Consistent Penmanship

Every so often I compile some of my favorite players autographs and examine how their signature changes over the years. Here is a link to Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen.  For Walker and Cutch both signatures got shorter as they got more established as professionals.  That is to be expected since demand goes way up.  Walker's change was a little more subtle while Cutch was more on the extreme end.

This time around I thought it would be cool to look at an older player.  Let's take a look at the Mad Dog, Bill Madlock.

Most of these autos are from the mid 2000's.  I would say he was very consistent.  Here is a much more recent auto.

A little more sloppy for the latest auto I have from Madlock in 2013.  This could be more of a product of signing tons of stickers at once or just writing getting sloppier as someone gets older.  My guess is signing a bunch of stickers at once.

Overall his signature remains consistent and above average for many of his peers.

Thanks for reading.

Autograph Evolution (Neil Walker)

This is the second time I've shown how autographs progress over the years. The first installment was Andrew McCutchen which changed quite a bit. Neil doesn't sign near as much as Cutch so the auto stayed a little more consistent. 

The first three autos were signed in the 2004-05 time frame. Not a bad signature as you can make out most of the letters.  Piazza is all over the place. If you are wondering about the combo on the triple auto, Walker was drafted as a catcher in the first round of 2004.

This is where the auto starts to get a little faster and sloppier. The rest of these autos were signed around 2012. You went from being able to make out most of Neil to only getting a the "N" and something resembling an "i". The Walker aspect gets longer than the earlier versions, but you can't make out near as much. Pretty much only the "W" and and "L" are legible. Neil was more established by this time and probably had a lot more autograph obligations.

Neil stayed pretty consistent on the higher end releases. Most are sticker autos so they were most likely signed at the same time.

I'm hoping Neil gets some new autos as he really hasn't had much since 2012. While his signature did get quicker I don't consider it terrible.  On the scale of Wil Myers to the perfect auto I would put Neil somewhere in the middle.

Have a nice weekend.

Autograph Evolution (Andrew McCutchen)

After a month of work mayhem that included me going in on the weekends, I finally had time to mess with my cards. Between organization and blogging it was the most love they've gotten since before Christmas. It's the little things in life!

Also as an extra bonus my wife kicked me out of the house to get some "me" time today. That usually includes me going up to Target to buy some cards. This time around I was able to get some 2015 Topps blasters. I also ate some unhealthy food and drank a beer at one of my favorite bars in town. Got to check out a documentary about the 1980 USSR Olympic hockey team. Quality alone time!

Back to blog business...

When looking through my McCutchen autos I thought it would be neat to show a progression of how his autos have changed over the years. Check this out.

 2005 Bowman Sterling Auto/Jersey

 2005 Bowman Heritage Red Auto /51

2007 Bowman Auto

In the early Cutch autos he would sign most of the name. This is probably due to the fact that he really didn't have many releases. At this time he had the three shown above plus a Topps Chrome and Aflac rookie. I'm only missing the Aflac version. It is by far his most rare and expensive release.

 2009 Upper Deck SPX Auto

The auto starts to get a little faster in 2009. You can see the first name shortened and the last name is rather sloppy. This 2009 SPX card took me a while to track down.  I don't think I actually bought it until 2011.

 2010 Allen & Ginter Auto

As Cutch made his debut in 2009 his auto demand went way up. Thus the shortened version of his auto was born. All things considered it is not a bad auto considering the length of his name and the amount of times he has to sign. Much sharper than the 2009 version.

This A&G card is one of my favorites in my collection.

 2011 Topps Marquee Auto/Jersey/Patch /70

He tends to keep his stickers and on card autos pretty close. 

 2012 Topps Museum Collection Auto /299

On card version.

2014 Donruss Series 2 Auto

This is the newest auto I have, although it was probably signed a few years back since it is a sticker. It has been a while since Andrew has singed anything on card.

Kind of neat to see how things change as a guy gets more popular. Time permitting I would like to do this with some of the other Pirates.

Thanks for reading!