|
Author
|
Topic: [RR Auction] Space and Aviation (May 2014)
|
jonspace
Member Posts: 169
From:
Registered: Jan 2014
|
posted 05-22-2014 11:35 PM
   
I was bidding on some Apollo 8 stuff, and it shot up way above any comparable pieces that sold recently on other auctions. See auctions 258, 254 (a much nicer crew signed earthrise sold for less on HA without any fading), 253.I won 556 and I'm so excited to receive it. I want to pair it with a flown flag from that mission and display it next to my Astronomika STS-26 print. |
rgarner
Member Posts: 1193
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 05-23-2014 03:36 AM
That was insane. Kapton Foil at that price? I walked away with yet another signed dollar (a thank you) for buttons, and the swatch reaches those heights?! I think there were a few people bidding who had more money than sense about that one. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
|
posted 05-23-2014 05:54 AM
This is what makes consigning to an auction house so interesting. You might end up with less than you could have gotten on eBay after the fees are taken out, or two wealthy bidders might pleasantly surprise you (which unpleasantly surprises the other bidders). |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 05-23-2014 07:34 AM
I did wonder whether the prices might suffer some fallout from following so soon after the big Heritage auction but this didn't seem to be the case.I don't know whether the big money is coming mostly from the private space entrepreneurs but whoever is buying the big ticket items at the moment they don't seem to be suffering too much from the recession. Apart from the major flown items already mentioned, I was impressed by the high prices fetched by the unflown Apollo hardware (lots 178 onwards) - some big 5 figure results, and lot 180 hit $114,709 with fees. The nuts and bolts guys should be very happy with these results.  The rare patches spread through the auction went pretty well, although none of the closing prices were sky high. There were some pretty good bargains to be had so I reckon there must be a lot of happy patch collectors out there today. My own budget was pretty limited but I still managed to fill a couple of gaps in my collection. There were some nice beta cloths too. The huge set with multiple name tags was a nice one for whoever won it. I really liked the suit-removed US flag too. If I'd managed to find a photo of the patch on an Apollo 10 training suit I would have pushed hard for that one but unfortunately I didn't manage to find a match. That doesn't mean it wasn't worn on a training suit - just that it wasn't photographed as far as I could see. Still a very nice worn patch. |
Steve Zarelli
Member Posts: 731
From: Upstate New York, USA
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 05-23-2014 08:28 AM
How about a modern Tereshkova signed photo going for twice the amount of a Edward H White unpersonalized silver space suit portrait with a super strong signature?Sure wish I bid on that White now. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 05-23-2014 09:00 AM
collectSPACE Astronaut's joystick used for Apollo moon landing tops half a million at auctionThe joystick controller used by astronaut David Scott to land Apollo 15's lunar module on the moon 43 years ago this July has sold for more than half a million dollars. The sale is believed to be the highest price ever paid at a public auction for part of a NASA spacecraft. RR Auction of Boston sold the spacecraft's rotational hand controller for $610,064 to an unidentified online bidder on Thursday evening (May 22). The record sale was a part of the firm's 7th Space and Aviation Autograph and Artifact Auction, which listed more than 600 aeronautic and space exploration relics and related memorabilia. For the full list of prices realized (by highest paid), see RR Auction's website. |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
|
posted 05-23-2014 02:19 PM
Makes me want to go sell my Jim McDivitt flags among other items I didn't think were worth anything! |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
|
posted 05-23-2014 04:04 PM
It understandably looks better, but why keep quoting an incorrect figure ($600K+) for the Apollo 15 rotational control, when the actual price paid by the winning bidder will be less than $600K? (RR's 22.5% buyer fee will not be applicable, as the item cannot be paid for with a credit card, meaning the premium will not top 20%.) This isn't a major issue either way, but why tout results that aren't real? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 05-23-2014 04:41 PM
The simplest reason is because that's the figure published by RR Auction itself. A reader finding an article about the auction and seeing one figure, only to then discover a different figure cited by the auction house itself would understandably be confused. Technically, per the terms and conditions, all bidders agree to pay a 22.5 percent premium upon winning a lot. The discount is applied after the fact. (In other words, per the T&C, the buyer's premium does not change based on the sale price; it only affects the offer of a discount.) quote:
Originally posted by chet:
It understandably looks better...
