Through the Mail-Artis Gilmore

 After a slow October, November has come in hot with multiple returns in just a few days of time.  Late Friday afternoon, I found one return in my inbox so raced back into the house to see who it was.  Upon opening the envelope, I discovered it was Basketball Hall of Famer, and former star in both the ABA and NBA, Artis Gilmore.  The odd thing about this return is that it looks like the autograph and and the HOF 11 inscription are different color ink.  I can't tell if that's because the background of the card is two different colors, or if it's actually a different sharpie.  

I tried looking up different version of his inscription on other items, but every one I see is quite a bit different, which is peculiar.  I have no idea if Mr. Gilmore signed it or not, and that's part of the gamble with requests when you don't see the person signing in front of you.  The signature itself does look like other examples, so I think that part at least is authentic.  The inscription, however, is a mystery to me.  It would be odd to sign the card and then have someone else inscribe so I tend to believe it's real.