Auston Matthews auto in Centennial, is it fishy?

[RocketRichard]

Im not really involved too much in the hobby these days, but i do still linger from the sidelines, I was recently just checking out the new UD Leafs Centennial set, and something caught my eye, the consistency of Auston Matthews auto changed up quite a bit.


Typical Matthews auto's

Centennial Matthews auto

there are other examples on ebay if you guys would like to do some self research, ive been collecting auto's for a long time, and to me when i saw the Centennial auto it stuck out as off to me right away, it looks like it was signed nice and slow to make it pass as authentic.

am i going crazy? or am i on to something here? because personally i definitely see something fishy here.

thoughts?

 

[Iceman]

Given the shenanigans that have gone on in other sports, I don't think you're wrong to be suspicious. In comparison to the RC year cards, it does look odd. That said, it's not unheard of to have a player's auto change over time. For example, look at early Carey Price autographs. Or Jonathan Drouin's auto in H&P vs. his NHL cards.

TL;DR: I don't know

 

[frankiefives]

If it was one card I'd understand but it would seem to me more likely that Matthews has decided to change his autograph

 

[will-411]

Wait until we see another product auto this year. Centennial was probably not part of the group of 1000's of rookie autos he signed, so he may have taken his time.

Cory

 

[Triple B]

Wait until we see another product auto this year. Centennial was probably not part of the group of 1000's of rookie autos he signed, so he may have taken his time.

Cory

This was my thought. Not many of those were signed so they probably caught him with some down time and not many autos to sign. All of the movements are very similar but seem signed without urgency.

 

[mortuus]

Looks like he changed it nothing weird if u think about it?

 

[NNeves]

Wait until we see another product auto this year. Centennial was probably not part of the group of 1000's of rookie autos he signed, so he may have taken his time.

Cory

Further to this ... the rooks were likely signed during the chaos of his rookie season and Centennial during the summer so more time and care put into the autos.

 

[TheGriceBoys]

It's legit.

I did a thread awhile back and showed McJesus' DRAMATIC change of sigs:

http://hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=401490

He still uses both. Don't see any big discrepancy like McGreatness with two completely different styles?

The two AM34 sigs really do not look at that dfferent other than the two "T's" in "Matthews" are more pronounced?

 

[incetardis]

theres distinct differences in the 34 though

 

[Hama]

Print run on the Centennial autos is probably in the 25-50 range vs. 999 SPA or even a few hundred for Platinum. Like others have mentioned - more care has gone into it.

As for McDavid, he was two distinct signatures - one for the paid signatures for UD and any of his photos/memorabilia, and another for in person signatures.

 

[RocketRichard]

While I agree that players autos change over time, usually the auto becomes faster to sign and is shortened by the player some how when the change is made to make the signing a faster process. In this case the auto appears to be signed alot slower.

There are thousands of players who have made the transition from signing tens of thousands of autos for UD in their rookie season, to not having to sign much at all, and not many of them have a change in their auto.

Every detail of the Centennial auto is off. The "A" isn't leaning to the right, the "M" is very pronounced, the loop at the end of the signature stretches all the way to the "A" and the 34 isn't consistent with other examples.

To me this is still fishy, I personally do not believe Auston signed these cards. Just my .02

 

[darnitsyrup]

the rooks were likely signed during the chaos of his rookie season and Centennial during the summer so more time and care put into the autos.

My thoughts exactly.


To think UD forged the autograph of the biggest Leaf rookie in decades, in the centennial release no less, seems a bit of a stretch to me. And if they had you'd think they would have slapped a few Sundin forgeries in there as well just to get him in the set

 

[will-411]

Here's some other examples of his signature here...

http://www.nhlshop.ca/Auston_Matthews_Toronto_Maple_Leafs_Collectibles

I see enough consistencies across those samples to match up with the Centennial ones, including the loopy 34 on some of them. If anything, it's likely the Centennial autograph is slower and purposeful, to make a nice autograph. It's still not so slow though it leaves ink pools - so it's being signed quickly.

I respect your dissenting opinion though - I just don't agree.

Cory

 

[RocketRichard]

My thoughts exactly.


To think UD forged the autograph of the biggest Leaf rookie in decades, in the centennial release no less, seems a bit of a stretch to me. And if they had you'd think they would have slapped a few Sundin forgeries in there as well just to get him in the set

No one said UpperDeck forged anything.

 

[darnitsyrup]

No one said UpperDeck forged anything.

Fair enough. "To think UD Certified forged autographs of the biggest Leaf rookie in decades..."

 

[incetardis]

there's also a clear stop after the A on the centennials

 

[hduong]

The centennial auto looks like a cross between his ZSC LIONS auto and the rookie year ones for UD.

 

[Hama]

No one said UpperDeck forged anything.

That may be the case - but after the Dak Prescott Panini fiasco with the autopen - and given how conscious his handlers are with his image and reputation - do you honestly think that Matthews' team would do what you are suggesting? They caused his SP Authentic rookies to be redemptions to be sure that the photo used for one of his iconic rookie cards is to their liking.

Doing something like that just is not worth the massive potential negative publicity and image hit - especially in Toronto

 

[TheGriceBoys]

Print run on the Centennial autos is probably in the 25-50 range vs. 999 SPA or even a few hundred for Platinum. Like others have mentioned - more care has gone into it.

As for McDavid, he was two distinct signatures - one for the paid signatures for UD and any of his photos/memorabilia, and another for in person signatures.

McDavid has done both versions for UD, last I saw as on last years The Cup "The Show" cards.

 

[FrozenInferno]

I’m going to necrobump this thread as I’ve had some concerns about more recent Matthews’ autos. Here’s an example:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/2019-20-The...2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=706-127636-26712-0

This auto looks even more off compared to his rookie year autos than the Centennial ones mentioned earlier in this thread. Much more condensed and bold and letters that seem all together different.

Anyone else still skeptical about whether Matthews is signing his own cards? Personally I’m sufficiently spooked. If anyone has solid proof of Matthews signing like this in person or basically anywhere else please share.