Mickey Mantle Uda Ball - Questionable?

[sammy]

This is a strange Mickey Mantle UDA ball for a couple of reasons.

1) The first one is the autograph itself.

It is unlike ANY Mantle autographed UDA ball I have ever seen.

2) The second very questionable item is the placement of the UDA hologram.

It is ALWAYS placed in between the CUSHIONED CORK CENTER and RO-A stamp.

These are two very questionable items about this ball that would prevent me from placing any bid on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Mickey-Mantle-UDA-Autograph-Auto-Baseball-RARE_W0QQitemZ8759145431QQcategoryZ27260QQssPageNa meZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[trsent]

2) The second very questionable item is the placement of the UDA hologram.

It is ALWAYS placed in between the CUSHIONED CORK CENTER and RO-A stamp.

I used to be a large hobby distributor for Upper Deck Authenticated, and your claim about the placement of the hologram is unfair to the seller. Many UDA baseballs had the hologram placed right below the autograph as seen in the photo in this auction.

You capitalize the word "ALWAYS" and that is not fair to the seller in this auction, because it is not always where you say it is.

I cannot comment on the autograph, I have owned about 50 of these baseballs over the years, and it looks fine to me at a glance, but I really am not an autograph expert. Maybe you should ask the seller for the hologram number to have UDA match the hologram with the item.

Also understand, at one time around 7-8 years ago I had over 1000 UDA autographed baseballs in my inventory, so my comments about the placement of the hologram are based on good facts.

[PAT HODGINS]

Sammy,
Try a 30 second search on Ebay before using the word ALWAYS.
http://cgi.ebay.com/UDA-Nomar-Garcia...QQcmdZViewItem

[sammy]

Been doing this for years too, and I have seen hundreds of UDA Mantle balls. The hologram is always where I stated on Mantle UDA balls.

Newer balls such as the one Pat referred to or other UDA balls that Joel refers too may be different.

I have never seen a Mantle ball with the hologram anywhere but where I stated.

Even if you called UDA with the number, the only thing they can state is that the number is for a Mantle signed ball. They do not have photos to match the holograms from that time period.

[trsent]

Sorry, I can't agree with you on this one. It's like people discussing tagging on game used jerseys - No one cared when placing the location of a hologram as they are not as anal as us about stuff of this nature.

Here's a neat idea about the situation:

If you send an item with a hologram back to UDA when you misplace the COA, they will put a new hologram on the item. Maybe this was an item of this nature.

In the meantime, did you verify that the ball is a Mantle hologram or are you needlessly picking on a seller without doing homework first? I know they only verify the item, but often items are found with holograms that don't match the item in the first place.

[gameused]

Being an avid collector of Mickey Mantle UDA signed items for a number of years now, I would stay away from this ball, I agree with Sammy on the signature, it just does not look right.

Here a good link with some authentic Mantle signatures:

http://www.theswearingens.com/mick/autos.htm

[sammy]

Well, it appears I was right and the ball is questionable.

The auction has been canceled by eBay, after what I assume was notification from Upper Deck.

[both-teams-played-hard]

In the meantime, did you verify that the ball is a Mantle hologram or are you needlessly picking on a seller without doing homework first?

Joel
Would eBay end an auction for a legitimate Mantle autographed ball?
Do you think eBay is "picking" on this seller?

[cardinarky]

TRSENT

Thank you for getting rid of another one!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[sammy]

Cardinarky,


You are very welcome, but the name is Sammy.