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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-20-2010 03:20 PM               

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These aren't the signatures you were looking for...

Fun video presentation! I wish I could offer better news, but both the Armstrong and Collins signatures are indeed classic autopens.

Keep in mind that the autopen machine used a real pen of the operator's choice to apply a traced pattern on the object to be signed, whether it be a photo, index card, newspaper and yes, even a book.

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Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-21-2010 04:55 AM               

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Don't be too embarrassed. There are tens of thousands of people out there who have treasured signed pieces over the years without realizing they're Autopens.

Many of these people worked at NASA and even knew some of the astronauts, so never suspected when handed a signed item that it could have been machine generated.

In fact if I remember rightly we've even seen Autopen signed items in the collections of the some of the astronauts themselves, so anyone can be fooled.

At least you've accepted the reality now, as in many cases denial is the immediate reaction when people suggest their treasured signatures are not genuine, and sometimes it can be impossible to convince them.

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Posts: 1096
From: Lincolnshire IL USA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 10-21-2010 01:36 PM               

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Neil Armstrong at this time signs virtually nothing: no checks, no letters, no Fedex receipts, etc. There was a recent case where he did sign a customs declaration, but it was more a printed name than a true signature. He has not signed since 1994 with just a few exceptions.

While I may not agree with his approach (it just makes his autograph more expensive), he did sign as many as an estimated 100,000 items in the years before 1994.

I would contrast Neil's policy with that of John Glenn, who has signed for free for years.

Many people have tried to entice Neil to do a charity signing but he has so far declined.

Those of us who obtained his signature through the mail before 1994 feel fortunate (I received my inscribed Apollo 11 lunar orbit map in my mailbox on July 20, 1994-- what a way to celebrate the 25th Anniversary!).

Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 10-22-2010 02:06 PM               

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Joe Buckstrap -

Welcome to collectSPACE! I am one of the folks who e-mailed you regarding that listing on e-Bay. As far as I can tell, you are the only one who I have ever e-mailed who actually took my advice and stopped by cS for advice regarding your item. It is a credit to you and your sense of integrity that you decided to do so, as painful as it must be to find out that the Armstrong and Collins are autopens.

I hope you'll stick around -- it's a pretty cool place to be.

Posts: 769
From: West Midlands, UK
Registered: Jun 2005

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-22-2010 03:39 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by robsouth:
Would these have all been autopens?

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Almost certainly, yes.

It would have been likely even if you'd written when the crews were actually active at NASA but if you wrote in the late 80s the vast majority of the astronauts had already left NASA. How would those lithos actually have been signed by the astronauts when they weren't even there any more?

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posted 10-24-2010 09:13 PM               

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Well, I blew it when it came to space collecting - just wasn't educated enough - but if it's any consolation, I do have authentic autographs for sale on eBay. I am in the process of liquidating some of my prized autograph collection to raise cash to pay unexpected medical bills for my pet cat who was inflicted with a spiral fracture to her tibia from a two foot hop off of a coffee table!

I am selling a J. Edgar Hoover (two autographs combined, one of which is on a rare color studio portrait); a prized Alfred Hitchcock letter from 1951 on his personal stationary; and an autograph inscription by the Romantic Poet, William Wordsworth from 12 December 1837. All of these are professionally framed.

I'm mulling over whether I should liquidate my Leo Delibes signed on a hand inscribed score from his fabulous opera Lakme. I think I'm too much of an opera fanatic to depart with that one though.

Posts: 104
From: Georgia
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 10-25-2010 04:44 PM            

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Look at it this way, for 41 years you enjoyed it, if you got it that long ago, it probably didn't cost you much, just the cost of framing, whcih no doubt let you enjoy it even more.

There is a market for autopens, but it wouldnt be near the value of an original NA.