"Selling autographed merchandise has become so lucrative that celebrities and athletes are told not to sign anything with blue ink because it's believed that this makes their John Hancock easier to scan and forge. It's true that if you don't actually see someone sign something in front of you, it's pretty difficult to verify if a signature is legitimate, so it's good to be cautious when buying signed merchandise from a third party."
"This autograph is a fake. I include small unknown features in my real autographs to prevent reselling, so I can tell when one isn't genuine. I've confirmed that nearly half of the autographs being resold are actually fake, so please don't buy them.（◎血◎） https://t.co/yQVeoYQcfo - yokotaro (@yokotaro) October 20, 2025"
"Taro says he includes "small, unknown features" in his signature to identify forgeries. A fan posted an image of Taro's real signature as seen at a Square Enix event, and the differences are subtle but noticeable upon comparison. The R is longer, and the Y is kind of squiggly."
Selling autographed merchandise has become highly lucrative, and blue ink is sometimes avoided because it can make signatures easier to scan and forge. Verifying a signature is difficult when the signing was not witnessed, so buyers should exercise caution when purchasing from third parties. A now-deleted auction displayed an apparently genuine signed soundtrack CD with a small Emil sketch, but the signature was identified as forged. Yoko Taro states that he embeds small, unknown features in real autographs to detect resales and reports that nearly half of resold items bearing his signature are fake.
Read at Kotaku
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