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Author
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Topic: That one space collectible that got away
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Fezman92
Member Posts: 1031
From: New Jersey, USA
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 04-23-2010 06:25 PM
   
Anyone have had that one thing you saw at an auction and you tried to bid on it and did not get it? Mine was a few years ago. It was a framed photo/poster of the Skylab and it was signed by the entire team of guys who built it. |
SpaceSteve
Member Posts: 428
From: San Antonio TX, USA
Registered: Apr 2004
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posted 04-23-2010 08:51 PM
Just recently, a Neil Armstrong WSS signed/inscribed "to Steve"  Steve |
Mr Meek
Member Posts: 353
From: Chattanooga, TN
Registered: Dec 2007
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posted 04-23-2010 09:20 PM
William Shatner's Space Camp flight suit. Autographed, of course.Even with both Robert and David backing me up, my wife steadfastly refused to let me bid on it. |
Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 04-24-2010 02:04 PM
Alas, on more occasions than I care to remember!! |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 04-24-2010 02:34 PM
An Apollo water gun for rehydrating food was on eBay with a very reasonable "Buy Now" price... but at a time when I was particularly broke. So I slept on it and decided the next morning... "What the heck; you only live once" and proceeded to buy it. Alas, I discovered a friend and fellow collector not 15 miles from here had beaten me to it... A couple of years later an identical water gun sold at Aurora for 4 times the ebay "buy now" figure. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-24-2010 03:53 PM
Jim Lovell's flown GT-12 spacesuit nametag at one of the previous Heritage sales. My finger was on the button for an instant purchase post-sale and I decided to 'sleep on it'. Bad decision for sure, but someone out there got a beautiful piece! |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-24-2010 05:35 PM
I was outbid four times on eBay (always in the last minute, sometimes in the last few seconds) for a copy of the Apollo 12 Preliminary Science Report. (But there is a happy ending to the story. On one occasion I must have lost all sense of reason and fortunately lost out at about $395 to someone who seemed to have no limit, but I eventually got an almost mint copy for about $150, completing the set of six.) |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1522
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 04-24-2010 07:59 PM
There are some items that I bid on because I thought they were interesting, and then when I won, I found myself asking, "What was I thinking???" That happened more often when I first started collecting, before I began focusing on just a few categories of items. Now, I'm a little more selective! |
yeknom-ecaps
Member Posts: 660
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 04-24-2010 08:56 PM
In each of the last two on-line auctions I bid in, Regency-Superior and Goldberg, I thought I had won lots but when they "closed" someone else had an Internet bid that snuck in and won. They would have been nice X-plane autographs and a Grissom recovery ship cover set... hope they went to good homes. |
j0s9
Member Posts: 140
From: Clinton, MA, USA
Registered: Oct 2009
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posted 04-25-2010 01:59 AM
Last year I lost an Apollo "flown" Q-Ball on eBay. That item was really nice, like the one the Cosmosphere has, it had a plastic case with a label stating that it was flown on an Apollo mission. It sold for less than $400. I'm sure someone who really knew what was getting bought it since the item was not listed properly and was on the wrong category. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 04-25-2010 06:56 AM
I'm kicking myself for not bidding higher on one of the ASF Shuttle statues sold last year. As time goes on I see how unique these things were and I did not lose out by much. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2474
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-25-2010 07:45 AM
Back in 2005 we missed out on a 1/48 scale Skylab Marshall Spaceflight Center contrator's model. We were in person at an auction and the closing price we heard was over our limit, however, the published price was way with in our limit. To this day we wonder about what the real deal was. Just would have liked to have won it as it sold for half of the going rate now.By the way, j0s9, the Q Ball was not flown because, if it had, it would have not come back. It appears to be an early prototype as it is not exactly the same as the one at the Cosmosphere. it has a good home, I wonder how many of us outbid each other? |
alanh_7
Member Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 04-25-2010 08:20 AM
Some years ago I had a chance to pick up the Paul Calle print of Neil Armstrong suiting up, signed by Armstrong for the Lindburgh Foundation in 1976.It was a very reasonable price considering what they are going for today (if you can find one). I passed on it because at the time it still seemed like a lot of money ($800)... who knew the value would sky rocket to what they are today. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-25-2010 08:36 AM
Back in 2003, an authentically-signed STS-51L crew photo was listed among a larger collection on eBay -- for an opening bid of just $25.The lot, listed under the wrong category, sat without bids throughout the entire length of the auction. When there were just seconds left to go, I went to enter my bid and... a power failure. By the time I got the computer back on and the net connection reset, the lot was closed and worse, it had sold for a single bid of $25. |
4allmankind
Member Posts: 1043
From: Dallas
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 04-25-2010 09:12 AM
That is brutal to read, Rob. Something out of a bad sitcom! |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-25-2010 09:18 AM
quote:
Originally posted by 4allmankind:
Something out of a bad sitcom!
I can assure you that no one was laughing that day... There's a bit more to story, about why the power failure occurred at just that moment, but that's neither here nor there as to the subject of this thread, so I thought best to leave it out. |
alanh_7
Member Posts: 1252
From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 04-25-2010 10:03 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
There's a bit more to story, about why the power failure occurred at just that moment...
You cannot leave the story hanging like that Robert... |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-25-2010 10:19 AM
Two items: - A book signed and inscribed by Gagarin to Korolev (Aurora auction several years ago, when funds were more restricted!)
- Flown Ap8 brass flashlight from Heritage a couple of years ago (failed to bid in time)
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j0s9
Member Posts: 140
From: Clinton, MA, USA
Registered: Oct 2009
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posted 04-25-2010 12:02 PM
quote:
Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
...the Q Ball was not flown because, if it had, it would have not come back ...not exactly the same as the one at the Cosmosphere
That is why I posted flown with quotes.  And what is the main difference with the one at the Cosmosphere? I'm taking it as a reference since I cannot remember very well this prototype. If you have it, could you please upload some pictures of it? Would be nice to see it again. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2474
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 04-25-2010 02:51 PM
quote:
Originally posted by j0s9:
If you have it, could you please upload some pictures of it?
I will send you photos via e-mail so that we don't change the focus of this thread. |
music_space
Member Posts: 1179
From: Canada
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 04-25-2010 07:09 PM
My big miss is this item... ...a Mercury test article Orbit Indicator. Read the third post of this topic to find out how I lost it. Robert consoled me by telling me that things come back around if you wait enough. Eventually, I acquired the Soviet equivalent. It would have been nice to have both items side by side, but everything's fine anyways: the Soviet item is more seductive and way more complex in design. |
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