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Author
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Topic: Three 'new' Apollo patch style versions?
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spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 11-22-2012 06:42 AM
   
I was interested in this patch lot 230881617937 on eBay the other day.It's pretty rare to see an unfamiliar Apollo mission patch version these days but this lot contained three I don't recognize. The Apollo 12 stands out because of the 'crew patch' style star pattern but it's clearly not a crew patch. It appears to be partially embroidered on black cloth, which I've not seen before on an Apollo 12 patch. Unless it is a more modern plastic backed patch this would seem to be a new vintage patch discovery. The Apollo 10 has the same style as a fairly familiar 3" patch but I don't remember seeing a 4" version before. It's a pretty ugly patch but if it has a cloth patch I'll need to add it to my site. Even the Apollo 9 is a new one for me.  The auction was US-only so I didn't bid on it but if anyone here is the winner I'd love to get scans to verify the details and add to my site. Alternatively, if anyone already has examples of any of these patches please confirm if they are bare cloth back and send me scans if possible. |
Besixdouze
Member Posts: 235
From: Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 11-22-2012 07:21 AM
Kevin T. and I also exchanged email on the subject of these patches. I contacted the seller in the hope he would lift his "US Shipping only" embargo but, following unfortunate incidents with international postage in the past, he wouldn't. He did confirm, however that they were 4" and 5" patches. |
Kevin T. Randall
Member Posts: 1082
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008
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posted 11-22-2012 09:00 AM
I know who the winning bidder of these four Apollo patches is. He maybe a member of this forum, if not I will contact him and ask if he can send you the images you require Chris.I thought these patches were modern reproductions. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 11-22-2012 09:07 AM
They could be modern, but this Apollo 12 patch is definitely not a match for the plastic-backed crew 'replica' version even though it looks fairly similar. |
Kevin T. Randall
Member Posts: 1082
From: Chesham, Bucks UK
Registered: Dec 2008
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posted 11-24-2012 11:57 AM
I have now sent an e-mail to the winning bidder of this set of Apollo patches, as he has not replied to this post.He has now replied to my e-mail, and he will send you the scanned images you require when he recieves the patches Chris. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 11-27-2012 04:54 AM
I need to correct the title of this thread to say 'Four' instead of 'three'.Mike Riches sent me photos of the backs of these patches taken by the seller before they were sent to the winner. This shows that all are bare cloth back. More interestingly, it made me look again at the Apollo 11 patch. Initially I had thought it an example of the AS11UNK1 'Grumman' patch as the design was so close, but seeing the back made me look again as it was not the white back I was expecting. In fact of course the front of the patch is obviously not a match for the Grumman version because it's not fully embroidered but partially embroidered on blue twill. Despite this, the design is virtually identical and crucially the detail of the anchor threads on the back shows that it's made in the same way and by the same manufacturer. Could this be an error patch? It seems unlikely that a patch could miss out entirely on the background fill and still be completed with a merrowed edge. Another possibility is that this is a pre-production sample and that the fully-embroidered option was taken instead for the full production run. Maybe the other three patches are also pre-production samples? Given the fact that these are the first examples of these patches we've seen the idea that these might be samples that never went into full production seems plausible. |
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