Cobb, Altrock Melillo help please
 

Someone offered me these 3 toughies I need for the set. Please let me know your thoughts. There rarity (and hesitation in the signature)make me skeptical on their authenticity but would appreciate opinions as I would love to own if real. Old time collector says he bought them at a show in the 1970s. Thanks
Attachment 315137

Attachment 315139

Attachment 315140

Stay away from all.

My thought on the Cobb is the look is OK, but the fading terrifies me as it removes all traces of pen pressure which of course helps hide the hesitation that you are already suspicious of.

any more opinions on all 3?

not an auto guy, but I always think these queries are interesting. Based on the examples I would find, I think the Cobb is the only one with a good possibility to be real and it is unlikely you find one real one in a group of three with two being bad.

I have the same problem with the Cobb as stated above. Both the Altrock and Melillo, at first glance, look like it's worth studying further, but then you start to see some letter formation variances that are just not consistent with other exemplars. If I had to guess on those last two, I'd say they were non-malicious ghost signers/family members.

Ty Cobb died 7-17-61 and this set was released in 1961 ( which month ??). He probably didn't sign much in 1961.

I personally think the Melillo looks pretty good, or at least warrants much closer review. The "M" is slightly different than I'm used to, but there's a lot of positives.

Is the seller amenable to you getting a refund if you buy them and send them off to an authenticator, but they're deemed to be inauthentic? May be an avenue to consider.

I just asked the seller if he would do that. Will see what he says.

If he's willing, it certainly wouldn't hurt to send them in. As Jon said, there are some positives, and maybe the negatives are just some variations I've never seen before. If you were just looking for the autograph, or an easy to find item with the sig on it, I'd say pass, but since this is hard/impossible to find, it might be worth a hail mary.

This is my Melillo that I am pretty confident in. Yours looks pretty close in the last name. The first name is slightly different, but pretty close.

Sorry not sure on the others

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7422/...8e17e99e_o.jpg

thanks Mark- that Melillo is a close match

The signature is also on the same location of the card, which I always find a positive factor.