Head of Beckett Grading Responds to Dak Prescott Panini Autograph Card Recall
By Ryan Cracknell | Hobby Editor
Some inconsistencies with Dak Prescott’s signatures in the 2016 Panini Prizm Football caused them to be flagged by the Beckett Grading staff and now some in transit to collectors have been recalled by the card maker.
When the first 2016 Panini Prizm Dak Prescott autographs were received by BGS, staff noticed that something was off as the cards appeared to have been signed by an autopen or some form of mechanical means. Beckett Authentication’s Steve Grad noticed inconsistencies as well and the problem was brought to the attention of Panini.
In the following days, collectors who previously received notifications that their Dak Prescott autographs were on the way had their packages recalled by Panini before they arrived. These cards were being mailed because they were inserted in packs as redemptions.
“We were excited as the first wave of Dak Prescott autographed redemption cards started to come into the office but quickly noticed the autographs didn’t match up to what we had seen in the past,” said Jeromy Murray, Vice President, Beckett Grading & Authentication Services. “We know that autographs are not always going to look the same but these just didn’t look right to us so we had our autograph authentication guys (BAS) take a look at the signatures.
“They quickly agreed that these did not look like authentic Dak Prescott signatures. The signatures looked to be from an autopen machine, simply based on the uniformed, non-flowing look we have seen from authentic Dak signatures in the past. We alerted the team at Panini America immediately so they could address it with Dak’s representatives and the NFL Players Association.”
Grad has also addressed the in-question autographs with ESPN’s Darren Rovell.
Currently, not many of the affected cards have made their way to the secondary market. A limited number of Gold Vinyl and Pink parallels, plus a couple of dual-signed cards with other players are the ones drawing attention. The extent of the issue is not yet known. Cards signed earlier in the season appear to have no issues.
This is the second time in recent months that football players have submitted autographs to Panini that have come into question. In early May, the card maker recalled Takkarist McKinley autographs from 2017 Elite Draft Picks and 2017 Panini Contenders Draft Picks after it was discovered he didn’t sign all of the autographs himself.
We have reached out to Panini and will update when we hear back from them. Karen Austin, the Assistant Vice President of Licensing at the NFLPA had no comment on the situation at this time.
Comments? Questions? Contact Ryan Cracknell on Twitter @tradercracks.
Let’s see…he knows he is one of the hottest auto’s out there, he is adored by millions, and he already got paid by Panini to sign. How could he possibly think he is above taking the time to actually sign cards???
Here we go again Panini. You guys took over the market and can’t seem to get anything right. Ruining the hobby IMO!!!
Another reason why stickers are not a good idea. Hard signed cards are the way to go, I know they are not exempt from, thank you Devante Smith-Pelly, but it does help. This also hurts collectors who have been waiting months for a card now have to wait longer.
@Ken The Prescott cards are all on-card, not stickers.
I’m sure that this happens more then has been revealed by the card companies. Pretty much the only solution to this, is to have the trading card representatives be present for the autographs that are signed by the player. I’m sure that if it happens, and representatives will witness the autos, then the prices inevitably will go up.
Total lack of respect for the fans and the card companies that pay this guys. If you don’t want to sign then don’t take the money.
Someone should verify what other players are represented by agent Jeff Guerreiro and marketing agent Peter Miller. I cannot believe the autopen was Dak’s idea.
I assume this is a breach of contract, and Prescott will be fired from Panini. That might stop these lazy people from not signing things. Seriously. How can anyone be that unsure of himself? I’m a teacher. If you did this in my class, you’d fail the class. If you pushed it, you’d be kicked out of college. Maybe he forgot how to spell “Dak”.
What a shame … it’s going to be difficult to trust Panini with autographs ever again. The company still hasn’t responded to this situation, either. It’s disappointing that collectors have no other options for NFL cards. We could sure use a Topps football product right about now.
I have to be honest. This is Paninis fault. Blame panini. I doubt Dak even knows. Let me explain some things. 1st off. The dual auto shown has a sticker auto on top and daks auto on bottom however daks is on card. Now lets play devils advocate dak did it? Well think of this. I just heard panini is doing impeccable basketball this year. They flood the market! Sad sad panini Canada I tell ya. Let’s also note the company who writes on back of every autograph “the authograph is guaranteed by panini America” or how it was witnessed by a panini representative. Prob the same rep who monitored Paul Perkins Jordan Howard contenders! Stop flooding the maket NOW!!! It’s a matter of time before pitchers and qb’s blame panini for carpel tunnell. Jeez. Enough is enough. This is my first post ever but it needed to be said. In my opinion flawless sucked this year it seemed just as rushed as the transcendent topps put out so this sure isn’t a topps panini bias’ in my rant!
I have received the Dak & Kenneth autographed card last week what should I do with the card now?
@Michael You may want to give Panini a call.
Good on you Steve, you are the best. Shame, shame shame on you Dak. Agent will be blamed, you watch.
Well I received the pink Dak Prescott auto redemption a couple of weeks ago from panini, I listed it on ebay and sold it, well guess what now that it has come out as non authentic, the buyer filed with paypal and ebay saying the card is a fake and lo and behold the money in my paypal account is gone, so I amy end up with no card and no money, thanks panini, they need to make this right for me. any suggestions ?
and I have tried calling and emailing dozens of times, I can’t get anybody to return my calls or email.
This is and isn’t Panini’s fault.
It is because on the back it says that “autographs are witnessed by a Panini representive” Who is that representive? Name that representive on the card.
It isn’t because they trusted Dak, to be honest and sign the cards.
This another serious blow to the industry.
@Jim – Totally agree!!! I didn’t trust Panini to begin with. And, no company should have a monopoly on any sport’s trading cards, and this is coming from a long-time UD fan and hockey card collector.
@ryan why do they have sticker auto for Dixon but dak on card on a dual ? Makes no sense.
@H2H I’ve heard a couple of people say he won’t sign stickers.
I pulled a Dak auto from 2016 Prizm Draft picks…I haven’t seen any reports on cards from this set so I’m thinking I’m probably safe. It was also an early set with college unis, before Dak became as popular as he has.
@Matt Only a handful of different redemptions from Prizm are the issue at the moment.
@ryan i have for example his gala was sticker and score i mean than again thats when d4k was still just some 3rd stringer named dak
It’s possible he signed some stickers then decided it wasn’t his thing.
That’s great! I received Two Pink Prizm Dak Auto redemptions in the mail. Now I will need to send them back to Panini because they are not authentic. One point is The statement on the back of the card says ” guaranteed ” Humm! Totally looking bad for Panini and I’m sick of all these redemptions. Still waiting on 5 more Dak redemptions to receive. Totally bummed out Panini, thanks for wasting my time.
i wonder if he used it on other lines and it just wasnt caught till now
Prizm is the only product with questionable autographs.
I have the dak and dixon auto mine has a sticker and is number 01/99…. is this a autopen or real auto???
It doesn’t have a 4 in the auto
@Chris — Your best bet would be to check with Panini.