|
Author
|
Topic: Aurora auction results
|
mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 07:25 AM
   
Wow, what an auction! As usual this one has been full of surprises. Our hobby sure has its ups and downs.There were some mighty happy, and mighty glum sellers for the high ticket items. My heart goes out to the seller of the Irwin patch... and my congratulations to the seller of the Mercury hatch cover, you did well! There were some great bargains to be had with Dave Scotts signature on them. One big garage sale! I hope everyone got one. Most flown items seemed to be down a bit. Dramaticaly lower than the recent Swann sale, where flown items were the hot seller. Go figure. Items that surprised me were the A11 insurance covers. I predict we're going to see a drop in value on these items in couple of years. And, what about that A16 Robbins medallion? Noah |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 06-01-2003 09:12 AM
A reminder: the prices reflected on the results page are the hammer -- the last price called. It does not mean that the piece reached its reserve or was not bought back by its consignor.Aurora treats its reserves like bids and any item that doesn't receive a floor or Internet bid (and even some that do) are assigned to the "mail" as the winning bidder. That can either mean that there was a successful proxy bidder or no bids were received that met the reserve. Its anyone's guess as to which is which... My guess would be that none of the flown nametags from Apollo 15 sold. From observation, it appeared that the Armstrong EKG and an Apollo 11 flown cover did sell, as did the A16 Robbins. As for some of the other high-end items, e.g. the Mercury shingle, the optical sight, the Hasselblad, the Apollo hand controller, etc., its not clear as to their fate. |
connoisseur
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
|
posted 06-01-2003 11:37 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
A reminder: the prices reflected on the results page are the hammer -- the last price called. It does not mean that the piece reached its reserve or was not bought back by its consignor.Aurora treats its reserves like bids and any item that doesn't receive a floor or Internet bid (and even some that do) are assigned to the "mail" as the winning bidder. That can either mean that there was a successful proxy bidder or no bids were received that met the reserve. Its anyone's guess as to which is which... My guess would be that none of the flown nametags from Apollo 15 sold. From observation, it appeared that the Armstrong EKG and an Apollo 11 flown cover did sell, as did the A16 Robbins. As for some of the other high-end items, e.g. the Mercury shingle, the optical sight, the Hasselblad, the Apollo hand controller, etc., its not clear as to their fate.
Bob is correct in his statement above with the caveat that had he been watching the floor action (admitedly hard to do given the rapid pace of the sale and the need to concentrate on entering his numbers), he would have seen that the A-11 cover and the EKG sold to a floor bidder, the Apollo camera to a phone bidder (via me on phone to Italy), etc. The sale was a wild West event yesterday with three phones, the internet, the floor and the mail bidders (yes, we do get major (and minor) mail bids in droves) all fighting it out. Admittedly some of the material was bought back by consignors but, in many cases, they do pay buyback fees so we do consider this a "sale" of sorts.
Congrats to all of the successful buyers and "better luck in November" to those of you who missed out. I can promise that November is already shaping up to be outstanding.
Michael Orenstein
PS. Today's session (which I am handing) will, be more sedate. Hopefully some of you will be able to pick up some "deals".
PPS. I question the use of the phrase "garage sale" used in another sale comment. The connotation to "garage" sale is "junk" that nobody wants. Judging from the realizations of up to $1,800 for some of the items, and the bidding frenzy that accompanied the bidding, this material was far from "junk". Was there a lot of it? Sure. Was it in storage for the past 30 years? Yes! Was it "junk"? NO!. I think collectors everywhere owe Dave Scott a sincere "Thank You" for having stored the material all these years (and for having paid the storage fees) or else you would never have had a chance to acquire it. Most of the publications offered have literally never been on the market before. Not bad for a "garage" sale.
