Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Every stamping is obscured in the palm of this glove with oil and dirt. . . .except. . . . Is Dick Stump still around/
http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIG-VINTAGE-EDDIE- ... 500wt_1182

Joe, I am seeing this on alot of gloves recently. It was something that was big back in the early 90's with the advent of the silver/gold sharpies. It came back about a year ago on many gloves that are rated excellent to mint that are on ebay and even local auctions

I bet that glove never had silver in the stampings even when it was new. How can the signature be so sharp but the other stampings on the front have no trace of silver what so ever?

they shelaced it the day they got it

One of the questions asked by a potential bidder.

Q: Why is the Collins stamping so white? has it been enhanced? Thanks Feb-18-10

A: Hi, Thank you for letter. I guarantee you that this glove has not been enhanced or tampered with in any way. The Collins stamping is bright because I do not think this glove was used much. There is almost no scuffing on the reverse or on the fingers. The slight "blackness" to the front is probably from glove oil that was applied when the glove was first used -- back in the day! Best Regards


So I guess the seller is saying that all the other markings, under the "blackness", faded due to the oiling of the glove. Yet, even though there is "blackness" completely surrounding the signature, it remained unaffected. AMAZING! I have got to learn that oiling technique.

I would say that this neophyte seller either has his pants on fire or got the glove that way. hope no one gets stung with this glove.

I did get a fair and candid response to my question to the seller about "enhancement" . If anyone is close enough to him in New York might help him out because he's asking for assistance.
I did tell him to look at the stamping under a high power magnifier to see if the ink ran outside of the stamping.
Hi,
Thanks for your letter. First, I have to tell you that I never even
heard of "enhancing a signature"; but I guess as with all other
antiques and collectibles people try to fake them.
For the past half hour I have been looking at this signature, and
taking into consideration what you said about the oil would
make sense -- but I have to say that the signature still looks like
it is has the age! I wish I lived close to let you "eyeball" this
glove. Do you think if I sent you a close up shot of the signature
you could tell better? If you want send me your Email and I will
send it out.
I found this glove in a closet while I was cleaning out a storage
bin in the basement of an apartment house; I asked the
superintedent if I could have it, and he gave it to me. I was the
first person to go in that bin for at least 30 years. May be
someone touched in the 70s? - but I really do not think so; and I
know I did not do anything to the glove except dust it off a little.
I really do not know what to say? I would really like to know who
is right here! Would you have any suggestions? Do you know
anyone here in the NYC area I could show the glove to?
Best Regards

The seller replies that "I found this glove in a closet while I was cleaning out a storage bin in the basement of an apartment house; I asked the superintedent if I could have it, and he gave it to me."


In the auction description he states that "This glove was just purchased from a local estate and is in really great condition."


Am i the only one confused....which wouldn't be the first time? It is good that he seems to want to actually find out if the signature as been enhanced or not. If I was the seller, and my reserve has not been reached, I would end the auction and find out if the signature is original or has been tampered with Of course on the other hand, it may not matter to a potential buyer.

Just my two cents......

"Purchased from an estate" is a more enticing than "I found it in a closet". The "estate" description appears a lot on Ebay listings. Perhaps it's a form of writers embellishment.

The Seller has sent me closeups of the Collins signature. To me it appears a very good air brush rendition but there's overlaps in the stamping indention and cracks in the "painted" area that should be there.
The logo under the same original oil treatment is virtually obscure.
If anyone would like to see the closeups, I can email them to you for second opinions. I just emailed the seller my thoughts on this. He apparently is trying to be honest and above board.
Contact me at my p m email glovecollector@mac.com for the closeup images.
Joe

That really is a puzzler to me. The signature does look too perfect, but we've all seen gloves that have wear or grime in the pocket that hasn't obscured the signature on the heel. And by the looks of the back of the glove, I don't think it saw much hard play. The camera flash usually makes the silver stampings look nicer than they really are, also. Still, it does look too perfect. Embellished or not, if I had the horses, I'd go for it!

the auction has been cancelled

the reason given

"Due to a question of signature, many different opinions, best to remove item"

so in the end he did the right thing

or, he got an offer he couldn't refuse. just kidding. glad this seller took input from people in a respectful way - good job Joe.

I stayed in contact with the seller all the way and sent out the closeups of the signature to various glove specialists with a virtual unanimous vote as "enhanced." The seller seems like a nice champ who was genuinely interested in what happened to the glove. I believe his story as to how he acquired it. But, somewhere along the line, someone got the idea for the glove that it would look better if the signature had the silver or white ink redone period. We've all wished that our stamped signatures looked better but the alternative for our hobby would be one of disaster. There's only so far one can go with improving the stamping on our gloves and certainly, if it is done, to sell it as represented that way. Even that bodes problems down the line. Still, a hat's off to this Collins seller.