Press Pass Does The Right Thing

On occasion questionable autographs have been released in sets and normally the only way that collectors find out about it is when fellow collectors begin to question the authenticity of the autographs, which will usually lead to a buzz in the blogosphere. If/when a card company steps in it is under quieted tones and the unlucky collector who pulled the card is compensated but often required to sign a disclosure agreement and agree to remain quiet about the entire situation.

Press Pass has taken a very different stance on the subject. Last week the 2012 Ignite NASCAR set was released and a number of collectors noticed something off with Brad Keselowski’s autograph on the Ignite Ink auto/relic cards, his autograph on each card appeared exactly the same. It turns out that the autograph sheets were signed using an autopen.

Press Pass has acknowledged the error and promised to correct the situation for collectors who have pulled the card. They are re-printing the cards which will be rebuilt with a swatch from one of his fire-suits and a verified autograph sticker. Additionally they will send each collector a retail box of 2012 Ignite Racing and they will have their name entered in to a drawing for a chance to win a trip for 2 to an upcoming NASCAR race.

A handful of these cards have shown up on eBay, the last few to sell have been in the $5-15 range, once the replacement cards begin to show up I wonder how the prices will be affected for the autopen versions versus the authentic autographed versions. I would expect that any of the serial numbered cards would be replaced with the exact same serial number so that two of the same numbered cards would be out and about.

I have included images of three different cards and you can see that the autographs are exactly the same with each card.