Autograph Authentication Report
2011 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Sticker - Tom Bunk Auto · #59a
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 | Two-part signature with 'Tom' above or left and 'Bunk' below or right. The capitals are large and the lower-case letters are compressed. The B appears as a large looped form at the bottom, with 'unk' running up and to the right. | R2 shows a stacked 'Tom' over 'Bunk' with a large T and B. R4 and R7 are rotated or stacked to fit the card. R1, R3, R6 and R8 are single-line versions with dominant capitals and reduced lower case. | Natural variation |
| Slant and baseline | Written at a steep angle, roughly diagonal and rising. The baseline follows the open dark area of the ring ropes. | R4 and R7 are written near-vertically along the card. R1 rises steeply. R3 and R8 are near-horizontal on photos. Baseline orientation clearly depends on the space available. | Natural variation |
| Letter construction | Tall T with a crossbar and a looped 'o'. The 'm' is rounded. The B is made of open loops and the 'unk' is partly legible, ending in a tall k with an upward finishing stroke. | The T is consistently large with a separate crossbar (R1, R2, R3, R8). The 'm' ranges from rounded humps (R2, R3) to compressed. The B is a two-bowl construction. The 'unk' is legible in R2 and abbreviated in R1, R3 and R8. R2 has a similar tall k with a rising finish. | Match |
| Connecting strokes | 'Tom' appears connected after the T. 'unk' is connected and runs on fluidly. Metallic ink makes the exact joins hard to read. | 'om' is connected and 'unk' is connected or degraded into a continuous line across the references. | Natural variation |
| Starting and ending strokes | The final k stroke rises and tapers to the upper right. Starts appear tapered, with no obvious blunt starts at this resolution. | R2 ends with a rising k stroke. R1, R3 and R8 end in a long horizontal trailing stroke. Endings are generally fast and tapered. | Natural variation |
| Line quality and speed | Strokes appear smooth and continuous, with no visible tremor. However, the granular silver paint-marker texture hides fine detail. | Fast, confident strokes throughout, especially R1, R3 and R8. | Not assessable |
| Pen pressure pattern | Silver metallic paint marker, which shows little pressure variation by nature. | Mixed media: Sharpie (R1, R3, R7, R8), blue paint marker (R4, R6), white paint pen (R2), orange marker (R5). | Not assessable |
| Spacing | Tight spacing within each word. The gap between 'Tom' and 'Bunk' is set by the stacked layout. | R2's stacked layout spaces the two words similarly. The single-line references keep a modest gap between words. | Match |
| Flourishes and underlines | No underline. The rising k terminal acts as the flourish. | No underlines seen. The flourish is usually a trailing terminal stroke. | Match |
| Placement and size | Placed in the dark open area to the right of the subject, sized to the space, and avoiding the face. | Typical of Bunk's aftermarket card signings (R1, R4, R7): placed in open background space, often over art. | Match |
Examiner notes
Our item is a 2011 Topps Garbage Pail Kids Flashback sticker (#59a Rocco Socko), so it was signed in 2011 or later, most likely at a convention or by mail in the 2010s–2020s. The references are mostly recent-era aftermarket signings: Funko Pops (R2, R5, R6) date from about 2018 onward, and the vintage cards (R1, R4, R7) and photos (R3, R8) are undated but were signed long after issue. They cover the same broad modern period as ours. Bunk's signature in this period ranges from a fairly legible 'Tom Bunk' to a fast, abbreviated 'Tom B~~' with the 'unk' reduced to a wavy line. It is often stacked or rotated to fit the open space on the card, as in R2, R4 and R7.
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.
