New Collector - Request for Advice

rt1963

Hi folks,

I'm new to collecting, and I'm hoping some of you can help me understand a little about the autograph collecting business!

I'm looking to collect baseball autographs from the 40's, 50's and 60's. I've seen some nice pieces on eBay, but I'm leery of buying from there. I guess my basic questions are:

Am I safe buying PSA/DNA slabbed autographs?
I've seen some different PSA/DNA labels...some blue, some red. Does the color of the label mean anything?
I've seen a few autographs graded, but most aren't. I thought only cards were graded, are autographs graded too?

Should I stay away from eBay completed for autographs, except perhaps those on major company (Topps, Donruss, Upper Deck) cards?

I really appreciate any advice!!

Thanks,

Rich

storm888

"Am I safe buying PSA/DNA slabbed autographs?"

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Yes.

Stone193

Hi Rich

I want to welcome you!

I don't know a lot about autos but concur with Storm - you can buy PSA/DNA with confidence.

I also believe anything with the JSA COA would be OK - Jim Spence is well respected I believe.

Also, there are certain big dealers who have athletes under contract like Steiner - and I think you can trust a COA from them - downside? Some of their stuff is kind of expensive IMO.

Also, ASI - Authentic Sports Investments - contracts with certain athletes and can be trusted for auto'ed game used items.

That's my contribution - good luck and don't be a stranger.
mike

cohocorp

welcome rich!

rt1963

Storm and Mike,

Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate it!

Rich

RedHeart54

In this day and age confidence (and not in the bad way) factors into an auto's price. If you really want a player's auto you probably cannot go wrong from buying from a dealer who contracts with a player.

PSA/DNA labels do not matter as far as red or blue. They recently started using blue simply to easily designate PSA cards from PSA/DNA cards.

Autos can certainly be graded but it is an extra fee. Alas, some people are only concerned with an auto's legitimacy, not the "grade". The grade can make a substantial difference in price if you're talking about a famous player such as Babe Ruth or someone else who has been long dead. The price difference for players whose autos are relatively plentiful isn't as significant.

Autos on cards are interesting. Any kind of insert card with an auto is probably 100% safe in terms of legitimacy. Non-insert cards are a crapshoot and it doesn't matter if they are Topps or a "trade card" or non-licensed. It really depends on the player, i.e. a Pete Rose auto'ed card is probably more risky than a Pete LaC(o)ck auto (because who the hell is going to forge Pete LaC(o)ck's auto? (FYI, this message board will not allow me to properly spell the name of the former player for the Cubs and Royals between 1972 and 1980 because it might offend someone, alas, the parenthesis on the "o".) On the other hand you can still be pretty confident of the legitimacy of a player's auto with experience: I bought a Lyman Bostock auto on a 1978 card (the year he was murdered) "raw" (or without being authenticated by a well-known company such as PSA). Knowing what his auto looked like I sent it to them it and it came back slabbed and authenticated. A little experience can go a long way.

Anyway, don't mean to ramble. Good luck and happy collecting!