posted 01-28-2016 06:31 AM               

In other words, in around 2000 I bought an Neil Armstrong autograph for $300 and you could pick up an Apollo 11 crew signed photo for $500 (didn't have the cash for the Apollo 11 crew), three months later major auction house sold them for proper silly money and now prices have settled.

So here's the question:

posted 01-28-2016 12:53 PM               

Sometimes it can be a case of been in the right place at the right time to obtain an item that no one else has.

I went to Starmus in 2014 and at the coffee break of the first set of lectures the organiser went on stage and said that they had for sale 500 copies of the first printing of "Starmus: 50 Years of Man in Space". He said that Stephen Hawking had put his thumbprint in a small number of these books and so you had a one in 6 chance of buying one that was signed. The books cost 40 euros and you just handed over the money and some people would be lucky whilst the majority would be unlucky. You could not open the books up and keep looking until you found a signed copy.

I handed over 40 euros and was fortunate enough to get a signed copy. I was able to get every single speaker at the festival to sign the book including Charlie Duke, Walter Cunningham and Alexei Leonov, three Noble prize winners, Brian May from Queen, Rick Wakeman, Richard Dawkins and other notable scientists. As I was attending the festival everyone signed for free and people were taking photos of the signed page including one of the speakers. I also had my photo taken with a lot of the speakers.

As far as I am aware I was the only person to get every single speaker to sign their book. On the second day we were at an auditorium for talks by Brian May and Stephen Hawking and the books were on sale there as well. I bought another copy of the book with the intention of giving it as a gift but as I got a second book signed by Stephen Hawking decided to keep it for myself. I also had this book signed by several of the speakers.

posted 01-28-2016 02:03 PM               

Signed Gagarin items are hugely undervalued. For long term investment growth compared to current price then surely these will outperform the majority of signed MGA items where prices are likely to stagnate or drop over the long term.

Taking a long term view how many in 100 years will know about the the majority of the MGA flights with the exception of Apollo 11? Whilst with Gagarin he will always be the first human in space.

posted 01-28-2016 04:09 PM            

Wright brothers and Charles Lindberg autographs are highly desired. Many other important pioneers of aviation are much less sought after. Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong autographs on period photos/documents with relevant content will always be worth money and will probably stand the test of time.

I'd add photos of the original seven astronauts and signed photos of the Apollo 1, 11 crews along with signed crew photos of the 51-L and STS-107 crews. All should be in top condition and with good provenance and opinions of authenticity.

posted 01-28-2016 04:10 PM               

I have said for years now Gagarin's value is significantly depressed due to the flood of Gagarin fakes that have been pumped into the market in the past 15 years. A certain auction house routinely had a dozen or more Gagarin items in each auction for years, almost every single one a fake! They sourced from an eBay seller who has an endless supply of signed photos, postcards and documents. My reject rate for Gagarin is around 75%.

If one could wave a magic wand and make all these fakes disappear, my sense is Gagarin would be $1,500 plus for a signed postcard.

posted 01-28-2016 05:25 PM               

When I found out that Jim Lovell was going to be at Space Lectures I went onto eBay and found an Apollo 8 flight plan poster from 1969. Rather than just a picture of the moon it has a lot of writing about the mission, the Saturn V rocket and what the astronauts said and did each day. I bought it from a second hand dealer and only paid £18 but have never seen anything like it since.

I prefer posters that are full of information as once I get them framed you can just stand and take time to read all about the mission rather than just looking at a picture.

For the Gene Cernan event I have bought a 1969 General Electric initial moon landing poster which is full of technical information.

I am at Starmus in June and I have bought a massive 40 by 47 inch Apollo Soyuz Test Project poster from 1975 which I hope to get signed by Alexei Leonov. One third of this large poster is writing about the missions objectives.

posted 01-28-2016 05:31 PM               

But for someone with $5,000 to spend and looking for something both as a good investment and enjoyment, I'd say you couldn't miss in buying an Apollo 11 insurance cover - if you can find one for $5,000.

posted 01-28-2016 05:42 PM               

Examples of these would be Paul Calle's portrait of Neil Armstrong originally offered by the National Air and Space Museum; "Naval Aviation in Space" by R.L. Rasmussen originally offered by the Naval Aviation Museum; and any of Alan Bean's signed, limited edition prints offered through the Greenwich Workshop.

posted 01-29-2016 05:10 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by spacehiker:
Just make sure you get Steve Zarelli to authenticate it or buy an item with cast iron provenance.

