Autograph Authentication Report
2025 SMZ Comics Metal Trading Card - Artist Auto - Eddie Nuñez · #10
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 | Abbreviated 'Nuñ'-style mark: a dominant tall 'N', compact lower-case forms, and a long detached tilde/flourish rising to the upper right. Height is roughly 1.5x width. | R1–R4 all show the same abbreviated mark: a tall 'N' dominating, small middle letters, and a long rising terminal stroke. Proportions are closest to R4 and R1. | Match |
| Slant and baseline | Near-vertical to slight right slant on the N. The middle letters sit on a baseline near the bottom of the N, and the flourish runs steeply up-right at about 35–45°. | R1, R3 and R4 have the same near-vertical N and a steep up-right flourish. R2 is slightly more upright and the letters are more spread. | Match |
| Letter construction | The N starts with a short hooked entry at top left, then a long downstroke, a narrow diagonal and a tall right leg returning to near full height. The u/ñ zone has sharp, angular peaks rather than rounded arches. | R4 and R1 show the identical N build, with a hooked entry and a tall right leg reaching the top. The angular middle peaks appear in R1, R3 and R4. R2 forms the 'n' more legibly but uses the same N. | Match |
| Connecting strokes | The N connects directly into the middle letters without a lift. The tilde/flourish is a separate stroke. | R1, R3 and R4 show the same continuous N-to-middle connection and a separate flourish. In R2 the tilde sits higher, over the final letter. | Natural variation |
| Starting and ending strokes | Small hooked start at the top of the N. The flourish starts low near the last letter, sweeps up-right and ends in a tapered, slightly curved tail. | R4 shows a near-identical tapered, curving flourish ending. The starts in R1 and R3 are likewise hooked or flicked, and the tapered terminals are consistent across the set. | Match |
| Line quality and speed | Fluid strokes with tapered terminals on the flourish. There is no visible tremor, hesitation or blunt stops at this resolution, and the strokes read as fast. | All references show the same rapid, confident paint-pen execution. | Match |
| Pen pressure pattern | Fairly even paint-pen line, thinning on the flourish tail and at the diagonal of the N. | Similar in R4 (blue paint pen) and R1 (white). Paint markers compress pressure variation in all examples. | Natural variation |
| Spacing | Middle letters are compressed tight against the N. | Compressed in R1, R3 and R4; slightly more open in R2. | Natural variation |
| Flourishes and underlines | One long detached rising tilde/flourish. No underline. | The same single rising flourish appears in all four references. None has an underline. | Match |
| Placement and size | Lower left of the card face, over the figure's leg, in white/silver paint pen. About a quarter of the card's width. | R4 (same SMZ series) is placed and sized similarly over the artwork. R1–R3 are crops, so their placement cannot be fully judged. | Match |
| Ink and surface | Opaque white/silver paint pen that appears to sit on top of the metal surface. Its colour differs from the printed artwork. | The references use white, pink and light blue paint pens on metal cards, so colour varies by signing. | Natural variation |
Examiner notes
Our card is a 2025 SMZ Comics metal card (No. 10, 10/10). All four references are contemporaneous SMZ metal-card hard signings from the same product line and likely the same 2024–2025 signing period. R4's Crown label (000059929) is numerically close to ours (000059935), which suggests the same submission batch. No meaningful era drift is expected, and the differences seen are attributable to paint-pen colour, surface sheen and signing speed.
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.
