posted 07-21-2014 09:24 AM               

I feel that I should send it in to PSA to make sure I wasn't swindled, but the signatures look authentic and are written on a very vintage "Space Hall of Fame" paper with some visible age to the sheet and the seller offered a money back guarantee (although not for the PSA fees).

I may want to frame them, so should I not ask for them to be "encapsulated" or is it better to have them encapsulated and just figure out a better display option?

Any tips on dealing with PSA or how to best proceed with my recent purchase?

posted 07-21-2014 10:30 AM               

Here is an image of my purchase.

posted 07-21-2014 10:57 AM               

Cosmic_buffalo: In my opinion, your Apollo 11 signed sheet is not authentic. If you have a return option, I recommend using it immediately.

posted 07-21-2014 10:57 AM               

Fortunately, I paid with a credit card via PayPal, so I should be able to recoup my money.

posted 07-21-2014 11:00 AM               

When I make another purchase, I'll be sure to send it into you.

posted 07-21-2014 11:07 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by JasonB:
...go to Steve Zarelli for authentication on it. He's the best there is when it comes to space autographs.

---

posted 07-21-2014 04:40 PM               

One of the easy tells with the NASA proxies is the Buzz usually had oversized balloonish loops on the Zs. And a really soft loopy paraph under the Collins.

posted 07-21-2014 05:08 PM               

I highly recommend that you use all resources available (and there are quite a few of them) to educate yourself as you dive into this hobby. Start right on this web site, using the link to the left titled "Resources".

There, you will find a number of excellent articles about various segments of this hobby, including autographs. Become familiar with autopen patterns as well -- before you know it, you will be able to recognize autopens very easily. There is also an excellent signature study for Neil Armstrong, where you will see how his signature changed throughout the years, as well as examples of some common forgeries.

If you can find a copy of Russell Still's Relics of the Space Race (3rd edition), that will give you an excellent introduction to what you need to know to keep out of trouble.

Finally, and perhaps most important, if you are considering buying something, be it from eBay or elsewhere, consider posting here on collectSPACE, and someone who is familiar will likely be willing to help you out. Too often, folks are afraid that if they post here, then other folks will see the item and bid on it thus costing them more to acquire it. Trust me, you will rarely find something (other than the occasional lucky "Buy it Now" that others here have overlooked. And ... you will save yourself much grief by finding out first that the item is good, bad, or suspect rather than having to try to get your money back.

posted 07-21-2014 06:41 PM               

I sent the guy a message and an email, he didn't respond to either, but the money is back in my account (or at least pending).

He didn't say anything so I'm not sure if he was embarrassed innocently or felt the jig (gig?) was up. His story about his dad dying and finding it in his safe... could be true or not.

Thanks again for the great responses and seasoned eyes. I'll look into that book and the great resources linked here. I may have made a rookie mistake, but at least I found a good place to get help.

Since, some of you alluded to the scenario, yes, it was purchased on eBay and I bought it almost as soon as was listed so it seemed like maybe I got a lucky break. Had it been listed for a long time (or any time really) so far below the going rate, I would have assumed it was no good, but I saw it within a just few minutes of the auction start and jumped on the buy-it-now. Thankfully the system had enough protection (both PayPal and my credit card) that it's hard to rip-off someone who will do their work (even if it's after the fact... ha!).

posted 07-21-2014 08:16 PM               

Then, the OP hit the BIN on it yesterday, has now received his money back, and the seller has it back up for auction, and has already received bids.

posted 07-22-2014 10:05 AM               

if you do buy something on eBay, make sure it has a return period. Also before you pay for it ask opinions here, and if they come back like they have on this piece, then you can ask the seller to cancel the sale and save both of you the postage.

posted 07-22-2014 11:19 AM               

I left honest feedback "Sold fake Apollo 11 autographs, issued refund (seller did relist item)" under the neutral option. The seller messaged me and called something very rude and threatened me by reminding me that he has my shipping address.

I called eBay, they are looking into it. If I can help someone else avoid being ripped off the way you all helped me, I'll be happy.

Despite the hassle and disappointment, I'm still looking to buy my first autograph. I want something nice, since I may not acquire a lot of autographs necessarily. I have more interest in flown memorabilia than signatures, but do like them very much. A Neil or Yuri would make a fine addition to my library and telescope room, especially since I don't currently aspire to collect a lot of autographs necessarily, that is, I'm going for quality over quantity right now.

Buzz, Shepard, and Glenn are still reasonable cheap autographs that will always hold historic value, their names are safe in the history books, so I'm not opposed to starting out with one of them either. Again, I am looking for some items that would look good on the shelves of my astro-library and to accent the spaces and the walls... a few autographs and maybe even an item like a glove.

posted 07-22-2014 11:40 AM               

I recommend that you go through established dealers who are pretty much universally trusted. I apologize to anyone I leave out of my short list here, but Farthest Reaches, Spaceflori, Novaspace, Lunar Legacies (Donnis Willis), Astronaut Archives (Gerry Montague), Moonpans, The Space Source... all of these are good options, and your likelihood of having a bad experience with these dealers is infinitesimally small.

For flown items, educate yourself first so you know what you are doing. Provenance is EVERYTHING with flown items! If you decide to buy lucite presentations, or presentations with a small piece attached to a picture, card, or other thing, make sure you buy something that you are confident in the source of the material. For example, I have seen some presentations for sale in screw-down holders (like those used for baseball cards), and the material inside might be okay or it might not, but the source is not iron clad, so — it might be a flown piece of kapton or it might be a piece of kapton removed before the flight departed the planet -- sometimes there is no way to tell, so you MUST get it from a known source (Ken Havekotte is an excellent source for this, and anything with his name attached to it with a known presentation type is good.

Also, RR Auctions is a nice source of authentic stuff, with Steve Zarelli authenticating their space items; just be aware that whatever you bid will have a buyer's premium added on so take that into account.