Autograph Authentication Report

Gengar & Pikachu

2025 SMZ Comics - Artist Auto - Eddie Nuñez · #46

Authenticated Crown Grading · reviewed Oct 31, 2026

Findings

Signer: Eddie Nuñez
Autograph: Signed directly on the card, front side
Handwriting: Matches the known signatures it was compared with. (8 known signatures)
Printed or copied?: No halftone or dot pattern is visible in the crop at this resolution. Edges look like marker strokes, and there is no obvious uniform ink density or tremor. The dashed terminal is more consistent with marker skip on metal than with a print, because a print would normally show clean, repeatable edges. However, R1 shows the same design with a pink signature in a similar position. A reviewer should overlay R1 and our signature: an exact geometric match would indicate a print, while natural differences (the dash pattern, letter proportions) support hand-signing. A loupe check for ink sitting on top of the card's coating is required.
Decision: Authenticated by Crown Grading after staff review.

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.

R1Less weight

manufacturer (SMZ Comics COA; unauthenticated eBay listing, weak source)

Crown (reviewed)
Crown cert 000069607

Crown (reviewed)
Crown cert 000069605

Crown-authenticated card
Crown cert 000069606

Crown-authenticated card
Crown cert 000059935

Crown-authenticated card
Crown cert 000059934

Crown-authenticated card
Crown cert 000059933

Crown-authenticated card
Crown cert 000059932

Feature by feature

Feature	This card	Known examples	Result
Overall form and proportions	Short 'Nu' + small 'i' form. The tall N is the dominant element and the trailing letters are compressed and smaller.	Same short form in R1, R5, R6, R7 and R8, with a tall N dominating and small trailing letters. R2–R4 show the longer variant.	Match
Slant and baseline	Moderate right slant on the N verticals. The baseline rises slightly left to right, ending in a long up-right flourish.	Same moderate right slant and rising terminal flourish in R1, R5–R8.	Match
Letter construction	N built as a long upstroke, sharp apex, downstroke, then a second upstroke. Narrow pointed 'u'. Short 'i' crossed by the terminal stroke.	Same N construction (sharp apex, angular joins) and crossed 'i'/terminal in R1, R6 and R7. R8 shows the same angular u.	Match
Connecting strokes	N connects continuously into u. The terminal flourish is a separate stroke crossing the end letters.	Continuous N–u connection and a separate crossing flourish in R1, R5, R6 and R7.	Match
Starting and ending strokes	Starts low at the N's left leg with no visible blunt start. The flourish ends in a tapered, broken/dashed line toward the upper right.	References show similar low starts and tapered flick endings. R1's flourish is continuous rather than dashed.	Natural variation
Line quality and speed	Strokes look fluent with sharp apices and no visible tremor or hesitation at this resolution. The terminal stroke is interrupted into dashes.	Fluent, fast paint-marker strokes in all references.	Natural variation
Pen pressure pattern	Near-uniform width typical of a paint marker, with thinning at the terminal.	Same paint-marker profile in R5–R8. Pressure variation is minimal in all.	Match
Spacing	Tight letter spacing after the N, with the trailing letters crowded under the flourish.	Same tight spacing in R1, R6 and R7.	Match
Flourishes and underlines	Long rising terminal flourish to the upper right, broken into dashes. No underline.	Long rising terminal flourish is characteristic in R1, R5, R6, R7 and R8. No underlines.	Natural variation
Placement and size	Upper right, in the dark area left of the lightning bolt, in pink ink.	R1 (same Gengar vs Pikachu design) is also pink and appears to sit in the same region. The other references are placed in darker or open areas of their art.	Match

Examiner notes

All references and our card are SMZ Comics metal artist-auto cards from the current run (about 2024–2025). Our slab reads 2025. No era change is expected. Nuñez uses two forms on these cards: a short 'Nui'-type mark (R5–R8, R1) and a fuller 'Nuña/Nuñ'-type mark (R2–R4). Ours matches the short form. Differences between the two forms reflect his habit, not era.

Our signature's form and placement closely resemble R1, which is the same design. A printed facsimile cannot be fully excluded from photos alone. Overlay comparison and physical inspection are needed to confirm hand application.
The terminal flourish is broken into dashes. This is most likely paint-marker skip on a slick metal surface, but it should be confirmed under a loupe as ink skip rather than a printed or retouched element.
Lightning and rain streaks in the printed art run through the signature area. This makes it harder to tell ink from print in the photo.

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.