Autograph Authentication Report
1998 Magic: The Gathering Exodus - Illustrator Auto · #72
Findings
Signature comparison
This card. The signature as cropped from the slab photo (front).
Below, the known examples Crown compared it with. Examples with stronger proof (signed in front of staff, or certified by an independent authenticator) carry the most weight.
Feature by feature
| Feature | This card | Known examples | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall form and proportions | Horizontal signature. Tall looped J and 'ff' on the left, a compressed run of 'Laubenstein' in the middle, and a large enclosing oval on the right. Roughly 4–5:1 width to height. | Same tripartite layout in R2, R3, R6, R7 and R8. R4 and R5 are the stacked, legible sketch variant. | Match |
| Slant and baseline | Slight right slant. Baseline roughly level, with the terminal loop rising to the right. | R2, R3, R6 and R8 show the same mild right slant and a rising terminal loop. | Match |
| Letter construction | J opens with a descending loop. 'ff' has long lower loops. 'L' leads into an abbreviated, partly illegible middle. The 'i' dot sits inside the final oval. | Same construction in R2, R3, R6 and R8. The dot inside the final loop is a consistent idiosyncrasy across nearly all exemplars. | Match |
| Connecting strokes | Continuous connections through 'Jeff' and the surname, with the final stroke sweeping into the oval. | R3, R6 and R8 show the same continuous linkage into the oval. | Match |
| Starting and ending strokes | Starts with a looped entry at the left of the J. Ends by closing the large oval back toward the middle of the signature. | R2, R3 and R6 show the same entry loop and closing oval. | Match |
| Line quality and speed | Strokes appear fluid with smooth curves. No visible tremor or hesitation at this resolution. | Fast, fluid execution in R2, R3, R6 and R8. | Match |
| Pen pressure pattern | Broad black marker line with a pink/red halo along both edges of every stroke. Pressure variation is hard to read because of the marker width. | References show single-colour marker or pen with no halo. | Not assessable |
| Spacing | Tight compression in the surname. | Similar compression in R2, R3, R6 and R8. | Match |
| Flourishes and underlines | Large terminal oval with an enclosed dot. No underline. | Terminal oval with dot is present in R2, R3, R5, R6 and R8. | Match |
| Placement and size | Large, across the lower text box and flavour text, overlapping the card's printing. | R8, the same card title, shows a large signature over the card face. Playmat signatures R3 and R7 are large and overlap the art. | Natural variation |
| Ink and colour treatment | Black core line with a pink/red outline following the stroke edges. | No reference shows a two-tone or outlined signature. | Not assessable |
Examiner notes
The card is a 1998 Exodus printing, but the signature was clearly applied much later. Its form matches Laubenstein's modern looping signature seen in the dated references: R4 (2017), R6 (2021) and R5 (2023). Those show a looped J descender, compressed 'Laubenstein' and a large terminal oval enclosing a dot. Ours most likely dates from roughly the 2017–2023 convention and mail-in period. R4 and R5 show a slower, more legible variant used on sketches. R2, R3, R6 and R8 show the fast, abbreviated variant that ours matches.
How Crown authenticates autographs: the signature is compared with known examples gathered from Crown's own authenticated cards, independent authenticators and public listings, measured by software, examined by an AI forensic model, and signed off by Crown Grading staff. The decision above is Crown's.
