posted 06-07-2013 06:39 AM
Speaking of Rand, it was a great mail order space shop!I first heard about them around 1970 when I was a wide-eyed space buff and novice collector, not even yet in high school.
Some of their catalogs or price lists would offer incredible space items, such as Apollo Beta mission emblems for $3.50 or so.
I recall original Apollo tracking maps from man's first lunar landing, usually rolled up, for about $5.00 each! Or was it lower?
In later years, how about Apollo 11 crew-signed insurance covers--all three types-- (but not listed or advertised as such) for $150 each and less if purchased in quantities.
Those were the good old days, for sure, when space collecting--at least from my younger years as an avid space enthusiast observing rocket launches from his back yard--was a fun, exciting, and innocent hobby.