needed: walter johnson feedback

[Kawika]

"Please keep in mind that is the job of any forger to make the signatures MATCH, its easy to do; for a good authenticator the signature itself (in most cases) is the LAST thing he looks at." - Jim Stinson

Bearing the above in mind, the signature on my Exhibit card looks a lot like yours and I wouldn't rule out it being authentic until Jim has had a chance to give his opinion.

[Scott Garner]

Do you have any information on when this magazine photo was signed? This could possibly give me one bit of info that would help. Also, could you please post the entire picture of WaJo? Thanks!

Although there are some similarities with exemplars that I own in my personal collection and others that I have gathered through the years, there are also several differences that make me question its authenticity.

Given the time frame in which it was signed, I might be able to comment with more conviction.

[Runscott]

Re-reading my second post in this thread, my response sounds kind of wimpy. If anyone cares, here's my reason: we had a thread a while back that involved a questionable 'Cy Young' autograph. I posted the EXACT reasons I thought it was bad (very detailed stuff), and I thought I had done a good thing, providing information for potential victims on this board, which, to my way of thinking, is composed of a bunch of Net 54 hobby buddies who should want to help each other.

Result: I was ignored by the authentication experts and got my wrist slapped by one or two board members. Quite a surprise. Apparently it's a no-no to give such detail, as it will help forgers hone their skills. I personally feel that by learning such detail, we help the collector and the authenticator, much like the detail Mark provides regarding photo identification has helped collectors avoid ridiculous assertions made by sellers. I also feel that such detail (at least the kind I provided) provides almost ZERO help to a forger, as most of it can NOT be applied to their forgeries. I won't bore you by explaining why, but I'm sure the autograph authenticators here understand.

It is frustrating when someone asks for an autograph opinion here, and board members state that it is authentic, and I am certain that it is not, but I cannot give the detailed reason why, because the experts will get upset.

So...that's why I'm not posting my detailed reasons here. Carry on.

[chaddurbin]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Do you have any information on when this magazine photo was signed? This could possibly give me one bit of info that would help. Also, could you please post the entire picture of WaJo? Thanks!

"circa 1924 WJ signed". here's a link to the auction: http://legendaryauctions.com/LotDeta...ntoryid=151891. thanks for all the opinions/thoughts so far on the thread and pm.

the area of the picture below is 3.75" x 5.25" to give some visual context

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

"circa 1924 WJ signed". here's a link to the auction: http://legendaryauctions.com/LotDeta...ntoryid=151891. thanks for all the opinions/thoughts so far on the thread and pm.

the area of the picture below is 3.75" x 5.25" to give some visual context

I'm going to go out on a limb and tell you that I would be not be comfortable with some of the inconsistencies of this Walter Johnson autograph, especially given the time frame it was supposed to be signed. I will PM you with my specifics...

[Hankphenom]

I like it, but here's how I do Walter Johnson autographs: I look at them for several seconds and then say, "If I had to say yes or no, here's what I'd say." I'm no autograph expert, in the technical sense, but I might have seen (as in paid attention to, because I always pay attention to Walter Johnson material) more Johnson autographs short of somebody like Jimmy, Grad, or other longtime major authenticators. I've also been known to be wrong, at least according to "experts." So there's my two cents. I especially like the writing of the salutation. I've seen so many variations of his autograph that I know were real, so the name itself is less important to me, although I like this one, too. However, if any of the guys that really know their stuff, and there are at least two of them here on Net54, declared that they didn't like it for one reason or another, I'd go with them. Of course, the big guys also disagree with each other ALL the time. I'll run it by Keating and see what he says.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

I like it, but here's how I do Walter Johnson autographs: I look at them for several seconds and then say, "If I had to say yes or no, here's what I'd say." I'm no autograph expert, in the technical sense, but I might have seen (as in paid attention to, because I always pay attention to Walter Johnson material) more Johnson autographs short of somebody like Jimmy, Grad, or other longtime major authenticators. I've also been known to be wrong, at least according to "experts." So there's my two cents. I especially like the writing of the salutation. I've seen so many variations of his autograph that I know were real, so the name itself is less important to me, although I like this one, too. However, if any of the guys that really know their stuff, and there are at least two of them here on Net54, declared that they didn't like it for one reason or another, I'd go with them. Of course, the big guys also disagree with each other ALL the time. I'll run it by Keating and see what he says.

Hank, What do you think of the "J"? My concern is the break at the top. Because I sign the "S" in my first name that way, I'm fairly sure that Johnson would have started at the bottom of the top loop, gone to the left, NOT STOPPED, then come down on the right, gotten some air at the bottom, the up and to the right. The break seems very weird to me.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Hank, What do you think of the "J"? My concern is the break at the top. Because I sign the "S" in my first name that way, I'm fairly sure that Johnson would have started at the bottom of the top loop, gone to the left, NOT STOPPED, then come down on the right, gotten some air at the bottom, the up and to the right. The break seems very weird to me.

That was one of 4 concerns that I had as well...

Hank,
I appreciate you checking in with your thoughts!

[Runscott]

An interesting website:

PSA Autograph Facts - Walter Johnson