PSA authenticated Perez Steele Mantle auto postcards
 

Anything to be cautious about here? I've noticed there are a couple of variations based on prewar designs that seem very tough compared to the common ones, but the prices seem about the same. Are these good or bad value? Thoughts welcome.

I collect a lot of the Perez Steele cards in their unsigned form, as I am not confident in my ability to ID a legit autograph (and do not think the authenticators can either). If we trust the signature is real, they seem to me a great bargain still. The artwork is beautiful and the layout of the postcards really lends itself to an aesthetically pleasing signature presentation. They really are gorgeous items, and quite a few of them are autographed precisely because of this, so they are pretty easy to find for most players.

Thanks. Are you aware of any specific controversy whether there are forged Perez-Steele Mantle autos? I will say that most of them do seem awfully clean and near perfect.

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that Perez-Steele's specifically are more susceptible to forgeries or there was a forgery operation using them. I don't trust my ability to authenticate any autograph (handwriting analysis is a lot less solid than authenticating if a T206 is original), so I've managed to resist the temptation to do them signed and have been collecting them unsigned for a long time due to the gorgeous artwork. They look great for autographs though and a lot them have been signed by Mantle so they are pretty commonly found and not difficult to locate. I'm a big fan of the Turkey Red Perez-Steele's too and ended up with some of them possibly autographed.

I'd much rather have a Perez-Steele with Mick's autograph than a ball for display purposes.

I too would have little clue if one was real or not. I don't know whether there were just randomly signed when people presented them to him, or if there were organized signings, or what. It seems it wouldn't be that difficult to forge a signature on one or many. I like the provenance much better, at least based on what I know at this point, on the pack issued Score cards where the auto versions have a different back.

Peter about 7 years ago I put together a run of pack issued autographed cards of 500 HR club members. At the time I had a signed 1966 topps Mantle that I had owned since the late 70's and had slabbed by SGC. It was nice but like you I decided that I would always question the card vs the others. So I picked up a Score Mantle. I was always happy with the choice. And vs the cost of a collection of signed balls the cards cost less were easier to store and displayed great. And were real which is always Always, the most important thing with autographs.
Good luck
Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan. I decided to get this one, which PSA only graded a 6 (??) and the auto an 8 but I think those are harsh and besides this wasn't really about the grades.

I think pack pulled topps certified autographs are as close to authentic autographs as one can get. (Versus a PSA or jsa authenticated one) even though I have read in the internet that nowadays technology is so good that scammers are making topps autographed cards with the topps gold certification stamp on it just like the real ones! So you never really can trust anything is really real with all all the scammers out there. Even with topps factory certified autographs!

I've collected Perez-Steeles since the late 1980s and have quite a few signed examples, most obtained in person or via mail directly from the player. I don't know of any event where the player signed a stack of the cards, unlike 8x10s or baseballs. In general, I think you will see a lower percentage of forged P-S cards than any other medium - gum cards, photos, balls, bats, etc.

All the P-S cards are individually numbered. I think Mick has a Postcard, Celebration, single Greatest Moments and a GM with Willie and Duke and a five card run of the Masterworks. So eight individual P-S cards.

They are really miniature works of art.