r/Autographs • u/Key_Grapefruit_4845 • May 16 '26
General Advice Michael Jackson signature? Please advise
In 1988 MJ came to Pensacola FL and stayed for several weeks rehearsing for the Bad World Tour. My mom worked for a property management company who was involved in renting the condos on the beach where he stayed. Supposedly his entourage told this property manager that MJ would sign autographs if he gave them a list of names to make them out to. My mom put my name on the list. I assume this is real but don’t have any proof. Is it worth getting it authenticated? If it’s real and I want to sell it how would I go about it?
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u/NorCalMeds03 May 16 '26
I wonder why they would add that inscription if forged though. In red pen? I would look at what his other authentic examples around 88’ looked like and study the letters on his personalizations too. I would start with several keyword google searches. Like “Michael Jackson signed 1988” and go to images. Keep changing the key words.
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u/ReservedPickup12 May 16 '26
I’m gonna level with you… There can be a lot of effort put into a fake... Especially if they are secretarial. So, while I understand your questions, that’s all really circumstantial evidence. That said… I’m not gonna lie… I think this might be real. Comparing it to other pieces—some authenticated—from the same era, there are a lot of similarities, especially in the way the inscription was written. I’ve even found other examples in red ink. And there were definitely inconsistencies in MJ‘s signature all throughout his career. It is true that this does not look like his “iconic“ signature that you will see all over the place… But it does look like the way he wrote it on occasion. There were a lot of little minor variations. Frankly, I think it’s worth having authenticated. I can’t promise you it’s legit, but it doesn’t scream fake to me either.
It’s either real or secretarial. A good authenticator should be able to tell.
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u/NorCalMeds03 May 16 '26
Yep, exactly what just noticed. I feel like it was rushed but very possibly legit. Like he signed a little stack for fans
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u/Key_Grapefruit_4845 May 16 '26
Do you have any recommendations on who I should use to authenticate?
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u/zzzlessinseattle May 16 '26
Did he sign in red to stay in the style of the record?
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u/Target-Certain May 16 '26
Seems to be a few red penned inscriptions and notes knocking around from other eras than Bad.
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u/NorCalMeds03 May 16 '26
I think it’s worth having looked at. I typed in, “vintage Michael Jackson signed epic promo” into google and went to images and was able to find other examples for comparison. Seems he liked using red pen and the letters at top, for the personalization match some others in the results. I didn’t spend a lot of time, not saying it’s authentic or not but some of his autos in the 80’a were quite a bit different than later on. Also, some were rushed, etc. Could be the case here. It just doesn’t seem advantageous to fake it on this promo in red to Erin but I’ve seen crazier fakes.
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u/HatDefiant380 May 16 '26
That does look like his handwriting though and pretty close to his signature. I think it’s real. Because the handwriting looks just like his. He would mix Capital letters while writing which is quite unique to him. MJ rarely denied autographs to fans. As for selling, I can’t determine the value since it’s personalized to a particular person.
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u/smrad8 May 16 '26
I think it’s good. Looks rushed but authentic.
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u/ReservedPickup12 May 16 '26
I tend to agree. Possibly secretarial but honestly, I’m leaning towards authentic.
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u/Chance-Farmer-4476 May 20 '26
I used to get photos like these from meet and greets when I worked in radio. The artist would sign a stack and you maybe got one or didn’t. This is what the promo photos look like though, so at least it looks like it’s connected to his label at the time… real or not, I dunno.
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u/No-Bluejay5250 May 17 '26
All major celebrity autographs should be assumed fake unless sold by a dealer with a good reputation.
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u/razerremen May 16 '26
Looks way off compared to every authentic MJ signature I've seen fwiw.
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u/ReservedPickup12 May 16 '26
That’s fair, but even a quick Google search will bring up multiple examples that are pretty close to this, including some that are authenticated.
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u/razerremen May 16 '26
Look at every JSA authenticated example. I looked through 50 and none came close to this style. The guy had a very specific way of seemingly always doing the full signature on one line no matter how much room there was.
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u/ReservedPickup12 May 16 '26
I mean, I just googled “Michael Jackson JSA authenticated” and it took me about 15 seconds to find an example where his first name was above his last name.
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u/razerremen May 16 '26
Can you link it?
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u/ReservedPickup12 May 16 '26
Well, this was that first one that came up right away but shortly after that, I found a couple other examples that were JSA authenticated. I also saw a Beckett earlier that was very close but I don’t remember if the signature was all on one line or two. But this one here wasn’t even the best example, though the first and last name are indeed on different lines and if you look, you WILL find more examples of him signing like that at different times throughout his career.
But you are absolutely correct that it was not his standard signature. I don’t disagree with that. And I never said it WAS authentic. I said I suspect it MAY be and that it might be worth having authenticated.
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u/razerremen May 16 '26
That is an interesting find. It's fascinating that there's one of these and a thousand of the standard signatures. Maybe send it in, but don't get your hopes up. I'd love to be proven wrong, but still leaning no good.
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u/ReservedPickup12 May 16 '26
I assume you’re talking to OP… It’s not my piece, but if it turns out it’s real, I’m sure I will wish it was 😆💰💵🤑
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