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posted 01-29-2016 07:19 AM               

Maybe a poorly worded question on my part with what should you buy at each price point in today's market.

I agree with the Gargarin signatures but I think Rob makes the best point about the retail signings.

My collecting at the moment is at a standstill as it's all in the expensive basket, still needing Anders and Mattingly for my multi-signed piece. I also need Schmitt to complete an Apollo 17 crew signed photo.

Last year I think I made two purchases, an Irwin pencil cross (thought after doing this for the last 20 years I better put one in the collection) and a Leonov in his book with Scott (already signed by Scott in person in Glasgow).

posted 01-29-2016 07:48 AM               

His prices on better material like that, even though it had been more than 15 years ago, were rather pricey I had thought in those days.

He also offered me a signed Shepard/WSS, not inscribed, but was asking (I think) over $1K+ or so. Since I had already gotten a few of those from Shepard himself while he was on visits here to the AHOF during the 90s, I did pass on his Shepard offers.

posted 01-29-2016 10:26 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
...But I loved Galaxy's Conrad inscription when first walking on the lunar surface -- it was a classic piece in my opinion, and the same for Borman as well.

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For those of us that started collecting in the 2000's, what were Conrad's and Borman's Galaxy inscriptions? Thank you!

posted 01-29-2016 11:38 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by skippy in space:
If you had $100, $500, $1000, $5000 and over $10,000 what would you buy for investment and for pleasure?

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posted 01-30-2016 05:07 AM              

Buy autographs if you love them, but not to make money. Besides fakes, who knows in 20 or 30 years when the M/G/A guys are gone if people who are younger than us will care enough about the people involved in these missions to buy autographs and thus support the value of the market when we are ready to sell. I doubt it so much that if I could short autographs I would. Appreciation would require that young people want to collect signatures of people they haven't met nor didn't grow up seeing on TV. That's highly unlikely.

I am bullish, however, on quality flown items from the lunar missions. One thousand years from now humanity will still remember the first time that we landed on the moon. The artifacts associated with Apollo will, in my opinion, appreciate over that same time period - 20 to 30 years - because the Apollo missions will be fascinating even to people who didn't experience the events live.

So to specifically answer the question - I'd buy one item for $10k - the most awesome flown piece of hardware you can find from Apollo. I'd find something that was actually used on a lunar mission and that had been owned by an Apollo astronaut and therefore has rock solid provenance. A pen or pencil or flashlight or cue card or something similar is what I'd go for.

posted 01-30-2016 07:23 AM               

I had a brief look at signed 1st edition books and by simply having the authors signature the prices are very large.

An unsigned 1st edition of "From Russia With Love" from 1957 can be bought for £2,500. The same book signed by Ian Fleming is up for £37,500.

A first edition of "Casino Royale" from 1953 and signed by Ian Fleming is up for sale at £95,000.

posted 01-30-2016 08:10 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Chuckster01:
I agree with David's assessment of Apollo items but I would add the space shuttle program.

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posted 01-30-2016 09:42 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by SkyMan1958:
For those of us that started collecting in the 2000's, what were Conrad's and Borman's Galaxy inscriptions?

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posted 01-30-2016 04:09 PM               

• Yuri Gagarin portrait signed
  
• Tereshkova portrait signed
  
• Neil Armstrong portrait signed
  
• Apollo 11 crew signed

posted 01-30-2016 11:09 PM               

I had four same number matched sets of the Apollo 11-17 series with the black and blue satin lined cases and an additional 175 assorted single medals, most with the boxes and brochures. I even started hoarding the US Presidential series — smaller with 1.5 ounces each. Had well over 1000 ounces of silver in these.

Silver was stagnant back then and I eventually needed the money for a business venture and decided to sell them all when silver was just above $5 an ounce. I did better selling them on eBay as collector items vs taking them to the local coin shop for scrap silver. I had one fellow purchase all my Apollo 17 single medals who offered me for $100 a piece (smart man). I think I got over $400 each for the Apollo sets. I thought I had hit pay dirt with those sales. But in the long run after eBay and PayPal fees I at best came out even. But I enjoyed the hunt in finding and owning them when I did.

But I should have held on to them all. Shortly after I sold them, silver shot over $20 an ounce with a very short peak at $40 in February 2011.

Today they are difficult to find because the majority of them have been sold and melted for scrap silver and no longer exist. Today they selling for $200 to $300 each. Matched sets are real collector items and are rare at any price.