signature is right as is spacing, letter size and speed, one small piece of a signature being slightly off doesn't make it bad, it takes a while but your on the right track.

Here is a better pic of the first name if that sways you.

I know it is on a budig ball. that does not effect my opinion. The Mickey now that I see it straight on really makes me very hesitant to say it is authentic. I will hope that Chris chimes in as well.

Not unless that's the drunk Mickey Mantle

I am still not sure if that ball is bad or not. Just should not have jumped in without being sure.
Kevin just so you know. Mickey could sign drunk better than he could sober. He was only sober a short time before he died. Some of those autographs where a little bit off but most where perfect.

All the bs of his being drunk was just an excuse for a bad forgery

Kevin, just curious. Is this your first time giving an opinion on Mantle?

Yeah now that I can see all of Mickey, I Would like Christopher Williams opinion here

I wish I could see the Mantle auto like some of you...to me the ball looks good but I believe the ins and outs of mastering his autograph will always be a puzzle to me. Just when I think I am close I realize I am not.

Chris has not come on here yet so I asked the one person I trust as much as Chris.
Here was his answer.

My initial reaction was it was good, but that second photo he posted is giving me some doubt. Don't like the first M. And the e at the end has a long tail... It usually cuts off short. Wavy baseline too. The other issue is that it seems overly large. His sig usually doesn't wrap all the way around the ball like that, does it? Usually you can see the whole thing in one photo easy.


I gotta say, I'm not sure. It's either an odd ball real one, or a forger fired one off and came pretty damn close.

He feels the same way as I do.

I know some of you thought I was kidding about the fact that Mantle signed more balls when he was drunk than sober.

Think about it. I had him at show in Los Angeles and he could not stand up. Yet when he signed a ball it was perfect.

After taking a break and looking at it again this morning, I am pretty sure it is not authentic. The A in Mantle is just not correct. I have never seen one signed like that. I think it is a pretty good forgery. Good example to have up on the board

The A did not throw me off. It was the e that made me look at it a lot closer.
That is why this site is so much fun:rolleyes:

Nothing wrong with it imo

AGREE with this assesment

Being that it's such a toss up, I'd actually love to see if/what the three bigger TPAs would do with it. Intriguing ball for sure.

I don't own the ball and don't feel like risking $200 to $300 on a possible forgery.