T O P I C R E V I E W |
moorouge | Does anyone recognize this patch (found on a New Zealand auction site) as to when and by which company it was issued? |
moorouge | Some time ago I read that an Irish collector had 28 versions of the Apollo 11 patch. Gene Dorr shows seven on his site and Chris Spain has 13 variations on his site including the 'Cadbury' patch which is shown elsewhere in this forum. To these may be added the one shown in my previous mail from New Zealand. So what are the missing ones? Can anyone add anything please? |
spaced out | This patch looks like a 3" version, is that correct? |
moorouge | Sorry don't know the size. It wasn't stated on the website. If it is a 3", how many versions of these were made and would their addition account for the grand total of 28 claimed? |
benguttery | This patch looks smaller than 3 inches. Perhaps 2 or less. Almost looks like a scouting award patch. |
Dougin SoCA | I've picked up three of the Apollo 11 mission patches along the way (all over 15 years ago). Here are scans of all three, I was just wondering if any of them were more unique or valuable than the others (not expecting any of them to be of any real value). I'm sure they are among the most replicated patches ever made. It's interesting how different they are. Thank you for your input.  

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Liembo | Apollo 11 seems to have the overwhelming number of variations and knock-off patches, that is for sure. I have been trying to document as many as I can for the Space Patch Database, including purchasing a few of my own which helps make for clearer scans. Below are a a few other modern Apollo 11 patches I've acquired from auctions. Some are better than others, some are fairly crudely made. I do not know the manufacturer of any of the following, which is a shame, as a few are nicely made, particularly #2. All of the patches below were scanned with the same pass so their comparative colors should be accurate:  


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J Blackburn | quote: Originally posted by Liembo: I do not know the manufacturer of any of the following...
The third from the top is an Eagle Crest. |
Gonzo | I have a red bordered Apollo 11 patch that appears to be an AB Emblem patch that I've never figured out where it came from. Any suggestions on it? I understand that part of the front is not filled in (near Earth), but in all my years of collecting, I've never seen a red bordered one like this. Anyone have any ideas?  
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spaced out | I've just added an image of the Lion Brothers Apollo 11 3 1/2" Masonic symbol patch to my website. This is the first example of this patch I have seen apart from the one shown in the black and white photo of the 3" and 3 1/2" specialty patches from the Retro Space Images disc. I'm not sure at this point if the owner intends to sell the patch but I'll mention it here if he does. Needless to say I will be advising him to list it as an auction without a buy-it-now option. |
BlueHalo | quote: Originally posted by Gonzo: I have a red bordered Apollo 11 patch that appears to be an AB Emblem patch that I've never figured out where it came from.
The red merrowed patch is called a Kedge or Kirk Edge patch. The late Bob Kirk and three others who worked with him used to grab up and buy 50 gallon drums of over-runs, error, typos, missing embroidery type patches and would put a finished edge on them. Every patch they ever made or finished had some issue with it. They always used a color that was not the original merrow color so "certain" collectors in the circle could easily identify these types of patches. And off they went into unsuspecting collectors hands. |
spaced out | I'd never heard of that but it would likely explain the yellow bordered Apollo 9 and silver bordered Apollo 15 AB Emblem patches that turn up occasionally. |
Gonzo | Very interesting and thanks for the info! I've never heard of Bob Kirk and his crew, but it's interesting to find the answer to this patch. I've had it for a while, always with a question on why the red border. Now I know and will mark it accordingly in my collection. Thanks again for solving this mystery! |
BlueHalo | Well you learn a few things, the people and what they have done from being in the business over the years. Glad I could shed some light on things like that. |
BlueHalo | In just about every case where a "Kirk Edge" or "Kedge" patch shows up there is always something wrong with the actual patch itself. They are all errors and/or rejects. If you study the patches and know what they are supposed to look like, you will always find the missing or corrupted embroidery in it. Most runs (especially those manufactured on a Schiffly Embroidery machine) back in the day were manufactured with a 10 to 15 percent over-run. So when they finished them by adding the substrate backing and merrowed edges the client would be guaranteed through quality control their quantity of the ordered run. The over-runs, errors, incomplete, rejects, bird-nested patches etc., were discarded. |
spaced out | Just when you think there can't be any more vintage 4" Apollo 11 patch versions out there, along comes another one. I've added this to my site as AS11UNK12. The overall design is similar to the AB Emblem and the Dallas Cap & Emblem ("Grumman") versions but with distinctive brown fill on the Earth, prominent serifs on the "11", and more black detailing on the tail and legs. I'd be interested to know how many other examples there are out there. Incidentally, I don't own this one. It was discovered by Charles Jeffrey as part of an impressive collection of mostly rare vintage space patches. As I understand it these patches are going to be sold as part of a U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum fund-raising auction next March. |
Gonzo | Interesting, Chris. As I've posted elsewhere, I have about 18-20 variations of the 4" patch, so details on this one would be interesting to add to them. |
CMikeW | I just picked up two Apollo 11 patches I think they are AS11UNK9. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks. 
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spaced out | No, that's the Dallas Cap & Emblem 'Grumman' patch. |
CMikeW | Thanks for the help. I couldn't make up my mind between the two. The website photo of the Dallas Cap and Emblem patch shows the back as totally white vs the AS11UNK9 which shows scrim cloth. |
Liembo | Michael Collins' BIG suit on display at Johnson Space Center has an anachronistic patch applied to it to replace the BIG patch the crew gave to the recovery crew. It appears to be one of the patches from earlier in this thread (which seems like an odd choice for a museum display). If this isn't an exact match, then the patch below is a modern reproduction of the patch that is affixed to the suit.  |
Besixdouze | I'd always assumed, from photographs taken at the time, that those BIG suits were blue so how come this one appears to be brown? |
Liembo | It could be the lighting (photo credit: Randy Ford Taub): |
Robert Pearlman | The biological isolation garments were military (or Army) green; the lighting, as noted, is giving the impression it is brown. You can see another photo of the same suit on display here. |
Besixdouze | I see it. Checked out Aldrin's; still has a green tinge but no patch. Armstrong's looks the same shade of brown but at least has a genuine Apollo 11 crew patch attached to it. Thanks for the info. |