Autograph Authentication Report
2023 Topps Garbage Pail Kids: InterGOOlactic Mayhem - Fool's Gold (36/50) - Brent Engstrom Auto · #64
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 | Large looped capital B dominates the left third. A compressed, mostly illegible middle follows, then a long horizontal cross stroke and a wide garland of humps trailing right. The whole reads as a stylized 'Brnt E…m'. | R4, R5, R6 and R7 show the same arrangement: a dominant B, a compressed middle and a wide humped ending. R2/R3 show the same pattern with a more open middle. | Match |
| Slant and baseline | Moderate right slant. Baseline runs roughly level to slightly rising across the label. | Similar moderate right slant and level baseline in R4, R5 and R7. R6 is slightly more upright. | Natural variation |
| Letter construction | B is built with a tall upstroke and two right-side bowls, the lower bowl swinging back left. The middle letters are pointed peaks. The ending is a series of rounded m/n humps. | Same B construction with stacked bowls in R2–R7. The middle shows peaks and the ending shows humps in R4, R5 and R7. R6 has a more legible 'Brent'. | Match |
| Connecting strokes and t-cross | A long horizontal stroke crosses above the middle and joins into the surname. The surname connects in one run into the final humps. | The long horizontal crossbar over the middle is present in R2/R3, R4, R5 and R7, joined into the surname the same way. | Match |
| Starting and ending strokes | Starts with a lead-in into the B upstroke. Ends with a tapered rightward exit stroke past the last hump, extending toward the label edge. | Same lead-in and long tapered rightward exit in R4, R5, R6 and R7. | Match |
| Line quality and speed | Fluid, fast marker line. Curves are smooth, with no visible tremor or hesitation and tapered terminals at this resolution. | References show similar fast, fluid execution. | Match |
| Pen pressure pattern | Ink density varies, heavier on downstrokes and the B bowls and lighter on connectors. Consistent with a felt-tip marker. | Comparable variation in R4 and R7, which use the same green/teal marker on a yellow label. | Match |
| Spacing | Tight in the middle, opening up in the final humps. | Same tight-middle, open-ending spacing in R4, R5 and R7. | Match |
| Flourishes | No separate underline. The horizontal cross stroke and the extended tail act as the flourish. | Same, with no separate underline in the references. | Match |
| Placement and size | Fills the yellow autograph label above the printed 'BRENT ENGSTROM ARTIST AUTOGRAPH' line and overlaps part of the printed text. | R4, R7 and R8 show the same placement on the same yellow-label design. Overlapping the printed line is common across the references. | Match |
| Ink/medium appearance | Teal/green marker that appears to sit over the printed label text, with uneven density. | R4 and R7 use a similar green marker on yellow. Other parallels use blue or black. | Match |
Examiner notes
Our card is a 2023 Topps Garbage Pail Kids InterGOOlactic Mayhem Fool's Gold artist autograph (#64, 36/50). All references are Topps GPK artist autograph cards from about 2020–2024. That puts them in the same signing era: the 2020 35th Anniversary (R6), 2023 InterGOOlactic Mayhem (R8, same set), and 2024 Kids At Play (R1). The rest (R2–R5, R7) are undated but use the same printed-label format. No era-driven change is expected, and the references themselves show only normal session-to-session variation.
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.
