Player autographs changing over time

[warr10r]

I've collected Marian Hossa and Jay Bouwmeester over time and noticed how their autos have changed from when they were young players.

Here is Hossa's 1999-00 SP Authentic Sign of the Times. This was his second full season in the league and he put more effort into his auto


By 2003-04, his auto looks like a few wavy lines. 2003-04 UD Premier Collection Signatures


Jay Bouwmeester was a prominent prospect featured in CHL products in the early 2000s
Here is a very early autograph of his from 1999-00 UD Prospects Signatures of Tradition, 3 years before making his NHL debut


While I don't consider this as dramatic of a change, here is what his autograph looks like after two years in the NHL. 2004-05 SP Authentic Sign of the Times


Does anyone have other examples of players changing their autos over time from your collections?

[Savard18]

Wow, I was actually going to start a similar thread because the other day I was looking at my Maxime Comtois Rookie Authentics Auto, and then I decided to look up other Comtois Auto's and his auto/signature is absolutely all over the place, I mean he either has the most inconsistent signature ever or he's having someone else sign his his cards for him..

Here is an example:




Sorry for the crappy pic but my phone was running low on juice so it couldn't produce a flash... But yea, IMO these two auto's look completely different.

[creasecollector]

It happens, yeah. Sometimes for the worst and sometimes for the better.

[volkov956]

I think how upper deck require so many autos especially in rookie years is making them churn them out without as much care from the signer I don't blame them just sp authentic is 999 mininun autos now add trilogy, series 1-2, opc platinum, trilogy, black diamond and etc how many autos and what are we talking ?$? dollar a signature

But yes autos change over time if you even look at 80 Inperson to 90 IP

[WillyC]

John Tavares... started signing when he was only 15.

I noticed Upper Deck used a signature style from a young John Tavares on one of their MVP 2021 cards.

[30ranfordfan]

There's a lot of (modern) players where their autograph has "degraded" over the years. I really believe it's simply because of volume.

When these guys are rookies, they end up signing 1000s of cards for UD, and I'd imagine are sick of it by the time they're done .They're not paid much to do it, either. Combine that with in person autograph request (at least back in normal times), fanmail, public appearances, paid signings, etc: These guys end up signing their names 1000s of times a year. The probably spend way more time than they want to signing autographs, and they find ways to quicken the whole process (plus make it easier on their hands).

[Savard18]

There's a lot of (modern) players where their autograph has "degraded" over the years. I really believe it's simply because of volume.

When these guys are rookies, they end up signing 1000s of cards for UD, and I'd imagine are sick of it by the time they're done .They're not paid much to do it, either. Combine that with in person autograph request (at least back in normal times), fanmail, public appearances, paid signings, etc: These guys end up signing their names 1000s of times a year. The probably spend way more time than they want to signing autographs, and they find ways to quicken the whole process (plus make it easier on their hands).

Yea I think about that occasionally whenever I'm looking for an auto on eBay and I see dozens and dozens of different auto's from the same player - it's like how many cards do these guys sign a day? and remember it's the same every year so I cant really blame Upper Deck for using auto stickers because it's practical for both the player and Upper Deck..

Also, I wonder if players are allowed to keep a couple copies of their card for themselves?? I mean I would imagine that there are quite a few players that are collectors too... I believe Mike Greer is involved in the hobby.. Obviously these guys are getting some form of compensation. Look, I know if I was in their position I would make it part of my contract that I get compensated in cards, lol - I get a case of every product my auto is featured in or no deal, lol.... Seriously that would be pretty cool..

[creasecollector]

Also, I wonder if players are allowed to keep a couple copies of their card for themselves?? I mean I would imagine that there are quite a few players that are collectors too... I believe Mike Greer is involved in the hobby.. Obviously these guys are getting some form of compensation. Look, I know if I was in their position I would make it part of my contract that I get compensated in cards, lol - I get a case of every product my auto is featured in or no deal, lol.... Seriously that would be pretty cool..

I've heard Carey Price keeps some of his rarer autographed cards when he does a signing. Not always, but some cards /10 he might snag one for himself. I am sure other players have done that as well over the years, especially the rookies.

I've also heard of UD throwing a player a batch of their own Young Guns for a keepsake.

In a more 'famous' case, didn't Lebron James keep one of his autographed Logoman 1/1's and give it to a friend? I'm not sure, but I think I heard that somewhere.

[30ranfordfan]

Yea I think about that occasionally whenever I'm looking for an auto on eBay and I see dozens and dozens of different auto's from the same player - it's like how many cards do these guys sign a day? and remember it's the same every year so I cant really blame Upper Deck for using auto stickers because it's practical for both the player and Upper Deck..

Also, I wonder if players are allowed to keep a couple copies of their card for themselves?? I mean I would imagine that there are quite a few players that are collectors too... I believe Mike Greer is involved in the hobby.. Obviously these guys are getting some form of compensation. Look, I know if I was in their position I would make it part of my contract that I get compensated in cards, lol - I get a case of every product my auto is featured in or no deal, lol.... Seriously that would be pretty cool..

I would think "yes" in some cases, and "no" in others. If a card is serial numbered to 999, then UD needs to make sure there are 999 copies inserted into packs. Giving them a big stack of their Young Guns RC (or something similar) probably does happen. I think it used to be common place that OPC would send guys a box of their RCs, when they finally got one.

Some players are for sure involved in the hobby. I recall reading that Patrick Roy has a hockey card collection that would dwarf most of the collections out there (not specifically of himself). I've sold a card to Georges Laraque... it was a triple autograph card, but one of the players was Laraque. It was fairly rare, I suspect he collects his own cards.

[creasecollector]

Georges Laraque defintely collects a lot of his own stuff.

He recently posted a picture on his Instagram holding one of his very own new Box Filler Inserts from UD Series 2.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2TbVanYWa/

My cousin who's currently in the NHL has a few of his own cards, too. Plus our family, obviously.