By the way, I'm not sure $610,064 looks any better than $597,613. Both would be rounded off to $600,000. |
cosmos-walter
Member Posts: 691
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003
|
posted 05-23-2014 04:57 PM
Lot #505 is a Soviet stamp sheet which was carried on board the Apollo-Soyuz mission in July 1975.While the two ships were docked, the three Americans and two Soviets conducted joint scientific experiments, exchanged flags and gifts. Valery Kubassov took 25 covers on board Soyuz 19. These include 5 sets of three stationaries issued for ASTP - one for each of the 5 astronauts. Inside each docking stationary was a souvenir sheet. All of them were postmarked with special Baikonur ASTP postmark. The 5 astronauts signed all covers - not the souvenir sheets - during their joint flight. I wonder, whether the three US astronauts took their covers to earth with Apollo. If this had happened, this lot might have some great historic value for astrophilatelists - in spite of the terrible condition of the souvenir sheet. |
Jurvetson
Member Posts: 93
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011
|
posted 05-23-2014 05:35 PM
Wow. That sure was a fun action to track live. Bobby must be over the moon. When the catalog first arrived, I was worried when my top two picks were the front and back cover photo... and I got massively outbid on both. It's funny how my emotion shifts from regret at being denied access to elation on the market prices for the "nuts and bolts" items I have collected in the recent past. The main items I picked up were Buzz Aldrin's glove, the Apollo 12 strap, LM FDAI, and my new desk" — the enormous Apollo mission control console. I am also very excited about the flown Salyut star tracker (looks like it's from an alien star ship), BSLSS, and lots 58, 144, 197 and 200. |
rjurek349
Member Posts: 1190
From: Northwest Indiana
Registered: Jan 2002
|
posted 05-23-2014 09:55 PM
Steve, amazing pieces, congrats! I am pleased to report that the Jefferson Space Museum was lucky enough to score the GT-5 flown $2 bill halves from Conrad and Cooper given to Guenter. |
mikeh
Member Posts: 147
From:
Registered: Feb 2008
|
posted 05-24-2014 01:48 AM
Crazy prices indeed. From now on I will only sell at well advertised specialized space auctions. I've tried selling better items in the regular monthly that never come anywhere close to what these kind of "events" bring in. Damn! |
freshspot
unregistered
|
posted 05-24-2014 04:25 AM
Steve, some amazing items there! Congrats. I'd love to visit your collection one day. Rich, glad to hear the Jefferson in Space Museum picked up that fantastic $2 display! I had to sit out the big ticket items at RR because I was thrilled to win Alan Bean's Apollo 12 joystick at Heritage last week. However, I was able to get a few unflown "nuts and bolts" items at RR including lot 202, the R-4D Reaction Control Engine Purge Plug which will display beautifully with my Marquardt R-4D N2O4/MMH rocket engine. |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 05-24-2014 06:43 AM
Steve - so it was you that outbid me on the Aldrin glove and PLSS strap! I was sure I had those with my $1,000 opening bids!  Anyway, those are some great items and I loved that BSLSS too. Nice wins. |
Crsh4Csh
Member Posts: 113
From:
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 05-24-2014 12:38 PM
Although I didn't end up with all the items I was bidding on, I'm thrilled to have gotten the item I wanted THE most, 287, Aldrin's flown lunar landing checklist page.
To me personally, 100 years from now, most people will just remember the FIRST lunar landing.To actually possess something critical from that even , well... Let's just hope someday my great-great grandchildren will think its as cool as it will be for me holding it. |
james f. ruddy
Member Posts: 59
From: Rancho Mirage, CA
Registered: Nov 2008
|
posted 05-24-2014 01:43 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Jurvetson:
The main items I picked up were Buzz Aldrin's glove, the Apollo 12 strap, LM FDAI, and my new desk" — the enormous Apollo mission control console.
Steve, congratulations on acquiring Buzz Aldrin's glove. If you are ever in the Palm Springs area, come for a visit and we can put the left and right gloves together for a reunion! My glove can be seen on my website. I acquired it in 2001. |
mode1charlie
Member Posts: 1169
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010
|
posted 05-24-2014 03:53 PM
I'm of a cloth with Chris' comments about hoping that somehow my measly bid on those surface-landed items would somehow squeak through and carry the day... but alas!Congrats indeed to all the winning bidders. The Apollo 15 hand controller is really a prize, and knowing a little about Steve's great collection (and as importantly, his careful curation) I think many were hoping you were the winning bidder. Is it public knowledge who did win the item? I did end up winning one of the (much!) lower cost Apollo 15 items, but am happy for all those other winning bidders (as well as Dave, who I hope is going to treat himself to a nice dinner tonight). |
pupnik
Member Posts: 114
From: Maryland
Registered: Jan 2014
|
posted 05-24-2014 08:41 PM
And here I was happy enough just to have won the ISS tray... |
Jurvetson
Member Posts: 93
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011
|
posted 05-24-2014 11:48 PM
mode1charlie - wow, that is the greatest compliment a collector could hope for. I started five years ago, have never collected anything before (well, let's say nothing over $1K to be precise) in my life, and spaceaholic found me out after my first purchase, and has been a mentor throughout. James - Yes, we should stage a high five. And a similar invitation extends up here as well. Freshpot - Absolutely, you are welcome for a tour anytime. In fact, everyone in the cS community is welcome to visit anytime, even if I am not there to curate, since everything is in the lobby, side halls and my office at work. In addition to flown LM hardware from most of the missions, I have a large Apollo 11 EVA handle from Columbia and a slice of the moon larger than any brought back by Apollo (it is breathtakingly beautiful in my opinion, but I am biased by the context).  |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
|
posted 05-25-2014 02:02 AM
A complete slice of NWA5000 if I'm not mistaken. Beautiful! |
holcombeyates
Member Posts: 243
From: UK
Registered: Dec 2010
|
posted 05-25-2014 12:16 PM
That's two great auctions in as many weeks, RR listings were outstanding and made for a very late night here in the UK - around 1.15am by the time all bids were done.Disappointed to have missed the COAS and my alternative option, Gene Kranz's Apollo 11 notes which went for 4 to 5 times it's estimate. I did grab Kranz's post Apollo 12 notebook which will be a fascinating read when it arrives and adds a unique and personal angle to the Apollo story. Roll on the fall space auctions! I hope RR can put another spectacular listing together again. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
|
posted 05-25-2014 02:45 PM
quote:
Originally posted by holcombeyates:
I did grab Kranz's post Apollo 12 notebook which will be a fascinating read when it arrives and adds a unique and personal angle to the Apollo story.
