Starting at:
We all want to get the best possible autograph on our card. You ever get a card back from signing and you're like, what the hell happened here? The pen is all over the place. The ink sprayed out. It's streaky like crazy. Who do I blame for this? Who can I yell at? We all know, we want to blame the autograph promoter. That's the one you paid for the autograph signing. So naturally we get blamed for it and totally understandable. But often times, we don't control the athlete's hand or the pen, so there's a lot of factors at play. One of them has to do with the surface of your card, especially with modern cards and their glossy surface.
If a card's surface doesn't have anything for the ink to stick to, it's really hard to get a good quality autograph. So how do we fix this problem? Well, we use baby powder. Yes I said that right, baby powder. The stuff you put on our kids' butts. We're going to be using baby powder on our cards.
Why do we do this? Applying a small amount to the surface of a glossy card like Chrome or Prizm, those kinds of cards. will give it some tackiness and the ink something to stick to. In the video you can see I'm using some of these 2021 Topps Chrome soccer cards of this guy, Jared Stroud. Spread the powder all around the cards surface, just like I'm doing here so it looks like Al Pacino's desk in Scarface. Then after you've done that, then take a microfiber towel or heck you can even use your t-shirt and wipe it off. That's it. That's all you have to do. I wouldn't use something rough, like a paper towel. It might scratch your card. Just something very, very smooth to wipe off your card. I went ahead and tested a few sharpies and paint pens on each card. The one on the left has not been prepped with baby powder, and the one on the right has.
You can see how the blue sharpie has some holes in the ink and it's kind of, spread out a bit. Same thing with the black sharpie and also the white paint pen. The ink had nothing really to stick to here and took a long time to dry. Therefore, it kind of spread out like that.
Now take a look at the one of the right. Very clean, right? Ink stayed exactly where it went to on the card. It didn't move. It's dried right where it went on the card. As you can see the autographs on the right are way better than the ones on the left, because there's no streaking for the most part, it's stuck right to the card where you put it.
I would do this if your card is any Chrome or Prizm card. The original cardboard cards, think 1981 Topps or 1986 Fleer. You don't need to put baby powder on those. The cardboard will hold the sharpie autograph perfectly. You don't need to do anything to those cardboard cards. 
If you're unsure if your card needs to be prepped, what I would do is buy a cheaper card from the set, like a $3 card and test a few pens on it. You'll know right away whether or not you need to prep that card. I would be cautious of using baby powder if you plan on getting the card itself graded after the signing. I have no way of knowing how this will affect your surface grade. To the naked eye it doesn't cause any damage to your surface, so don't worry about that. It looks perfect. But then again, I'm not grading any of my cards that I get signed. I don't know what these look like under a scope that PSA is going to use to be able to look at your card surface, so I don't know the full extent of that.
If you are sending in like a few thousand dollar card, that was a PSA 10 and you're getting it signed, I probably wouldn't put baby powder on it just to be on the safe side. I just don't want to lead you down this road and then you send it back in, and you get a PSA five. This is just for cards that we're getting autographed and we're not getting graded.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Overall rating: 4.9 / 5 from 4860 reviews.
Great experience! I had never gotten any autographs through a signing like this before and I had a number of questions. Someone called me right back & couldn’t have been nicer. The customer service was outstanding every step of the way & I couldn’t be happier with the Reggie Jackson autographed ticket.
Nice to have a trading card signed by Wade Boggs in his Yankees uniform. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Nice to have my Rookie Card signed by Manny Ramirez himself. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Nice to have an autograph from Dr. J himself. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Another exceptional autograph experience with Powers! Thanks again!
Great experience once again! From start to finish Powers Sports Memorabilia hit it out of the park on my Ricky Williams Newpapers.
Finally caught the ghost!!!
Great to add another one to the 70 Topps set. Fantastic service!
All hail the Chief!!! Robert Parrish .. 4x NBA champion inscription.. Double 00..
I waited a long time for this one especially being a huge fan of the Showtime era Lakers. Kevin Mchale was a thorn in my side but I have the utmost respect for him and the Celtics.. A great addition to my growing collection..
The Hall of Fame ticket!! Earl Campbell thanks to the team at PSM!! Keep up the good work!!
My new favorite Funko!! #1 … Warren Moon
Nice autograph
The autograph looks great and full
Signature smaller than I requested...
Came out great!
Came out good
PSM always does an excellent job. They took care of my Dream rookie card. I like the fact that when I send my items into PSM I never have to worry about them.
The CJ auto hits for me. Upper Deck, sharp placement, and honestly, it makes my collection much better. Greatly appreciate the auto.
AWESOME
So awesome
Beautiful
Sweet
Beautiful
Great piece
Awesome
Smooth transaction
AWESOME
Beautiful piece of memorabilia!!!
To finally get one of my baseball idols is an absolute dream come true but to get this card with an on card auto really made it all worth the wait! Thank you!!
Excellent service with this signing. Thank you!
Autograph came out great!
Awesome experience as always, I’d highly recommend Powers to anyone looking to expand their sports memorabilia collection!
Once again, Powers Sports came through big time! I had been waiting for many, many years to have this mini helmet signed by Carson Palmer. With special thanks to Natalie and Mathew, they were able to coordinate this endeavor exactly as I wanted it. Excellent autograph, perfectly positioned, using the exact paint pen requested and the C.O.A. sticker positioned right where I wanted it. Thank you folks so very much!
Matt and his team did a great job as usual. I highly recommend power’s!
Always great dealing with Powers. Got to watch Earl Singing on their website. Couldn't be happier with the helmet and the signature. Another perfect purchase. Thanks Powers crew!
I submitted 2 cards for signing by Dennis Rodman and came back very nice but one of the cards corner was damaged when returned back. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
I submitted 2 cards for signing by Hakeem Olajuwon & came back very nice. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Power Sports Memorabilia is the best and always my "go to" autograph company to deal with. They are so accommodating and always get what you want and how you want it !!!! A+ on ALL counts !!!
I wasn't at the convention to be there for his signing. However, he has a killer autograph very happy with this autograph
Your cart is empty.
Roberto
August 26, 2024
Great question by the poster above, David S.