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  Suggestion: Space Autograph of the Week

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Author Topic:   Suggestion: Space Autograph of the Week
Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 03-13-2012 09:05 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here's a thought: How about an Autograph of the Week thread, much like the Space History Photo of the Week or the Space Cover of the Week?

Could be a rare, unique content, or just plain fun autograph to show off from all our collections...

liftoff1
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posted 03-13-2012 09:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great idea.

fredtrav
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posted 03-13-2012 10:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great idea

micropooz
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posted 03-14-2012 10:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As a Space Cover of the Week contributor, I'd like to make one suggestion if you start an Autograph of the Week series - Have one person who is the "coordinator" for Autograph of the Week. His/her job would be to schedule the people who want to contribute an autograph writeup, so that you don't have umpteen people post an autograph one week and nobody on another week. Bob McLeod does that quite well on our Space Cover of the Week effort.

liftoff1
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posted 03-15-2012 06:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Or, if everyone posts only one image per week, this could go on for quite some time.

Also, if there is a story connected with the item please include that. This could be very entertaining, interesting, and perhaps, educational.

Tykeanaut
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posted 03-15-2012 07:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Tykeanaut   Click Here to Email Tykeanaut     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yep, good ideas.

Apollo-Soyuz
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posted 03-17-2012 06:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Apollo-Soyuz   Click Here to Email Apollo-Soyuz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I would be willing to coordinate this. Email me privately.

bobslittlebro
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posted 03-17-2012 07:02 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for bobslittlebro   Click Here to Email bobslittlebro     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great idea! Can't wait! Maybe have two members per week show off there autograph items?

benfairfax
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posted 03-17-2012 07:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for benfairfax   Click Here to Email benfairfax     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks John, that would be really great!

Bob M
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posted 03-17-2012 08:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It is a good idea and should be popular. And the suggestion of two autographs per week might be best, with maybe two catagories: one autograph from Mercury-Gemini-Apollo and the other Space Shuttle or any area other than M-G-A.

And ideally, each autograph should come with an interesting story and not just an autograph shown with little information provided.

liftoff1
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posted 04-15-2012 03:39 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I obtained most of these back in the 90's when the astronauts were still signing for little or no fee. I almost had the opportunity to add Jim Lovell when he appeared at the 1st Annual Deke Slayton Air Show in LaCrosse, WI, but my photo was off being signed by Harrison Schmitt at the time.

liftoff1
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posted 07-07-2012 05:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Let's see what you've got!

fredtrav
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posted 07-09-2012 10:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is one of my favorites:

mjanovec
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posted 07-10-2012 12:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Bob M:
And ideally, each autograph should come with an interesting story and not just an autograph shown with little information provided.

I fully agree with Bob. If this idea is to be successful, the autographed item should come with an interesting story about how the signature(s) was obtained...or come with information about what makes the signature interesting or unique. Just posting a signed cover or photo isn't interesting enough, in most cases.

liftoff1
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posted 07-10-2012 06:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I agree that an interesting story would only add to the posting, but some of the items might be auction acquisitions, etc., that don't have much of a story.

Other collector forums, such as coin forums and currency forums frequently feature posts that merely ask collectors to showcase some of their favorite items. Can't we do that here?

I am hopeful of seeing some great items and will consider any included stories as "icing on the cake."

(That's a great cover that you have, Fred.)

fredtrav
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posted 07-10-2012 10:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I do not have a big story behind this cover. I found it in a box of covers that I was looking at and to me it showed a side of von Braun that is rarely seen, he had a sense of humor. I purchased it and have prized it since.

Bob M
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posted 07-10-2012 01:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Autographs that are so unusual or spectacular can "stand alone," but maybe it would be better to include at least when/where they were acquired. But perhaps of more interest would be autographs that have an interesting or informative story or history behind them. If we want to just see astronaut/cosmonaut/space autographs, we can see thousands on eBay.

liftoff1
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posted 07-10-2012 06:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I would imagine that many of the forum members have items in their collections that hopefully won't be on eBay for years to come. I welcome any and all items that are posted... with or without stories. This was an eBay acquisition from several years ago.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 07-10-2012 09:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well, this Esther Dyson autograph is interesting. Unasked, she wrote the inscription, "Always make new mistakes," but in doing so, she made a mistake - initially mispelling the word 'always'!

Bob M
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posted 07-11-2012 12:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Bob M   Click Here to Email Bob M     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Instead of an autograph a week, it looks like it's going to be more often than that, and perhaps that's better.

The autograph I've presented today, without any background information, would look much like any nice Jim Irwin signed cover found on eBay. But this one comes with a story that may make it more special.

Back in the dark ages of space collecting, meeting an astronaut, especially a moonwalker, was a very rare event. So back in 1973 when I saw a small article in my newspaper that Jim Irwin was to appear in my area to autograph his newly published book, "To Rule the Night," I couldn't miss the opportunity.

Of course, Col. Irwin was very friendly and in addition to signing his book, gladly signed the cover shown. This signed-in-person autograph, by the first astronaut and moonwalker I ever met, is a cherished memento of a very special event in my long time of collecting. Autographs of many astronauts came later, but perhaps this memento of a long-ago and special encounter may be one of my favorites.

mjanovec
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posted 07-11-2012 01:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Excellent post, Bob...the first of many great astronaut signatures you've collected!

liftoff1
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posted 07-11-2012 01:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great cover and story, Bob. And I agree that more would be better. C'mon cSers, let's see more.

