Author
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Topic: Prices paid for Apollo Beta cloth patches
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benguttery Member Posts: 547 From: Fort Worth, TX, USA Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 07-10-2011 09:39 PM
What is going on with Beta cloth patch prices? They are very strong at auction houses and on eBay. Surprising to me are the prices on the NASA meatball patch. Are these patches being sought for their autograph use? Or, is there some other conspiracy going on? |
Besixdouze Member Posts: 235 From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 07-11-2011 04:37 AM
Not sure where you are looking Ben as I haven't noticed much activity on eBay recently. The few that have been available all seem to be from the same seller with the same defects - stained or with multiple fold lines and haven't made the big money like those from earlier this year. Yesterday's Goldberg Auction had quite a few with the best price being $1253 for seven patches - disregarding the flown items - an average of $179 which doesn't look so bad. I was really lucky to pick up four fine examples for $25 - yes $6.25 each! - from an eBay seller who had no appreciation of what they were worth. He sold 16 (four batches of four) for a total of $109 until I felt honour bound to advise him on the error of his ways. His subsequent 12 individual patch sales netted him $1619 but his supply seems to have dried up. I'm still on the lookout. |
MikeSpace unregistered
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posted 07-11-2011 06:43 AM
I saw some of the Goldberg results, three Skylab betas went for $270, $90 each before fees. Another mixed lot of 8 or 9 went for $725, under $100 each, again before fees. A lot of seven different Apollo mission patches went for $900. Flown, crew signed [all 5] ASTP betas from Deke's collection [with letter] went for $525, $550, and $525, estimates were $750-$1000. As for eBay, also been looking and haven't seen anything except for what was already mentioned. |
OV-105 Member Posts: 816 From: Ridgecrest, CA Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 07-11-2011 11:46 AM
Ok I will show my age here, I bought one from Odyssey Auctions in 1994 from an ad in Final Frontier. An Apollo 7 autographed by Wally Schirra for $90 total cost to my door (Ca tax 7.75%-$7.29, shipping $4) was 101.29. |
arjuna unregistered
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posted 07-11-2011 03:57 PM
Yeah - dang, I intended to bid on those Skylab patches but got distracted and missed out. |
MikeSpace unregistered
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posted 08-30-2011 02:39 PM
Apollo 8 Beta Cloth, unsigned, just went for $417 dollars on eBay, congrats to the winner, whoever it was! Wonder what my Lovell signed one is worth...Ebay #: 220840580718 |
arjuna unregistered
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posted 08-30-2011 03:43 PM
Mike - yeah, saw that. Crazy if you ask me. According to Chris Spain on crewpatches.com: Good cleanly-printed examples of the Apollo 8 beta cloth mission patch without creases and on a full 9" x 9" cloth sell for anywhere between $80 and $155, and even $206.10 and $234.50 for two recent examples. So this one went for nearly double the most recent highest price paid. For reference, I paid $700 last year at auction for one signed by Borman and Anders (and a Lovell autopen, later signed by the actual human being at ASF earlier this year). Anyway, it makes one wonder about your previous speculation that there may be fake bidders out there bidding up the price. |
Besixdouze Member Posts: 235 From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 08-30-2011 05:39 PM
I don't begrudge this seller (templetoneagle) his good fortune because he was the guy I bought my bargain 4 Betas from earlier this year. As you say though, a crazy price to pay. Charlie16 must now be looking forward to a bumper payday! |
Charlie16 Member Posts: 494 From: Italy Registered: Dec 2010
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posted 08-30-2011 07:17 PM
Hello, can you be more clear, unfortunately I do not speak English well... what does it mean Bumper payday? Thanks! |
spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 08-31-2011 12:35 AM
A bumper payday is a day where you earn a lot of money.He's referring to the fact that you just listed some beta cloth patches which seem likely to sell at extremely high prices at the moment ($200-400+ each) = "Un sacco di soldi." (?) |
Charlie16 Member Posts: 494 From: Italy Registered: Dec 2010
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posted 08-31-2011 03:03 AM
Thanks for the explanation. |
Besixdouze Member Posts: 235 From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 08-31-2011 02:53 PM
