[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by egri

It depends on how selective I want to be, and on the player. For someone who is common, finding a clean card with a clear signature isn't a big deal. But finding a signature in pen vs. Sharpie, or even better, one that was signed around the time the card came out, is a lot more difficult. Then with a lot of the older signed cards, the original owners would trim off the borders, or put tape over the signature. I have some cards that look like they were pulled from a pack, signed, and then put in storage for 65 years, and others that were trimmed, hole-punched, or signed in red flair pen, which over time fades to pink.

I know in the late 80's I wouldn't want an autograph on a nice card, we would have purposely picked a beater. Not sure if that was universal, but it was in my crowd. Now of course the rules of graded have changed, but I totally understand seeing older auto's on rough cards. I'm still in awe of each of your posts...