T205 national league autographs

[Econteachert205]

Hi all. New to the forum, though have used it for reference for some time. My main focus is lower grade t205's for my set (104 so far), though I will pick up t206's now and then. One question I've never gotten answered is if the t205 national league autos on the cards are all legit. Some look unique and right others look rather generic and similar to each other. I'm not an auto guy just curious. Thanks for this awesome place for all. Dennis

[Econteachert205]

Here is the bulk of my non graded 05's... All off ebay, none over 50 bucks.

[Wite3]

None of the autographs are authentic...they are probably from the same artist who did the portraits and were just added to the original litho. Most of the signatures look nothing like the player's actual signatures.

Joshua

[Econteachert205]

Thanks for the answer Joshua.

[T206Collector]

I disagree. The Marquard, Snodgrass, Doyle and Wheat are all based on the original signature. I'm not saying they were the player's actual signature, but they have a lot of similarities.

[Econteachert205]

Ahh. This is interesting. I wonder how many different artists worked on the portraits. I paint portraits and can def see several different styles for instance if I look at jacklitsch and bates. That looks like two different artists for sure. So if different artists worked on them did some of the artists take the time to mimic a signature. I would have if I had painted them. Maybe some did and others did not.

[Wite3]

Unfortunately, no one knows if it was one artist or a stable of artists. No one knows if the artists had access to the signatures as well. My theory since these were multiple pass lithography is that it was artistic liscence with the signatures. They were not stamped on after the printing either. Just one of those mysteries but many of the t205 signatures have similarities...I am no hand writing expert but it really does look like the same hand did them. Someone once pointed out to me that some of the left handed players could not have written those just because of the slant and the way lefties tend to write.

Joshua

PS I think the Snodgrass looks nothing like the signature. The others might be close.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Wite3

PS I think the Snodgrass looks nothing like the signature. The others might be close.

To me, the style of the "F" and the use of the middle initial "C." are beyond coincidence.

[milkit1]

I agree with Paul. Snodgrass' auto may have changed significantly in 58 years. I do believe they were all based on real signatures

[Econteachert205]

Sean that's a good point. Most of the autos that one would see could be from later in life when the signature would change. Also if players were signing for the purpose of a master on a card they might make it more legible than normal.