[thetruthisoutthere]

I've seen those horrid Mantle autographs, thousands certed by the now-defunct GAI with Mike Baker's signature on the certs. You're absolutely correct, Fuddjcal, about "The Mick" when he signed. He always made sure when signing a photograph that his entire name was visible and his autograph will always be a work of art. Those ugly Mantle autographs "authenticated (and I use that word loosely)" by GAI and Burczyk aren't even close. "The Mick" passed away on Aug. 13th, 1995 and all of a sudden tens of thousands of those horrid Mantle signatures flood the market out of nowhere well over a decade after "The Mick" passed away. The only reason that some of the GAI certed garbage brings more money than the Burczyk crap is because buyers who know nothing about autographs are trusting Ebay that GAI is a prequalified authenticator. You have to understand that at least 80% of those that buy and sell autographs have no idea what they are doing. Here's a simple analogy. I love US Coins. But I don't know raw coins well enough to know whether a coin has been cleaned, modified, etc. So I don't buy raw coins. Simple common sense. I always say "Look at the autograph, not the COA."