Panini found sending out Autopen cards to fulfill redemptions

[Rorschach]

Panini is the exclusive card maker for the NFL and NBA. In the NFL, the one of the hottest young players is Dak Prescott, the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. I get the feeling he's a bit like the Connor McDavid of football but don't quote me on that as I'm not a big follower of that sport.

BGS has reported officially that it has received many Panini official auto'ed Dak cards for grading that had a bogus signature from likely an Autopen. And since that time other players, mostly of lesser stature, have also been discovered having autopenned Panini cards, such as Brian Kelley.

This is a bit reminiscent of UD's issue with minor player Devante-Smith Pelley a few years back, which appeared to be an isolated incident with an insignificant signer.

My opinion is IF the cards came from Prescott's side, you can't blame Panini for their receiving autopenned cards. But you can blame them and their authentication structure for not catching something like that on such a significant player! Additionally, almost immediately after this story came out weeks ago, Panini signed a new autograph agreement with the Dak Prescott camp for him to sign more autos...

...not sure how to interpret that all...other than Panini being a subpar company. It's one thing to have the wrong jersey swatch when all swatches just look like little pieces of cloth, it's quite another to receive a stack of cards from the biggest star in your sport where every auto in the stack is the exact same and signed in the exact same spot...

 

[weasel-king]

I think the safer assumption is that the player did an autopen. That way it is isolated to one person who couldn't keep up with the demand of the contract, fell behind, forgot about it until last minute, whatever.

A far more dangerous angle is that Panini autopenned the sigs themselves.

 

[will-411]

If I recall correctly, it was collectors that brought Devante-Smith Pelley to the attention of Upper Deck.

Regardless, I blame the player, not the company. They don't have time to look through every card. They have an autograph contract with the player that I am sure includes a clause that they are to hand sign them themselves, and not use a mechanical means. If the player ignores that (knowingly or not), it's on the player.

The company could turn around and sue the player for damages (reputation, sales, etc.) but it's far less costly all around to simply make it right by trying to get real hand signed autos in to replace the mechanical ones.

Just read the back of an UD auto card - "This card has been certified to us by a representative of the player depicted as being authentic" or some such... the provenance of the auto is on the player, not the company.

Cory