Sorry to have slipped into idiomatic English, Charlie16. I hope Chris' translation has made things clearer for you. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what these beta patches make especially as I'm in the market for at least 3 of them! |
Charlie16 Member Posts: 494 From: Italy Registered: Dec 2010
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posted 08-31-2011 05:06 PM
No problems. I've also some Beta signed. |
Besixdouze Member Posts: 235 From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 09-07-2011 02:56 PM
Looking forward to receiving my Apollo 7 beta from you Charlie16. My purchase somewhat overshadowed however by the hefty $565 paid for that Apollo 11 beta, yet another listed by templetoneagle. |
328KF Member Posts: 1234 From: Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 09-07-2011 05:20 PM
As one who spent over ten years trying to collect all of the Apollo betas, I can tell you that there are many factors which influence the price at a given time.Some are readily available, even from the astronauts themselves. Charlie Duke, Gene Cernan, Jim McDivitt, Jerry Carr, Bill Pogue, Paul Weitz and others have offered theirs for sale at autograph shows or through dealers for years. But others are pretty tough to find, particularly if you're not a big spender at these high-end auctions with significant buyer's premiums, (like me). I would say the most sought after and perhaps most rare are Apollos 8, 11, and 10. And of course, flown ones are in a class by themselves. I know that until recently, thanks to Charlie16, I thought I would never find an 8 at a reasonable price. Sometimes, you find a seller who is going in another direction with their collection and looking to raise funds. Other times, it's just timing. I won an Apollo 15 and a NASA meatball on eBay in one night...a 2 AM closing time on the same day as a major east coast snowstorm. My guess was most folks were exhausted after shoveling snow all day! Now throughout the decade I have been collecting them, I only ended up with three duplicates, typically because they came as part of a set, and these were turned around to fund other patches. Today, it seems to be a seller's market. There is more awareness about betas in the collecting community, and with the high prices realized at auction houses, one offered online can quickly spiral up in cost with bidders feeling they are still getting a good deal. That last auction was only the second time I had seen a NASA worm beta for sale. Those are pretty limited because they were only used on ASTP and maybe some closeout crew suits on the early shuttle flights. |
spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 09-08-2011 01:43 AM
Recent prices have been quite extraordinary, given that most betas sold for maybe $50 a few years ago.What's funny is that signed beta cloths (e.g. Bean signed 12s or Duke signed 16s) actually seem to sell for less than pristine unsigned examples... |
MikeSpace unregistered
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posted 09-08-2011 08:44 PM
I only wish I had been bitten by the beta cloth bug when they were going for $50.Some of the best bargains I've gotten have actually been some recent auctions. There are one or two Owens Corning Apollo 11 betas on ebay at the moment. I believe they were part of a Ownens-Corning 'Apollo Emblems' package that included an American flag, the mission patch, and a picture of a LM on surface and 'Man on the Moon' above and 'July 20 1969' below, with an Owens-Corning ad about Apollo on one side and Fibreglass insulation on the other. Interesting package. The mission patch is interesting in that the words 'Apollo 11' is not on the patch and the black space backgraound is a deep blue. This was the first patch I ever bought, and when I handed it to Buzz to get signed, he was surpirsed, had not seen it, and asked where the 'Apollo 11' was. I didn't know the nature of the patch at the time. A hint on eBay searches, so what if I'm shooting myself in the foot: some list beta cloths and use terms other than 'beta cloth' or 'beta fabric' or 'beta patch' or even 'beta', they may not know what it is, so scour the eBay listings, I recently found the Owens-Corning set as mentioned above on eBay, paid under $100 for the set. Always looking to trade with others! |
spaced out Member Posts: 3110 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 09-09-2011 01:45 AM
Actually the prices of those Owens Corning patch packs have stayed pretty-much constant while the actual mission patches have soared.The same can be said for the US flag patch (which is part of that pack). Prices for these have remained fairly stable at around $35-70. Because the other two patches in the set are not actual mission patches (the Apollo 11 lacks the mission id as mentioned above and I've seen them sell individually for only $30-50) they don't have anywhere near the same appeal to collectors as the real thing. For now the climbing prices seem limited strictly to the actual mission patch designs. |