Posts: 1281
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 11-07-2013 01:52 PM               

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Do you have a collecting focus, or do you follow more of a scattershot approach to collecting? Talk a little bit about how your collecting has evolved over time (if it has), and if possible include a picture of something from your collection.

My predominant collecting goal has been, and continues to be, to collect at least one flown item from every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flight. Of the 27 flights (I do not include Skylab or ASTP in Apollo) I still need to get something flown from Freedom 7.

Along the way of collecting flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo material, I've branched out a bit. I decided to try and get signatures from all the astronauts who flew on those and and the Vostok and Voskhod flights. I also got interested in Skylab 3 (or Skylab II), and in collecting some flown shuttle material. In particular I've gotten interested in collecting material (flown and unflown) having to do with Apollo 12.

Posts: 1765
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 11-07-2013 02:16 PM               

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My main goal is to have a flight suit used by an astronaut, from pretty much any era. I also would love to get my hands on any T-38 flight gear used by NASA. However, i truly doubt I'll ever fulfill any of these goals because I just can't justify the amazing expense of anything like that when they get offered for sale.

Signatures and small pieces of cut-up items hold very little interest for me, but I don't sneer on those who are into that stuff. To each his/her own!

Posts: 3466
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 11-07-2013 02:42 PM               

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Used to be scattershot with a little bit of everything, but now focused on Shuttle-era, since I grew up with the program. Not only my Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years program, but signed photos of the 355 astronauts who flew on shuttle as well as those who trained or were selected for Shuttle.

That, and signed photos for those astronauts I've met in person (regardless of what program).

Posts: 509
From: Malvern, Ohio
Registered: Jun 2011

posted 11-07-2013 05:30 PM               

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My goal is to have at least one of every known flown metal medallions, excluding Fliteline and Robbins (unless I hit the lotto).

Getting there, only 16 more of the 225 I know about.

Posts: 1799
From: Birmingham AL
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 11-07-2013 06:45 PM               

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My first goal was to have a signed copy of every astronaut authored book. I lack only a couple now.

Then I sort of went scattershot. I then determined to get an autograph of every Mercury through Apollo era astronaut (classes 1-7) and have achieved that. Now trying for the first 15 astronaut classes and am only lacking one.

Starting in on the rest. Goal now is to have an autograph of all astronauts, especially any who have flown on American vehicles. Have not started on the cosmonauts and don't plan to at this time.

Would like to get a flown artifact from every Mercury, Gemini and Apollo flight but have a long way to go. Have to win a lottery. Have Apollo 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, and 17, but nothing large. Have a nice size piece of MA-9 heatshield, so a long way to go to get to this goal.

Posts: 6203
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 11-08-2013 11:52 AM               

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I used to collect these books as well.

However, almost every international cosmonaut and astronaut (and their backup) has written a book about their training and mission, so that a lot of books.

Posts: 2622
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999

Posts: 598
From: Holland, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 11-08-2013 02:20 PM               

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I'd have to say mine is "lightly-scattered." When I first started, it was just mission patches. Through the years, I've added a few other items that I thought would be good to add — a few medallions and coins, a presentation or two, that kind of thing.

That being said, I'm almost all patches. My main interest is in Apollo, with Mercury and Gemini a close second. And like many others, Apollo 11 is my favorite. I currently have about 18 to 20 variations of the Apollo 11 patch alone, with another 30 patches related to the mission. My goal is to someday have all the known variations of Apollo 11 and all the Apollo-era related patches as well (not just mission patches).

Unlike Hart, I grew up in the Apollo era. My parents thought I was nuts to want to stay up and watch the lunar landing when I was just 10.

Anyway, my collection includes all the US manned missions up to ISS Expedition 10 I think, (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, ASTP, STS and some ISS), a lot of foreign patches and a boatload of mission related patches and program patches, too. Currently pushing 600 unique patches. My intent is to someday leave this all to my daughter, who is also a geek, but in a different way. She'll appreciate what it meant to me (and its value), even if she's not a space geek.

Posts: 110
From: tampa, florida, usa
Registered: Mar 2012

Posts: 1365
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 11-11-2013 10:34 PM               

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My collection is concentrated in three areas: patches, books, and ready-made models.

I don't do autographs (although I've acquired a handful over the years just by chance) simply because they don't hold enough fascination for me to justify the expense, especially in the case of Apollo-era astronauts. Not casting aspersions on anyone else, that's just me.

Related, I don't, and likely won't, have the discretionary income to play in the "big leagues" of flown items, hardware, etc.

So, my "goals" as a collector are really pretty simple: Get the coolest stuff I like and have the most fun I can within my means.

Posts: 663
From: Philadelphia, PA USA
Registered: Mar 2002

Posts: 1398
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 11-25-2013 02:01 PM               

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I started collecting during the Apollo era, so until fairly recently the bulk of my 'archive' (books, NASA pamphlets, lithos and other ephemera) was all from the 60s and 70s. I soon realized (thanks to cS and knowledgeable posters) that anything space-related was going up in value, especially with the end of the shuttle. So I began backtracking and began obtaining flown samples from all five shuttles, in addition to lithos, photos and other print material.

I don't go for "high-end" expensive items, with my budget set for around $100 for one or multiple items. The exception was a recent sale by a retired UK space reporter where I picked up some nice items like Soviet pamphlets, medallions and LP recordings of Mercury and Apollo flights. The only concession to "completeness" I have is my collection of space event covers for every US manned launch and recovery or landing from Shepard until STS-51L/Challenger. These are my most valuable, so I guess I can start to complete it before I retire!

Posts: 12
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 03-22-2023 08:52 AM            

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My aim is to acquire a cover (uniquely cacheted desirable, but generic cachets acceptable) postmarked on the day of launch (preferably at the place of launch) of every space-bound rocket launch (probe, orbital, ionospheric or sub-orbital above 100km) that's taken place up until (my random cut-off date of) 1st January 1973.

How I go about acquiring Cosmos-107, for example, I shudder to think.

Posts: 1358
From: Cincinnati, Ohio, Hamilton
Registered: Mar 2001