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  Opinions: Apollo astronaut signed prints

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Author Topic:   Opinions: Apollo astronaut signed prints
ozspace
Member

Posts: 231
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2009

posted 09-20-2016 05:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozspace   Click Here to Email ozspace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I was wondering if anyone could identify these five photographic prints, each signed and numbered, as follows:
  • Gene Cernan - "America's Challenge" - 417/500
  • Al Bean - "Spectrum of Glory" - 69/500
  • Al Shepard - "Road to Discovery" - 26/500
  • Jim Lovell - "Sightseeing" - 419/500
  • Tom Stafford- "Earthrise" - 366/500
They each measure 16x20, on photographic paper and unframed. They are all of similar size and style.

Unfortunately, they have each been laminated at some stage and caused a couple of the signatures to "bleed." How does that affect their value? Thoughts, suggestions and opinions welcome!

Mike_The_First
Member

Posts: 436
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2014

posted 09-20-2016 07:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike_The_First   Click Here to Email Mike_The_First     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ozspace:
How does that affect their value?
Negatively.

Lamination generally is generally not archival, so, over the long term, the bleeding isn't going to be the only (or necessarily the worst) issue these will face.

Over the short term, the bleeding is a problem, especially for the Shepard, which, due to the lack of spacing between the letters, is essentially turning into a blob.

With that, you're getting into a territory of "wouldn't pay for that", rather than "would pay significantly less for that." Speaking personally, there's nothing about them that I would consider overly special — definitely not enough to outweigh the negatives.

On another note, I'm also confused about the Stafford signed "Earthrise." Perhaps they simply used it as a generic image? I don't know the other images well enough to form an opinion on their relevance to the signer.

Anyway. If you're looking to buy these, I'd say you have decent leverage (assuming they're authentic). I'd also say that it's leverage you don't want. If you're looking to sell these, I'd say good luck.

ozspace
Member

Posts: 231
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2009

posted 09-20-2016 08:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozspace   Click Here to Email ozspace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Mike, I thought that may be the case. They belong to a friend that has asked me to sell his collection, he has some amazing stuff that I will be putting up shortly.

He dug these out as an afterthought and basically gave me the same advice you have, I just thought I would see if there was anything more I could learn to be able to manage expectations. Much appreciated!

Robert Pearlman
Editor

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

posted 09-20-2016 09:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
These are a rather infamous set of prints that led to the arrest of the person who created and sold them.
[Richard Keith] Mountain approached area galleries offering to sell limited edition prints autographed by astronauts, including the first American in space Alan Shepard, Apollo moonwalker Alan Bean and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project commander Thomas Stafford. The photos, which Mountain marketed under the title "American Dream," were laminated after being signed, causing the autographs to sometimes bleed into the paper.
The autographs are authentic but as mentioned, the lamination impacts their value.

fredtrav
Member

Posts: 1673
From: Birmingham AL
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 09-20-2016 12:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
AS Robert says, the lamination does affect he value, but they still have value, just not a lot. I have seen them on eBay selling for between $40 and $100 each. I bought the Lovell one which was beautifully framed for about $60. The signature has not (yet) bled a lot, and it is a nice piece.

ozspace
Member

Posts: 231
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2009

posted 09-20-2016 07:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozspace   Click Here to Email ozspace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
These are a rather infamous set of prints that led to the arrest of the person who created and sold them.
This is fascinating, the owner here in Melbourne did say he was contacted a number of years ago by our Australian Federal Police about these prints, nothing came of it...

Really appreciate all of the information and advice!

All times are CT (US)

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