500 Homerun Club Signed Litho Mickey Mantle

[thetruthisoutthere]

It's been almost sixteen (16) years since the great Mickey Mantle passed away and yet a brand new "500 Homerun Club" autographed lithograph has surfaced on one of "those" auction sites.

The auction site has a dutch auction of eight (8) of the below "500 Homerun Club" signed lithographs. And they are all "authenticated" by Chris Morales. Where were these "hidden (cough, cough)" for the past 16 years?

Morales-500-1.jpg

Morales-500-2.jpg

[RichardSimon]

I am sure they were hiding in a warehouse in the Everglades .
Lucky the gators did not get them.

[Mr. Zipper]

Actually, I'd like to thank them for providing a comprehensive summary of the 11 forgery styles all in one image.

[RichardSimon]

And all that heat and humidity did not damage them at all.
Sitting in a warehouse all those years and just look at how fresh the lithos look. Like they came off the printing presses just days ago.
I guess they had to have a lot of those desiccant bags to keep these beauties fresh and dry. Pretty amazing I say.

[thetruthisoutthere]

I've often wondered the rates that Mr. Morales charges for his services as a "Forensic Investigator" and as a "Forensic Document Examiner."

The above item contains eleven (11) autographs. Does Mr. Morales charge by the item or per autograph?

I contacted a "Forensic Document Examiner" while doing some research. Her rates are "$1,500.00 as a retainer fee for five hours of her time and her hourly fee is $300.00."

The below autographed baseball of 12 former US Presidents plus Mr. Obama. Thirteen (13) autographs total. This baseball is presently listed for auction on the Coach's Corner Auction site (Lot Number 8). The bidding as of today (05/10/2011) is at $206.00.

http://www.myccsa.com/Lot.aspx?LotID=263433

How much time does Mr. Morales spend on each autograph forensically examining it? How many exemplars does Mr. Morales have in his database library for each signature? I don't know about you, but I'm very curious how Christopher Morales, Forensic Investigator, goes about "authenticating" a piece like the one below. Pieces like the below are SUPER RARE as we all know. They are pieces of history.......Mr. Morales?

13.jpg

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Personally, I wouldn't pay very much for a Gerald Ford item signed in mustard.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by thetruthisoutthere

The below autographed baseball of 12 former US Presidents plus Mr. Obama. Thirteen (13) autographs total. This baseball is presently listed for auction on the Coach's Corner Auction site (Lot Number 8). The bidding as of today (05/10/2011) is at $206.00.

Apparently, Presidents Hoover, Truman and Eisenhower all saved the sweet spot and left it open for JFK. How considerate.

In all seriousness, if you were the steward of an authentically signed ball of this magnitude, would you really let Ford sign it in a blobby gold pen or Reagan with a thick, black Sharpie? We all know the forger used different pens to give it an air of realism, but did he have to resort to a gold pen and Sharpie to make it "look real'? How stupid.