|
mensclub10@aol.com
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
|
posted 06-01-2003 12:06 PM
I'll tell you what- I collect autographs and I was blown away on the items I bid on. The Gemini 8 photo (179), estimate $1000.00-$1500.00, that I bid on (I bid $1500.00), went for over $3500.00. A Gemini 4 signed photo that sold for $688.00 last Spring went for over $3500.00 also. These prices do not include the commisions. I could go on and on. Autographed items were very very strong compared to last Springs auction. What does this mean? I have already had these prices quoted to me from people who I have previously bought from and called yesterday asking about their signed crew photos I was inquiring about purchasing. I don't know but I sure can't fill many holes in my collection anymore. Dave |
riolag
Member Posts: 81
From: Fl, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 12:17 PM
One question I have is how does someone who is bidding through ebay know whether an item they bid for was below the reserve price, or will they not be notified until after the sale?The reason for asking is because if they think they've won something and therefore that money is committed to that item to discover that they haven't after all then they could have bid on other items as well. BTW Michael I appreciate that 'garage sale' (lucky it wasn't someone from the UK making the comment - we call them car boot sales! *g*) has negative connatations - however you must admit that Dave Scott is clearing out some of his cupboards. *g* Which as collectors we appreciate and look forward to more goodies to come in the future. Val |
mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 01:48 PM
My apologies for any misunderstandings concerning the term "garage sale". I, in no way, meant it to be insulting.In my area of the country garage sales offer many terrific items that are not junk but rather quite nice items that are no longer needed or wanted. I believe many space collectors greatly anticipate new items to be listed at Novaspace from Gene Cernans collection. These items can be found under the listing... "Cernans Garage Sale" http://astro-auction.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.pl?category=cernangaragesale1&listtype=current |
CPIA
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
|
posted 06-01-2003 04:43 PM
I have watched most of the auction. I will venture to say that, in my opinion, the over all bidding has been strong. Especially on the mid priced lots.This is not to say there has not been some disappointment as concerns the high priced lots like the Irwin PLSS patch (one can say that the stars truely aligned for that 1999 Christie's auction). It's just that we have seen strong pricing on many other lots in the auction. Is this due to a stronger economy, a more stable attitude of a nation no longer in doubt of the outcome of a war or just that the auction catalogue was issued in a more timely manner? I don't know the answer to the question. But I am pleased with the results, because it's looks to me that people are willing to send money on luxury items such as space memorabilia. Which is a good sign (good for the seller, bad for the buyer) to the hobby when bidders have the financial confidence to pursue lots like they have in this auction. ------------------
Larry McGlynn
A Tribute to Apollo [This message has been edited by CPIA (edited June 01, 2003).] |
scout706
Member Posts: 166
From: Phoenix, AZ USA
Registered: May 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 07:08 PM
Ok maybe I'm new,
This is thie first time that I have participated in a live auction, so am not sure of the "rules" I won lot #1201, My opening bid was $50 which was the opening specified by Aurora. I was the only one to bid, acorrding to the alive auction page, there were no floor bids, and no other internet biddders yet the price went up in successive $10 to $100! What hapened? Is this normal?Tom |
Leon Ford
Member Posts: 309
From: Shreveport, LA, United States
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 06-01-2003 08:15 PM
Tom,The same thing happened to me during the last auction. Contact Aurora and tell them what happened. They reduced the price back down to the opening bid for me. Leon |
scout706
Member Posts: 166
From: Phoenix, AZ USA
Registered: May 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 10:05 PM
Thanks Leon!!!Tom |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 11:02 PM
Flown Robbins medallions:A12-$1,900 A15-$3,700 A16-$8,500 Why such a drastic difference? Rizz |
Leon Ford
Member Posts: 309
From: Shreveport, LA, United States
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 06-01-2003 11:25 PM
Rizz, There were 262 medallions made for Apollo 12 and all 262 flew on the flight. Of 304 medallions for Apollo 15, only 127 were flown. Of 300 medallions for Apollo 16, only 98 were flown. This information comes from the book "The Robbins Medallions" by Howard C. Weinberger. Need to have one of these books before you bid on a Robbins medallion! Leon [This message has been edited by Leon Ford (edited June 01, 2003).] |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
|
posted 06-01-2003 11:32 PM
I figured there was a logical reason.Thanks Leon! Rizz |
VCampbell
Member Posts: 83
From: Bell Canyon CA USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 06-02-2003 12:33 AM
Fellow collectors:
Now that our auction is concluded, I wish to take a moment to thank all of you who participated over the last two days. We are very pleased with the results of this sale. Prices on many items in Mercury/Gemini/Apollo were stronger than last year, perhaps reflecting a more confident collector attitude coupled with the reminder of STS 107 that space flight is not a routine and riskless venture, which then, by definition, makes space collectibles more valued. We are pleased with the performance of many of the high value items in the sale, which commanded excellent prices. The middle range of products showed the greatest improvement in prices, probably due to the nature and scarcity of some of the items we offered. Some of the exceedingly rare early contractor models performed way above expectation. Our rocket mail segment produced a solid, although not stellar, performance. Thanks again to all of you and we appreciate the opportunity to be of service.
Best regards, Victoria Campbell,
Chief Executive Officer, Aurora Galleries |
spaceflori
Member Posts: 1499
From: Germany
Registered: May 2000
|
posted 06-02-2003 03:31 AM
My congrats to Victoria, Michael and the other folks to a successful auction !!!Catalog arrived in time, Internet bidding worked very well this year (despite the 20% commission, but hell I saved thousands for a trip to LA !!) and the range of items was very good - something for everybody ! Florian
[This message has been edited by spaceflori (edited June 02, 2003).] |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 06-02-2003 10:47 AM
I'd like to echo Florian's sentiments re: Michael and Victoria's quality performance. As a consignor I was very happy and as a bidder the internet bidding worked impeccably. Can we do this more often? <LOL>Paul Bramley |
Jake
Member Posts: 464
From: Issaquah, WA U.S.A.
