Mickey Mantle single signed baseball for $40

I may have mentioned this story before. When I was in the 5th grade, there was a fellow classmate named Mike. Super nice guy, well liked by everyone. Well you could show Mike a picture, say of a WW2 plane, and in minutes with a pencil he could sketch it to astonishing accuracy. He could do that with faces, anything.

While I don't recall him ever doing it with signatures, I'm sure that at first asking or with just a little bit of practice, he could look at a sig, then sign with a pen, a replica of a Mantle autograph or anybody else with extreme accuracy. I doubt if any normal collector would be able to tell the difference between Mike's sig and the real thing.

I wonder how many Mikes are out there with the same talent? Some not so honest, who could use their talent for illicit purposes.

This I do know - I would never purchase a Mantle autograph unless it was certified by PSA or had the proper provenance. And the proper provenance would not include some guy's word for it at an antique store or some tall tale from an Ebay seller.