posted 09-20-2011 12:47 PM            

The real things:

There are two button variants of the Apollo 11 "Hornet Plus Three" they have an almost ivory colored background with dark blue printing.

One variation has dark blue perimeter print "Made in Hawaii By Scheller Apoian Specialties." This is the button that the Apollo 11 astronauts wore and you see pictures of in quarantine.

The other variant of the Apollo 11 "Hornet Plus Three" button has dark blue perimeter print "Official Button Worn By The 3 Astronauts On Their Return From Lunar Landing July 24 1969 Made In Hawaii By Scheller Apoian Specialties."

This was released at the same time as the Apollo 12 "Hornet, Three More Like Before, Apollo 12" button (with a more orange colored printing and white perimeter print "Made In Hawaii By Scheller Apoian Specialties"), probably as part of a press informational packet. This is by far the rarest of the Apollo 11 buttons, in 10+ years I have been collecting, I have only seen one.

posted 07-31-2020 10:33 AM            

There was also a 2.25 inch Apollo 11 button, purple-ish and orange in color, with perimeter print "Made in Hawaii by Scheller Apoian Specialties" and also came with either a chrome or gold colored pin-back.

Both of these buttons probably came out after the Apollo 11 recovery, I have never seen them offered with the “Hornet Plus Three” recovery button.

posted 08-01-2020 11:39 AM            

Recently there has been two of the Apollo 12, Three More Like Before, buttons that have been available with dark blue background and yellow printing, but not orange. They both have the correct perimeter print. One had the correct chrome pin-back and the other the gold pin-back.

Again I think these buttons were produced after the Apollo 12 recovery (not for it), so may have been printed with different color inks and a pin-back variation.

posted 07-29-2024 05:30 PM               

The auction lot also had an Apollo 12 "Three More Like Before" button - clearly vintage, brass pin, no edge marking, and yellow/orange-yellow lettering. The button looks like Tom's (Kosmo) above-pictured 'Apollo 12 Recovery' framed example from the front but there is no manufacturer printing along the perimeter and no picture of the rear/edge of Tom's for comparison.

Is this an original Apollo 12 Hornet recovery button or a vintage counterfeit/copy of some sort?

posted 07-29-2024 06:30 PM            

I have always assumed that if these pinbacks didn't have the perimeter print "Made in Hawaii By Scheller Apoian Specialties", that they were counterfeit. Everything that I have acquired from people that participated in the recovery of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, have had that perimeter print.

posted 07-30-2024 01:20 PM            

David, are you sure that the perimeter printing is not hiding on there, sometimes it isn't very apparent, and your button is not perfectly centered, so it maybe hiding close to the metal backing.

posted 07-30-2024 05:21 PM               

Tom, I've looked again (and again, and again...) with a loupe and have found no perimeter markings. If they are there, they are hidden inside of the crimped edge. Still, everything else is an exact match front and back versus your Apollo 12 recovery example. Perhaps misalignment, artwork layup error, print smear, etc., is behind the lack of expected markings. The fact that this lot was paired with a genuine and correct vintage Apollo 11 Hornet button also suggests originality but of course is no proof.

posted 08-01-2024 07:57 PM               

Possible the company underestimated the demand for Apollo 11 pinbacks. The company then produced as many Apollo 12 pins as possible and skipped the rim printing.