Registered: Jun 2002
|
posted 06-03-2003 01:05 PM
Thanks from this corner of the world to Victoria and Michael... (and Mo)About a week and a half before the auction I recieved the catalog and flipped through with post-it-notes in hand. I ended up with about 10 pages with tags, then said to myself, OK, what do I REALLY want. I sorted through again and ended up with only one post-it left - bid by phone and won! (It's a good feeling to pick priorities.) I guess I''d rather have one nice piece for a grand than spend $100 ten times for a bunch of "pretty good" things. Either way, a pretty good auction experience... Thanks again Victoria and Michael for allowing this stuff to come to market...! ------------------
Jake Schultz - curator,
Newport Way Air Museum (OK, it's just my home) |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
|
posted 06-04-2003 02:32 PM
Very intersting sale indeed! Glad to have two of those every year!I venture to say that most of us find the term "garage sale" for Scott's and Cernan's recent offerings rather attracting! Affordable items, signed at that, with a reasonable premium over similar items of unknown chain of custedy, right from the collection of moonwalkers! Like, if an astronaut (or any other celeb of your liking, for that matter) was throwing a real garage sale at his-her curbside, you'd want to be there for sure, right? [This message has been edited by music_space (edited June 04, 2003).] |
connoisseur
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
|
posted 06-06-2003 07:23 PM
Guys - I just got back from four glorious days in Lufkin, TX where I was an expert witness for NASA and the prosecution re a tile from the STS-107 recovered, but not turned in, by a local police officer. Bob has posted a fairly comprehensive series of articles about the trial. An interesting experience overall. Lufkin is 100 miles North of Houston and is a part of Texas to which I had never been before. It will be interesting to see how the trial turns out. For the record, I estimated the recovered, flown tile, intact, to be worth $50/100,000 and much more if cut up into pieces.So much for that. I'd like to echo Victoria's comments earlier in this thread re our auction. We appreciate your participation AND comments, (both good and bad). We do strive to make each sale better and your comments help considerably in pointing out areas that we have to pay more attention to when we write the next catalog. When I make some of my more ascertic comments in response to some of your points, it is 1) due to the pressure of the moment, 2)having our "baby" (the sale)criticized or 3) correcting what I feel in an incorrect interpretation of our intent or catalog content. I am a fairly nice guy (so I have bene told)but am known for speaking my mind. I DO try to meet everyone at least halfway if given a chance. To this end, I want to apoligize if I came across too "hard" re my objection to the term "garage sale". I failed to take into consideration the different regional and national interpretations of this phrase. To those of you involved, I apologize and say that I had no intention to step on your toes in any way. From my point of view, I felt it was a "knock" on Dave and his material. I obviously over-reacted.
Anyway, I'm glad that most of you enjoyed the sale. For those of you who had problems, let us know as we are constantly "tweaking" our internal systems to make them work better. Unfortunately, re Ebay bidding, we are at their mercy as we have no control over their response times re live bidding.
Have a nice weekend. I plan on spending a lot of time sleeping.
Michael Orenstein, President, Aurora Galleries International
PS. Victoria used her title, so why not me too. |
mensax
Member Posts: 861
From: Virginia
Registered: Apr 2002
|
posted 06-07-2003 05:13 PM
Michael,Next time you find yourself in Virginia how about you and I getting together and going to a few garage sales!  Congratulations on putting together your best auction yet. I'm well pleased and can't wait for the next one. Noah
|
Michael
Member Posts: 309
From: Brooklyn New York
Registered: Jun 2002
|
posted 06-07-2003 08:57 PM
Hello Everbody,
You did not say how much the Apollo 11 insurance covers go for.....I really would like to know. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
|
posted 06-09-2003 06:25 AM
Did I really see an Ed Mitchell handwritten letter go for over $1,000?Paul |
VCampbell
Member Posts: 83
From: Bell Canyon CA USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 06-09-2003 12:40 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Michael:
Hello Everbody,
You did not say how much the Apollo 11 insurance covers go for.....I really would like to know.
For the group's interest, the flown Apollo 11 cover went for $22,500 not including buyer's premium and the reference cover (lot 361) went for $850 (again excluding buyer's premium). Best regards, Victoria Campbell, Aurora Galleries
|
VCampbell
Member Posts: 83
From: Bell Canyon CA USA
Registered: Oct 2002
|
posted 06-09-2003 12:44 PM
quote:
Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
Did I really see an Ed Mitchell handwritten letter go for over $1,000?Paul
Paul - yes, lot 517, Ed Mitchell's one page handwritten letter went for $1100 excluding buyer's premium.Victoria Campbell, CEO, Aurora Galleries |
advertisement