Unauthorized Outlander Season 1 Tim McInnerny Autographs Surface
By Ryan Cracknell | Hobby Editor
Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Kris Bryant aren’t the only autographs on fire in the hobby at the moment. A handful of key signers in the recently released 2016 Cryptozoic Outlander Season 1 are fetching a lot more than you might expect. This is likely the result of the product tapping into an audience of passionate fans who aren’t traditionally card collectors.
However, there’s one card that’s surfaced that’s not on the checklist. And it wasn’t officially issued by the card maker either.
The signature in question belongs to Tim McInnerny who played Father Bain on the show. Perhaps he’s more recognizable for his work on other shows and films like the live-action 101 Dalmations, Notting Hill and a regular spot on Black Adder.
A single UK-based eBay seller has several listings for the card including some with added doodles.
However, according to Cryptozoic’s George Nadeau, the cards are unauthorized, “Cryptozoic Entertainment has not released any Tim McInnerny autograph cards. Tim McInnerny autograph cards are not part of our Outlander Trading Cards Season 1 set.”
Does that mean the signatures on the cards are fake? Not necessarily.
According to the seller, the cards were acquired in a lot at auction a couple of months back. For whatever reason, they were deemed undeliverable and went unclaimed for an extended period of time. It was only then that they went up for auction, likely part of a bulk lot of miscellaneous items.
The cards themselves do look legit, including the Cryptozoic hologram on the back.
But that doesn’t mean the signatures are real. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t. But because they’re not part of the official product, Cryptozoic won’t vouch for them like they would their other cards.
Comments? Questions? Contact Ryan Cracknell on Twitter @tradercracks.
Cryptozoic needs to do a better job explaining what is going on here or the authenticity of all autos with their hologram, particularly those offered for sale on the secondary market, become questionable.
Yeah a little clarity wouldn’t go astray. So far I speculate:
A) They’re legit, but for some reason Crypto removed them from the release
B) Someone acting as a proxy for McInnergy signed them, and when Crypto found out, they pulled them
C) They were never signed, and eBay guy forged the auto
Will admit comparing to other signed McInnery memorabilia, the auto seems like it lack a lot of subtleties.
How they got out of Crypto’s hands raises further questions
What appears to be the situation, although not confirmed, is that they were likely signed. When they were getting shipped back from Europe, something wasn’t packaged or addressed properly and the shipping service couldn’t return them to whoever sent them on behalf of McTinnerny. They sat and were eventually sold alongside other lost and abandoned things from the shipping service. The seller specializes in selling such things and has a hodge podge of items because of it. When he bought them, they were likely still packaged and he didn’t know what he was getting.
Cryptozoic can’t vouch for the authenticity because they never received the cards back.