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Author
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Topic: Shuttle patches: Identifying make and mission
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paulgotit
New Member Posts:
From:
Registered:
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posted 05-19-2011 09:21 PM
   
I just picked up a load of shuttle patches, and I cannot find info on which ones I have, much less if they are foreign copies or legit. Any recommendations? |
benguttery
Member Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 05-19-2011 09:45 PM
Can you post a few pics to spur discussion? Shuttle mission patches really haven't been "reproduced," but there have been several makers of them over the years. And, several of those makers have produced several different versions. |
benguttery
Member Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 05-19-2011 09:52 PM
Check out these references: |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42984
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-19-2011 10:05 PM
quote:
Originally posted by benguttery:
Shuttle mission patches really haven't been "reproduced," but there have been several makers of them over the years.
Ben, can you clarify what you meant by this?It's my understanding that unlike during Apollo, for the length of the shuttle program, all 135 missions, the only NASA-authorized space shuttle patch provider has been AB Emblem. Therefore by definition, any other patch makers — from Lion Brothers to Tom Foley (Cape Kennedy Mint) to the late Randy Hunt Wagner (Eagle One Aerospace/Cargo Bay Emblems) — have been producing reproductions for souvenir sale. |
hoorenz
Member Posts: 1031
From: The Netherlands
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 05-19-2011 11:47 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Therefore by definition, any other patch makers — from Lion Brothers to Tom Foley (Cape Kennedy Mint) to the late Randy Hunt (Eagle One Aerospace/Cargo Bay Emblems) — have been producing reproductions for souvenir sale.
Sure it was just a typo, but Randy Wagner from Virginia (the Randy with the "Gold", "Silver" etc. member system who was clear about the fact he produced the patches/reproductions himself and was also a serious collector of original personal Shuttle astronaut patches) was Eagle One Aerospace (EOA). In the final stages of his illness and following his death, his wife operated some time under the name Cargo Bay Emblems and eBay nickname 4sons. Although he sometimes lost track of what you ordered and what you had paid for, he was a very good guy.Randy Hunt from Florida, who wanted his buyers to believe his reproductions were "rare" and "from the collection of a friend", who always tried to explain "copyright" as the right for anybody to copy anything, and when in his rush to make money made mistakes in the names of astronauts just told you "it is not a mistake, his/her name is also written like that", who would try to convince you that even though you were the designer of a patch, he had found someone who had "also designed it", was eBay's 4gator or, on the web, Patches-etc. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42984
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-20-2011 05:38 AM
quote:
Originally posted by hoorenz:
Sure it was just a typo...
Thanks Erik, for catching my error and my apologies for the confusion. |
hoorenz
Member Posts: 1031
From: The Netherlands
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 05-20-2011 06:04 AM
I can not get enough chances to emphasize the difference between the two Randy's. 
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benguttery
Member Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 05-20-2011 08:32 AM
AB Emblem says they are "the official supplier to NASA for all of their mission patches since 1961." I am not sure that is entirely true, but we will leave that for another discussion. I don’t think they made any of the Gemini patches, for example.If we take a typical shuttle mission, by far the most common are those made by AB. Great quality patches. Tom Foley of Cape Kennedy Mint has also made many, if not all, mission patches. These are the ones we find at souvenir stores. I have a lot of them too. Yes Robert, I would agree that anything not made by the AB is a reproduction.
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spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 05-20-2011 09:27 AM
Swiss Artex have also produced versions of the Shuttle patches and judging by the packaging I've seen over the years they were apparently the sole supplier of Shuttle patches to the KSC gift shop for a significant period of time (and may still be today for all I know).These may well be 'reproductions' but there's certainly nothing illicit about them if they're the versions sold at NASA sites to the public. |
benguttery
Member Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 05-20-2011 03:22 PM
I can't wait until Chris includes all shuttle mission patches on his web site, so we can see each makers version side-by-side. Yes, this is a hint. |
andrewcli
Member Posts: 328
From: La Jolla, CA, USA
Registered: Jul 2007
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posted 05-20-2011 04:14 PM
quote:
Originally posted by benguttery:
AB Emblem says they are "the official supplier to NASA for all of their mission patches since 1961."
According to the Conrad Industries website: 1961
E. Henry Conrad made the first official NASA patch, known as "the meatball".1969
A-B Emblem becomes the sole contractor for Nasa for all space patches, with the launch of Apollo 11. |
spaceman
Member Posts: 1104
From: Walsall, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 05-22-2011 01:32 PM
Somewhere in the debate there needs to be some clarification between AB Emblem supplied and AB Emblem manufactured? |
Go4Launch
Member Posts: 542
From: Seminole, Fla.
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 05-22-2011 04:04 PM
This claim is incorrect. A-B Emblem was selected as the recommended contractor on February 12, 1970. A-B returned the signed contract (NAS 9-10578) to MSC on February 24. NASA placed Delivery Order No. 1 for 1,000 Apollo 13 emblems that same day. |
benguttery
Member Posts: 547
From: Fort Worth, TX, USA
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 05-22-2011 05:24 PM
That's been my understanding. AB has made patches forever, but got the nod to be the official maker in 1970. |
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