Signed photo of Big Daddy Ritter from Stampede Wrestling AKA as The Junkyard Dog

Dpeck100

This item is very fascinating. I pulled the trigger on this the other night on EBAY and have been doing some digging on Google looking for more information on The Big Daddy and Jim Irvine the wrestling photographer who took these photos.

I found the listing when searching for Andre The Giant.

The seller has this listed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Andre-the-Giant-Autographed-8x10-photo-from-www-wrestlingpriceguides-com/383122606306?hash=item5933e308e2:g:IK8AAOSwXF5dTeMY

This photo comes from a suitcase that was found with loads of photographs and negatives from Stampede Wrestling along with their programs. It appears that after the man died the items were removed from his home and left somewhere and police found them.

https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/7934190-mahoney-hamilton-officer-enlists-ex-pro-wrestler-to-tag-team-tent-city-mystery/

There is link where you can listen to the story.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-367-alabama-newspapers-vs-roy-moore-russia-olympics-ban-indigenous-satire-holiday-books-and-more-1.4435735/how-an-abandoned-suitcase-in-hamilton-found-its-way-to-a-wrestling-hall-of-fame-1.4435755

This will be coming in the mail soon and could be a real autograph from The JYD's first years in wrestling.

I am curious what @KNAPP thinks of this Andre signature.

doubledragon

That was one heck of a story. That JYD photo is a real treasure. Thanks for posting.

KNAPP

Hey Dave, great article. I think the auto is real. There is no loop in the "D" but everything else looks fine, just sloppy.

wrestlingcardking

This is an amazing story. Glad you scored such a great autograph.

Dpeck100

@KNAPP said:
Hey Dave, great article. I think the auto is real. There is no loop in the "D" but everything else looks fine, just sloppy.

Thanks for the feedback. I am no expert on Andre's but it certainly looks inline with many I have seen that are deemed real.

This enhances the chances the Ritter is real and while his autograph will never carry the value that Andre's does this should in my view sell for a premium relative to many of his other autos due to timing.

Obviously having a personalized auto isn't as desirable to many but it would seem to me that once again this enhances the chances it is real and that is a positive here.

Dpeck100

@wrestlingcardking said:
This is an amazing story. Glad you scored such a great autograph.

I am glad I did some searching on Google and found the story. I bought it prior to finding out more of the back story and I think it gives it a very high probability of being real.

Dpeck100

This is awesome! Just got it in the mail.

wrestlingcardking

Super cool item and it makes sense that it is legit

Dpeck100

@wrestlingcardking said:
Super cool item and it makes sense that it is legit

The photo you can tell came from a picture he took and most likely developed by him.

This isn't one of the reprint type photos on hard stock but actually a photograph.

I am going to try and find out if PSA has the ability to authenticate one and if so send it in and try and get it in the large red flip holder they recently came out with.

I believe this is 100% legit.

Dpeck100

I just got off the phone with PSA customer service and she is going to put in the request to see if they can try and authenticate it. I know there is a very real chance they might not be able to due to the limited nature of this signature. Obviously I am hopeful they can but realize it is not a guarantee.

Dpeck100

I got a response Friday that PSA can't authenticate it so I won't be sending it in.

Time4aGansett

Sorry to hear that David. Still a top notch piece.

Dpeck100

@Time4aGansett said:
Sorry to hear that David. Still a top notch piece.

Thanks bro. I actually think it is really cool that his signature is so rare that they can't even attempt to try and authenticate it.

I appreciate the honesty on their part.