Was this done in sharpie?

sandmanfromlv

Good luck in about 1-2 years....watch your money "vanish" away...

link

Ahmanfan

what would u suggest using on football/basketballs?

John

sandmanfromlv

sharpie is fine on football/basketballs.... I had some Gaylord perry baseballs (got them free at a local store) signed in sharpie...after 1-2 years...faded completely away.... not sure about the "new age" sharpies, but I would always have them signed in real ink...jmho

schr1st

You think that's bad, check out some of these:











And a lovely before and after a period of time:

Before:





Here is the original post about it over on the Beckett boards

pandrews

no doubt about it, ballpoint pens are best for signing baseballs..

DeutscherGeist

Sharpies are suppose to be permanent.

Some ink pens will fade with time too.

The best to get is the type the museums can recommend (the archive people). They will tell you what ink type pens will last centuries. They recommended I use Rag Paper for documents to last the test of time. They can recommend the right ink too.

Ahmanfan

can anyone recommend the best silver marker for footballs/basketballs/jerseys? I've gotten silver sharpies, they arent that great. silver sharpie paint pens are ok. thanks
John

halosfan

Wow ... those are some horrific cards.

envoy98

Silver sharpies are fine for 8x10's, magazines etc. The silver/gold paint pens that you shake first seem to last. I have a Griffey Jr on a bat that is a few years old, and it looks great still. Baseballs are still ruled by a good ballpoint pen. Not those ink dropping needle tipped things...

I'm still trying to find out what works best on jerseys. The always seem to fade and bleed badly after a while. I've heard some people spray the patch with something before having it signed so the patch soaks that up instead of the ink. (Starch maybe?) I've never tried that though and don't know if it has any long term effects.

cardinarky

The problem is two fold. The tanning process of the leather is very important. The chemical composition of the marking instrument is also very important.
If we can find scrolls in Egypt and Jerusalem that were written over 2000 years ago (on leather) and still very readable, you would think that we could have something that would last a couple of decades today.
The less expensive the baseball/leather (my area of interest, I have over 600 of them) the more likely that the autograph will bleed/run/fade whatever you want to call it, regardless of the writing instrument.
Stay away from red inks, they fade the fastest. Black is not very durable. Green holds up quite long.
You can bet the ranch that when the card companies got the leather for the "sweet spot" autograph cards, they did not hunt the world over for "rich Corinthian leather" as the old Chrysler commercial used to say.

I have a baseball from the 1957 Cardinals that for the most part looks excellent, a lot of the autos look like they were done very recently.
I have a Rawlings "Signature Series" baseball signed last spring by a White Sox player and it is fading badly.
I have a Ted Williams autograph done on a Rawlings ML baseball in 1990 that looks like it was done yesterday.
It is all about the quality of the materials used.
If you are going to get autographs on baseballs, make sure the ball is Official Major League and the ink color is blue. Also the pen should be from a quality manufacturer.

tkd7

I have a game used base that I have an opportunity to have signed, but I don't want to spend $300 for a Derek Jeter autograph on a base that will fade in a few years.

Any thoughts on the use of Sharpie's for objects like that?

digicat

I got a baseball signed by Rickey Jordan at a show back in 1989 (former hot prospect with the Phillies). He signed it with a blue sharpie. The ball's been sitting in one of those baseball display stands for the last 16 years, untouched by human hands. The signature has sort of defused into the leather of the ball, and it looks more like it has a blue smudge than an autograph. Sigh. My cards that he signed are still nice looking though!

CrazyJoe

I got a Curtis Martin signed Football i got back in 97 after his rookie year when he was on the Pats. I had him sign in with a SILVER Marker and over the past 9 years the autograph has faded to black. It still stands out it just looks a little smugged. Since then I have been sticking with Black Sharpies for my autos.

sagard

<< <i>I have a game used base that I have an opportunity to have signed, but I don't want to spend $300 for a Derek Jeter autograph on a base that will fade in a few years.

Any thoughts on the use of Sharpie's for objects like that? >>




Jeter will be signing autos for another 50 years, just have him sign it again if it fades.

duner

for 99% of football items i like fine point metallic gold sharpies (helmets/footballs)....but they're next to impossible to find anymore. there's one person on ebay that still sells them, but their price isn't cheap, and the tips tend to flatten in a hurry, so it gets expensive buying a new one after every autograph session you attend. the silver ones work pretty good too, and can be found anywhere, and in bulk. the problem is they don't provide as nice of a contrast from the item they're signing as gold...and can be barely legible on anything that has a light background.

Sharpie made a new metallic gold...I think they're called paint pens now, but I don't like the tip. It's a rounded tip, so it shouldn't die as quick...but it doesn't look like you'll get as crisp of a signature. Though I don't really know how they turn out; I'll find out next weekend at the senior bowl though. They have extra fine tipped ones too, but they're godawful.

If you're getting anything white signed.... black finepoint sharpies, or felt tip markers are still the best route. I don't do the baseball route...but the best instrument by far is the old school fountain pen, but you need to give it to someone's who's patient or he's just going to wreck your ball....but a good fountain pen sig will last until the apocalypse.