Here is the very first astronaut autograph that I obtained through the mail.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 07-11-2012 02:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
OK. Here's my first autograph I received from an astronaut, Deke Slayton.

This was back in 1991, according to "The GSO News and Blues," the newsletter of the Graduate Student Organization at SUNY-Stony Brook, which had an advancer on the guests at I-Con X, a science and science-fiction convention held at that NY university. The Internet was relatively new (two years old), and there were no high-resolution photo website to get pictures from. And even if you found one, how could you print it? With a dot matrix or black and white laser printer?

(I no longer have the I-Con program book, as I donated that to the Deke Slayton museum in Wisconsin.)

I remember taking an ASTP slide showing three crewmembers, including Deke - maybe I bought it at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City? - breaking it out of its holder, and then placing it in a regular slide holder so I could get a print made. The print is an odd size, slightly larger than an 8x10, and I remember the place made two prints since they couldn't tell which way to orient the slide (e.g. they printed one photo backwards.)

Deke signed it in pen, which ran out midway through, then re-signed it in marker.

And though others have come and gone, or gotten misplaced through the years, I still have that photo. I got Leonov to sign it when I met him at a space-autograph show in California.

This appears to be a color version of AST-05-301.jpg, which identifies the other person as Tom Stafford. I should get it completed, even though Stafford charges a lot for an autograph.

Note that the signatures are oriented relative to their position in the photo. Maybe if I get Stafford to sign it I'll have him do that as well.

kosmo
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posted 07-11-2012 02:38 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for kosmo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is a autograph on a photo I got the first time I meet Harrison Schmitt at a talk in 2001, I asked if he would also include Apollo 17 and LMP (lunar module pilot), never thinking he would actually write out "lunar module pilot", I was only expecting "LMP". Now I wish I would have asked him to include "lunar module pilot/geologist". Oh well, still one of my favorite photos/autographs. Harrison Schmitt's talk, meeting him, hand shake, and photo with him are priceless, the photo/autograph was the icing on the cake.

liftoff1
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posted 07-25-2012 10:56 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm sure that I am not the only collector that this has happened to....

I sent Edgar Mitchell a SpaceShots card for signing and I mailed it inside of a hard plastic card-protector. When the card was returned to me I realized that Mr. Mitchell had SIGNED THE PROTECTOR! I now keep a piece of white paper inside the protector to make the autograph more visible.

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 07-25-2012 11:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mike Mullane signed the sheet protector, then crossed out his autograph. (He did sign the photo that I had enclosed inside the protector.)

dogcrew5369
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posted 07-25-2012 05:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dogcrew5369   Click Here to Email dogcrew5369     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is my very first astronaut autograph I acquired back in 1989. It's not really a unique autograph, but it's one of my very favorite because of Hoot's inscription. He apparently liked the letter I wrote him just after STS-27. It had to do with leaving his pregnant wife behind and, unbeknownst to me, how close he came to not returning.

dogcrew5369
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posted 08-07-2012 11:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dogcrew5369   Click Here to Email dogcrew5369     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Acquired this signed Charlie Duke and video tape that came with it for $40! Belonged to a 2nd and 3rd grade teacher. Duke came to his class back in the early 70's to give a speech and gave him this photo and video.

SkyMan1958
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posted 08-07-2012 05:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SkyMan1958   Click Here to Email SkyMan1958     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Sooooo, is someone the autograph moderator for the "space autograph of the week" thread or not?

I would suggest that the mod would state on Monday whatever signature he/she is looking for that week, and then everybody can post whatever autographs they have of that person during that week. Then the following Monday the moderator would suggest the next signature he/she is looking for, and everybody would post that person's signature (and so forth and so on).

Given that Hart suggested the autograph of the week idea, I would vote him the moderator if he wishes to be it.

yeknom-ecaps
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posted 08-07-2012 10:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for yeknom-ecaps   Click Here to Email yeknom-ecaps     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Being part of the Space Cover of the Week posters is great fun so if Hart doesn't want to be the moderator I would be willing to do this one too ....

Hart Sastrowardoyo
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posted 08-08-2012 06:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Hart Sastrowardoyo   Click Here to Email Hart Sastrowardoyo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My suggestion only. Whoever wants it, go for it.

dogcrew5369
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posted 08-08-2012 07:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for dogcrew5369   Click Here to Email dogcrew5369     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by SkyMan1958:
I would suggest that the mod would state on Monday whatever signature he/she is looking for that week, and then everybody can post whatever autographs they have of that person during that week.
I'd be good with that. Forgive my two in a row postings. I'd like to see more Armstrong autographs with stories since he's so hard to get. I'm up for some structure here!

liftoff1
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posted 08-08-2012 08:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I received this through the mail in 1989.

gliderpilotuk
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posted 08-08-2012 08:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for gliderpilotuk   Click Here to Email gliderpilotuk     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Nice!

dogcrew5369
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posted 08-08-2012 12:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dogcrew5369   Click Here to Email dogcrew5369     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If I only had internet in 1989! I started writing for autographs that year, but just to JSC and current astronauts. I could kick myself for not writing Armstrong or other Apollo astronauts in the '80s. That is a very nice autograph!

liftoff1
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posted 08-12-2012 09:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for liftoff1   Click Here to Email liftoff1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Back in June, 2001, I mailed a couple of items to Jim McDivitt with an autograph request. He returned my items with the accompanying note. I thought it kind of cool that he used his iconic green marker to announce that he no longer signed.

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