posted 05-15-2016 08:21 AM               

Mike Z, as many of us knew him, passed away over two years ago after many years of serious health problems. Tragically, his beloved son, Craig, after a life-time of illnesses himself, then passed away about a year after his father.

Mike left behind his widow, Phyllis, and his long-time and cherished space collection. Phyllis bravely endured the many years of illnesses of both Mike and Craig and now, facing health and financial problems herself, is prepared to sell a portion of Mike's collection to help with her situation.

Collector Garry Laing has obtained a portion of Mike's large collection from Phyllis and he and I are involved together in selling highlights from Mike's collection to aid Phyllis.

The sale will start here soon, but first we'd like to list a small sample of Mike's items that will be offered.

Also, besides autograph material, Mike had a superb collection of space patches and pins.

The sale will involve each item having a price that the item will sell for, but we will encourage higher offers above that price and each item will be sold at the highest price offered. In effect, it will be similar to an auction.

100% of the money paid will be for Phyllis and it is our hope that offers will be generous, so offers above the given price will be encouraged and appreciated.

Listed below is an small sample of autograph material that will be for sale here soon:

• Virgil I. Grissom signed index card
  
• Ed White signed index card
  
• Alan Shepard signed Mercury spacesuit photo
  
• STS-107 Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon ISP
  
• Glenn, Carpenter, Schirra, Cooper and Slayton signed business suit lithos

posted 05-16-2016 12:27 PM               

• A partial view of a very desirable Ilan Ramon orange spacesuit ISP dedicated to Mike and his family, with "STS-107" added. A scan of the entire litho can be sent to anyone seriously interested.

• A 3x5 card signed in blue ball point pen by Virgil I. Grissom

• A 3x5 card nicely signed by Edward White in black ball point pen.

posted 05-18-2016 07:40 AM               

• Mike Collins WSS SP
  
• Buzz Aldrin WSS ISP
  
• Frank Borman Apollo 8 Earthrise ISP
  
• Alan Shepard WSS ISP
  
• Jim Lovell WSS SP
  
• Jack Schmitt WSS ISP
  
• Dave Scott WSS SP
  
• Gene Cernan WSS ISP
  
• Tom Stafford GT-6 launch photo SP
  
• Patricia Hilliard signed Space Shuttle cover
  
• 14 Chinese Taikonauts signed cover
  
• SP photo of first Taikonaut and two others.

Scans of these autographed items are not available yet, but will be later.

posted 05-18-2016 03:23 PM               

Each item will have a price and will be sold for that price if no higher offers are received, but higher offers are encouraged because of the special nature of this sale. The current prices offered will be posted here and each item will be available for offers for several days.

Payment for items won should be sent directly to Phyllis Zolotorow by Paypal and her Paypal account will be posted here soon. Items won will be sent a day or two after payment is received by Phyllis.

Shipping will be by Priority Mail with tracking for purchases under $100. Purchases for more than $100 will also be sent by Priority Mail, with tracking and with signature confirmation. Shipping costs will be listed later.

The Mike Z Space Collection Sale starts now with the following items:

1. Virgil I. Grissom signed 3x5" card: $400 (Sold for $600)
   

2. Edward H. White II signed 3x5" card: $400 (Sold for $525)
   

3. Ilan Ramon STS-107 Israeli astronaut 8x10 ISP: $600 (No offers. Will be relisted next for $500)

4. Deke Slayton ISP WSS: $60 (sold for $60)
   

5. John Glenn 8x10 Business suit SP with "Best regards": $50 (Sold for $55)

6. Scott Carpenter 8x10 BS SP: $50 (Sold for $50)

7. Wally Schirra 8x10 SP Silver Mercury suit: $60 (Sold for $80)

8. Gordon Cooper SP 8x10 BS: $50 (Sold for $55)

9. Unflown deceased Shuttle astronaut Patricia Hilliard signed uncanceled cover: $200 (Sold for $200)

posted 05-19-2016 03:23 PM               

We plan to offer at least 20 more items here next time, including an ASTP flown patch from Tom Stafford's collection and gifted to Mike with provenance. Unsold items will continue to be offered.

Scans are now available of signed portraits of Glenn, Carpenter, Schirra and Cooper. Of note, is that the Schirra portrait is a red numbered NASA glossy (S62-5526) and it and the others are in very good condition.

Shipping charges will be posted here soon, but for now, we will ship by Priority Mail that includes tracking and $50 insurance. More expensive shipments will include signature confirmation.

Again, the sale/auction will end at 5:00 PM EDT Saturday. Thank you.

posted 05-21-2016 03:52 PM               

It looks like we made over $1,600 for Phyllis with this first modest sale - thank you very much.

posted 05-22-2016 08:40 AM               

I have to agree that this wasn't the smoothest run auction - I'm better at bidding in an auction than running one and this format isn't the best. But it supplies Phyllis with 100% of the proceeds (Thanks, Robert, for providing this platform).

As far as alerting bidders of their bids being bettered, I immediately updated all bids here and there really weren't many additional bids (The Ed White card received the most bids), with no bids in the last 24-hours - which was surprising.

With the next auctions, I'll immediately contact any bidders who have been out bid in the final minutes of the auction and give them the opportunity to raise their bid and continue this, as is done in the RR auctions, until some time passes without any additional bids. So that will eliminate sniping, which didn't occur this time.