help on another Mantle autograph
 

Bought this 8 x 10 Mantle photo 20+ years ago from a local collector who told me he had Mantle sign it at a show in Cincinnati in 1988. Would appreciate your thoughts and opinions on whether it is good or bad. Thanks in advance.

I'm no expert by any means on Mantle, but there are 3 things that stick out to me looking at this one. 1. I don't like the "icke" in Mickey. I feel like it is slanted far too right for what his stuff generally does. 2. The M in Mantle has that big flat spot on the bottom. It looks like someone tried to sign his name on a ruler. 3. His full signature, especially his last name seems too straight across. Most examples of Mantle I have seen generally have some curving to it (especially in his last name). Because of these things I am seeing (and again, I am far from an expert), I don't believe this particular signature to be authentic.

Looks like it was drawn on a straight line with none of the indicators I would look for. I think it's bad.

I also don't like this one. If you look closely at the M's, where the line comes off the flat at the bottom and starts to curve upward, it looks like a start/stop situation, where the pen was removed at the end of the flat stroke, and then put back in contact with the paper for the curve. You can see what looks like a slight overlap in the two pen strokes.

Steve

No bueno

Thanks for the opinions and comments. That's what I was looking for. Any other opinions and comments are welcomed.

this is where he signs that picture 99% of the time.


The one in the OP is horrible. It tries to replicate the typical up slant "c" that is sometimes present. If you study the one on this pic and compare it to the others you are looking at it, it might help you in the future.

When I look at your pic, in 1 second I say what a "piece of shit".:D When I look at the real thing in 1 second I say, "what a beauty":D Good Luck!!!!

Happens all the time, I know, but I hate it when people lie about the provenance of autographs and it's particularly irritating for someone to say they personally obtained one when they didn't, whether or not they knew it was fake. Of course, given the lie, the local collector probably knew full well he was defrauding you, even if he wasn't involved with creating the fake.

Thanks again for the comments. Not a big loss for me, as I have very little in it at 20-25 year ago prices. I appreciate your comments that help me to learn to identify a good Mantle from a bad one.