Question about getting white paneled footballs signed?

[predatorkj]

I have a few of these that are still holding quite well. None of them were obtained by me but rather, they were prizes I won during giveaways at certain Houston Texans events. Now, I've noticed that the three that I have that are holding well are all signed in a thicker type of pen/marker. The thickness would either be a king size sharpie or a chisel tip. But honestly, I doubt that they were signed with a sharpie at all. Reason being, I have had three other footballs that were white paneled that I know for a fact were signed with a sharpie and they faded so bad it made me want to scream. One was an Andre Johnson, the other was a Matt Schaub. The last one was a team ball that had about 15 people on it. All different colors. All of these were kept right next to each other and all were obtained within 6 months of each other. The three that appear to be in a thicker marker/pen held great. The other three, not at all. Which leads me to believe the three good ones were signed with either a paint pen or something non-sharpie. Maybe even just the bigger tp sharpies were used but the ink is way too bold and thick looking IMO to be a sharpie in any format.

My question is, has anyone nailed down a good pen to use on these? I'm needing something that doesn't smear very easily. The white paneled stuff has a very slick hide so it almost makes getting it signed with a normal paint pen out of the question. If I was only getting one guy to sign it, then yeah, I'd be cool with that. But I'm talking about mass handling of the ball because of the way they run the autograph line at training camp. There is no way in hell it will be able to be carefully handled from one guy to the next. I've seen major problems with a normal football so I can only imagine a slick hide white paneled one. But I also want to use something that won't fade. I'm not going for a full size or even a mini. I won't be there enough days to justify a full size helmet and a mini won't be big enough. I really like the way a white panel looks, especially with a ton of autos but I do not want to go get something that will not last.

 

[PujolsCollector]

Could you possibly use a very very very fine grit sandpaper to rough it up a little, then use a paintpen.
You should by 5-6 paint pens and just see what dries the quickest.
I would figure that they are not going to pass the pen down so you may end up with sharpie on there also.


THIS HAS NOT BEEN TESTED BY ME. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY THIS.

 

[predatorkj]

Okay...at training camp, I can almost guarantee you that the ball will be handled very badly and will be pressed onto a table where players have cold drinks put in front of them and are basically dripping sweat like you wouldn't believe. This will be my 4th one so I have never seen a deviation from how it goes. My silver sharpie on the regular authentic replica never really had a problem. No sig smeared whatsoever. If I were only getting one player to sign, I'd go paint pen all the way. But with a bunch of them, it's impossible. They just flat out don't pay attention. I'm not worried about it not getting signed with my pen as they have never been bad about that. Ever.

As for roughing it up a little, it still has to have time to dry. An authentic football is rough as hell and they even need time to dry with a paint pen. No matter what, it has to be able to dry. Not really an option when you have like 15 players signing one after another and you are being rushed down the line.

I guess my real idea is there are a couple of major graphers that do football and I was thinking one of them may know of a pen or marker that would be suitable. I mean, even a sharpie can smear. But they dry quicker than paint. I need something quick drying like sharpie but unlike sharpie, I need it to keep from fading. I've heard of this SRX marker but I'm not aware of how it would hold up in due time on a white panel. I've never bothered to do a white panel after the one I started actually faded so...from that point on, I've always done a regular football, cards, or mini/full size helmets. I guess I got scared away and never bothered trying anythign else. And it's hard to find anyone locally that knows anything because all the hardcore guys do photofiles or helmets. I guess it sounds kinda wrong but it seems you can tell who has been at it a while and who hasn't because it always seems the new people are the ones getting white paneled stuff signed and you never see them again so it's hard to ever ask them how it's holding up. Nobody else I know will touch the white panels.

 

[tikitomoka]

Don't use whitepanels period. Do helmets.

 

[PujolsCollector]

We have a team signed Rams ball from 01 signed in black that has not seen sunlight and it is fine. We have a Kurt Warner ball signed in black that has been ***** by the sun for years in the sun and that one is about done.

 

[predatorkj]

Don't use whitepanels period. Do helmets.

Normally I would but I'm getting a wee bit tired of doing the same thing over and over again. I'd really like to get a white panel signed. So in your opinion, there is absolutely no other pen/marker to use that won't fade?

 

[predatorkj]

We have a team signed Rams ball from 01 signed in black that has not seen sunlight and it is fine. We have a Kurt Warner ball signed in black that has been ***** by the sun for years in the sun and that one is about done.

Anything left in the sun will fade.

 

[tikitomoka]

Don't use whitepanels period. Do helmets.

Normally I would but I'm getting a wee bit tired of doing the same thing over and over again. I'd really like to get a white panel signed. So in your opinion, there is absolutely no other pen/marker to use that won't fade?

As far as I know, that's correct. I wouldn't risk it.

 

[the1mcjensen]

all of mine are stored in the closet and some fade, some dont. i cant figure out the rhyme or reason to it. but i dont think i will be doing them anymore, probably gonna sell them all to make room for helmets.

 

[predatorkj]

Okay...well maybe it's not the best idea then. Paint pen might be the only way to avert it and after seeing them the last few camps, the paint pen would get murdered unless it was a one player deal. I guess I'll either buy a couple of minis or just one normal football.