Topic: Antiques Roadshow: Apollo 11 emblem artwork
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 02-02-2016 09:52 AM
The July 25, 2015 episode of PBS's Antiques Roadshow taped in Little Rock, Arkansas featured the original artwork design for the Apollo 11 mission emblem from the son of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) illustrator. I believe that was James Cooper.
Posts: 1490 From: Carrollton, GA USA Registered: Jan 2003
posted 02-02-2016 12:58 PM
I saw the episode last night. I think he appraised the item shown for $3000-$5000. The appraiser said the original painting would appraise for much more.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 02-02-2016 01:00 PM
$20,000-$30,000 estimated for the original painting.
Gilbert Member
Posts: 1490 From: Carrollton, GA USA Registered: Jan 2003
posted 02-03-2016 09:25 AM
That's right. And the guy said he didn't know where the original painting was.
mjanovec Member
Posts: 3811 From: Midwest, USA Registered: Jul 2005
posted 02-26-2016 05:37 PM
The appraisal for the items, including the signed emblem photo, seemed a bit light. I would be surprised to see that photo sell for less than $5k on its own.
But I also understand that it's best to be slightly conservative on these estimates too.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 02-26-2016 06:13 PM
Does anyone know the NASA ID numbers of the two bottom photos that show the illustrator?
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 04-02-2016 10:22 PM
It looks like the beta cloth mission patches on the Armstrong and Aldrin flown spacesuits have shadows on the "APOLLO 11" letters and numbers. The emblem artwork does not have shadows.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3207 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 04-03-2016 03:13 AM
Those aren't shadows - it's a slight misalignment of one or more colors during the printing process. Patches with poor alignment are generally worth less but I think people would make an exception for these particular patches.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 04-03-2016 03:11 PM
Here is a NASM photo of the patch on Armstrong's inflight coverall garment jacket for comparison.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3207 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 04-04-2016 01:40 AM
Indeed they all have misalignment/displacement of some of the colors as this was quite common. However I don't believe it was a deliberate feature of the design.
For one thing the 'shadow' effect appears in different directions on different patches.
Also, if this was intended to create a 3D effect on the lettering, why would they also do it on the earth, making it look like a flat disc?
You can see the misalignment in the outer borders too with a white gap on the left side. The yellow on Armstrong's PGA patch is misaligned to the lower right too, leaving a slight gap at upper left and spilling over the border at lower right.
spaced out Member
Posts: 3207 From: Paris, France Registered: Aug 2003
posted 04-19-2016 03:14 AM
The point raised above by LM-12 regarding the shadowing effect on Apollo 11 beta cloth patches prompted me to look a little closer at them.
Although I stand by what I said above about this effect being an issue with misalignment of the various stencilled elements of the design rather than a deliberate feature, I have since noticed that some patches seem to show misalignment without the noticeable 3D/shadow effect.
What I realized is that there is a distinct variant of the Apollo 11 beta cloth patch where the black outline around the lettering and the Earth was apparently removed from the stencil that includes the three concentric outer circles. Misalignment can stil occur but is much less visible without these outlines, making the resulting patches much cleaner looking.
It will certainly be possible to find perfectly aligned versions of the older variant but most patches without a shadow effect on the lettering are likely examples of the later variant.
The variant version has some other noticeable differences in the design which I've mentioned in the updated beta cloth page of my CrewPatches site. Note that the later variant is the one that appears in the Owens Corning Apollo 11 lucites and on their Apollo Missions beta cloth presentation. I've also added a brief mention of the various presentation pieces on the page.
Variants of other beta cloth patches likely also exist. I remember someone sent me images of Apollo 17 patches that had quite distinct differences some time ago but I'm afraid I've lost the mail now.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 04-19-2016 06:53 AM
The patch on Buzz Aldrin's inflight coverall garment jacket seems to be the best-looking, at least in this photo, of the four beta cloth mission patches (PGA and ICG) worn by Armstrong and Aldrin on the flight.
I have not seen any good close-up photos of the two patches worn by Mike Collins for comparison.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 04-20-2016 07:26 PM
Launch day photo KSC-69PC-381 shows both a flight patch and a tech patch.
LM-12 Member
Posts: 3817 From: Ontario, Canada Registered: Oct 2010
posted 07-20-2017 08:09 PM
The Apollo 11 crew focused in on Mike Collins' mission patch during their transearth coast television transmission on Flight Day 8.
posted 02-02-2016 09:52 AM
advertisement