For all of the unique flown hardware elsewhere in the auction, that lot really jumped out at me. Enjoy! |
cosmos-walter
Member Posts: 691
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003
|
posted 05-26-2014 11:03 AM
Jurvetson, how big and how heavy is your NWA 5000 lunar meteorite? |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4437
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 05-26-2014 01:35 PM
Looks to be the 406g slice.More remaining (even larger) if you have some spare pocket change. |
rgarner
Member Posts: 1193
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 05-26-2014 02:36 PM
I expect you could buy a small house for the price he paid for that. The Hupe brothers are some of the best meteorite dealers around though so I'm sure he got a good price. It is a magnificent specimen none the less! |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 2915
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
|
posted 05-26-2014 02:50 PM
For Steve Jurvetson, Is there an email to reach you? I've got some information about some of your recent space auction wins and would like to get in contact with you. Thanks! |
cosmos-walter
Member Posts: 691
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003
|
posted 05-26-2014 02:59 PM
Wow, thats huge. Congratulations! |
Jurvetson
Member Posts: 93
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011
|
posted 05-27-2014 10:32 AM
Ken - yes, sj@dfj.com. I just edited my profile to make my email accessible (I did not realize that I had that flipped to private). Spacebinger is right on the slice ID (I liked the burn holes on the side). Although lunar meteorites are more rare than diamond on Earth, a rough rule of thumb for proven lunar samples is $300/g for the largest samples, scaling up to $1000/g for the more common (small) sizes. If anyone knows someone with a big budget, Hupé has been looking for a home for the main mass for a few years now (it took me three years of waiting and multi-party negotiating before he took another slice off (the first and third slice going to Naveen Jain, an active collector)). I can attest that it is remarkably gorgeous in person (as he claims), and I have an Apollo 16 site-similar rock to compare to (it's nice, but nothing like the NWA-5000 composition). |
rgarner
Member Posts: 1193
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012
|
posted 05-27-2014 11:12 AM
Naveen Jain is a multi-millionaire and has a large collection of meteorites, both from the moon and from Mars. He has no issues buying on this scale.I would be surprised if he wasn't chasing down the ''possible'' Mercury meteorite (a chunk of which I own). Have you seen this, Steve? I can send you details if you haven't. It may be of interest to you. |
Greggy_D
Member Posts: 977
From: Michigan
Registered: Jul 2006
|
posted 05-27-2014 01:17 PM
Steve, I'm glad you chimed in. When I first received the RR catalog and perused the items, my initial thought was "this has Steve Jurvetson written all over it". Many of the items obviously fall within your collecting focus. Like others, as soon as the auction ended I thought you won the hand controller and COAS. Congrats on what you did bid successfully on. Certainly nothing to be disappointed about!Personally, out the 20+ items I was bidding on I only won one (my other bids were blown away and eclipsed early on). I finally picked up a Russian Penguin suit. I've been looking for one for a while now and it is now a checkmark on my shuttle-era clothing/flight suit collection list. |
james f. ruddy
Member Posts: 59
From: Rancho Mirage, CA
Registered: Nov 2008
|
posted 05-29-2014 04:03 PM
Steve, you should have a website of your collection designed to show on collectSPACE. |
Sanmat Aviation
Member Posts: 11
From: New York City USA
Registered: Aug 2006
|
posted 06-08-2014 09:30 AM
Just picked up my winning item (Item 57 - Russian Missile Thrust Chamber) from RR Auction yesterday. May I say they are professional in all ways, and very accommodating to me to pick up on a Saturday. Smiling all the way back to NYC realizing the price purchased for this lot. As we say in New York, I stole it. |
Jurvetson
Member Posts: 93
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011
|
posted 06-12-2014 10:17 AM
quote:
Originally posted by james f. ruddy:
Steve, you should have a website of your collection designed to show on collectSPACE.
james - does cS support that? Happy to do that as it gives me an excuse to stop procrastinating on adding the new items and research to the artifact pages I have at DFJspace. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 06-12-2014 10:25 AM
I think James is referring to our directory of collector websites. I am happy to add your Flickr gallery to the list, if so desired. |
Jurvetson
Member Posts: 93
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011
|
posted 06-30-2014 07:44 PM
RP — Yes please, that would be great. |
advertisement