posted 10-15-2007 07:35 PM               

King's comments about space memorabilia caught my attention, especially in light of the newspaper describing him as "perhaps best known for his expertise in items from aerospace and particularly from astronauts."

For many years, sale of things the astronauts had or brought back from the moon was forbidden, since they in essence belonged to the U.S. government. Collectors would buy things like huge rocket nozzles, but could get hold of little else, he said.

That changed in the 1990s as attitudes changed and rules relaxed, perhaps because the space shuttles brought so many things back from space, King said.

However, astronauts have always tried to find ways to make things valuable. Gus Grissom took a roll of dimes up into orbit in his capsule and James Irwin of Apollo 15 seemed to have hundreds of coins and flags he could claim had been to the moon, King said.

Often, these kinds of items were given away for diplomatic purposes, he said.

Most of the best items go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, but others are sold at Christie's, the auction house. The highest price he ever saw was $365,000 for a patch from an Apollo 15 space suit, which had moon dust on it.

Astronaut signatures are not all that valuable, because like baseball players their "second job is signing stuff," King said.

Interestingly, "Russian space stuff doesn't sell for beans," he said.

posted 10-15-2007 11:23 PM               

Astronaut signatures are not all that valuable, because like baseball players their "second job is signing stuff," King said.

posted 10-16-2007 08:02 AM               

I particularly liked this passage:

One woman asked about a signature on a school desk, not mentioning the personage. King said signatures and autographs are interesting, but almost always have to be attached to something the person was noted for in order to have value.

posted 10-16-2007 01:53 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Lunar rock nut:
For clarification purposes maybe Robert should interview him for a cS article.

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posted 11-20-2007 07:24 PM               

quote:

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Gus Grissom took a roll of dimes up into orbit in his capsule...

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posted 11-21-2007 12:31 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by MrSpace86:
I collect for myself, because to me many of my pieces priceless.

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posted 11-27-2007 11:03 PM               

For example, Russian items are compared to "beans". At the going rate of pinto beans ($1 pound) it would take about 15 tons to buy a flown Sokol suit

posted 11-30-2007 01:13 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Dave Clow:
I always find this aspect of our hobby particularly interesting, and though I don't know who this King fellow is, he might indeed have a point. Our hobby is expanding rapidly and the sheer numbers of autographed items around have expanded along with it, so the issues of supply and rarity aren't really issues any longer.

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While you make a good point in relation to autographs of living astronauts who are regularly available to sign, one must also consider the supply and demand of signatures for non-signing astronauts (like Armstrong) or deceased astronauts (like Grissom). If the hobby truly is growing, then demand for these signatures is growing as well, resulting in an appreciation in value.

Of the 43 flown M-G-A era astronauts, roughly half sign regularly or semi-regularly. The other half either don't sign, are deceased, or sign infrequently (or sign at a price that keeps supply in check).

I don't think the values of signatures of frequent signers will necessarily drop. The fact is, they continue to sign to meet the current (and apparently growing) demand. While the hobby will experience fluctuations in numbers of participants and overall demand, signatures will continue to hold some value...even for the "common" ones.

posted 11-30-2007 02:52 PM               

It was well organized, and they even provided free glossies of themselves. I took advantage of this, because I rarely attend such events so I don't have a stock of astronaut photos on hand. I accepted an inscribed photo from each, rather than a plain signature (I'm not thinking ahead to selling them).

My point is, since both gentlemen were compensated by Omega for their appearance, it would stand to reason that any 'value' attached to their signatures depends on the collector or the market; I have not attended any of the commercial autograph shows so I wouldn't know how they compare to astronauts who do charge and sign regularly, either in person or thru the mails.

posted 07-22-2013 04:52 PM               

First, as much as I like the 4th estate they can really get it wrong. The guy in the back of the room scribbling away never spoke to me and I never saw the article.

Please everyone, I value aerospace as much as you do and things have gone off the rails on this newspaper article. I can only assume he was referring to the autographed photo (with flag, LEM and Snoopy) that Jim Irwin gave me in 1990. I often use it to illustrate the scale of value for collectibles; hundreds, thousands, millions.

posted 07-22-2013 05:11 PM               

As an aside, working with Jim Irwin just before he passed was a treat and we got along well. It served me well when I worked with Jim Lovell on the Adler donation and to the best of my knowledge he knows who I am and still likes me.

I will be happy to send you copies of the narratives on my appraisals for Lovell and of the Berkut and EVA collar that I did for another museum (they cite collectSPACE as a great resource). They are part of an expanded article I wrote for the profession and do not betray confidences that they shouldn't or, in the case of Lovell, approved.