Posts: 141
From: Los Angeles, CA
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 03-17-2021 11:06 PM               

---

Some amazing items coming up in Heritage Auctions' May 21, 2021 sale from the estate of Christopher Kraft, including this desktop Flight Director Status Panel.

Also up for auction is the headset he used on console during project Mercury.

Posts: 122
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011

Posts: 2006
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 05-01-2021 06:58 AM               

---

I have a Virginia state flag flown on a Gemini mission, and one flown on the ISS. For ten years I've been looking for one flown on an Apollo mission, and I think it's kind of funny that I finally see one in this auction...

But it's framed with other flags flown on two other Apollo missions, with an opening bid of $12,000. Never mind!

Posts: 46300
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

Posts: 155
From: WV, USA
Registered: Sep 2006

posted 05-18-2021 06:53 PM               

---

Excessive buyers premium! A buyer's premium is charged in addition to the successful bid.

The applicable Buyer's Premium for bids placed with Heritage for this auction is 25% on the first $300,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $300,000 and $3,000,000, plus 12.5% of any amount over $3,000,000 per lot.

Posts: 2250
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005

Posts: 4
From: Jackson, MI
Registered: Jun 2018

Posts: 87
From:
Registered: Jan 2016

Posts: 2006
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007

posted 05-19-2021 05:48 PM               

---

They've definitely been going up. I was unhappy to see the first 25%'s a few years ago, and now there are more. I agree with not bidding at 30%.

(I won something at an auction a few weeks ago at a place with an 11% buyer's premium, and I almost offered to mow their lawn or drive them to the airport or something.)

And now, to include something specific to this auction... happy bidding, everyone! I've got about 20 lots saved to bid on tomorrow. If you win Kraft's Apollo-flown Virginia state flag, my birthday is December 13th.

Posts: 4850
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 05-19-2021 08:41 PM               

---

The market will get the final vote. If auction houses drive up commission to the point where it disincentivizes consignments because less money is actually getting into sellers pockets and/or bidding activity becomes depressed and hurts revenue the fees will be adjusted.

Right now though it seems that there is a sufficient population of consignors and bidders tolerant of current fee structure/levels to sustain profitability.

Posts: 46300
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 05-21-2021 10:39 AM               

---

Chris Kraft's Mission Control headset used for the first four Mercury astronauts flight just sold for $32,500 (with buyer’s premium).

By comparison, Kraft's Apollo 11 flown U.S. flag and embroidered mission patch (which Heritage says they believe was the only embroidered Apollo 11 patch flown on the mission) sold for $137,500.

Kraft's Apollo 13 lucite-embedded Apollo 13 heat shield plug sold for $35,000 and Apollo 11 heat shield plug sold for $31,250.

The desk set pictured at the top of this thread sold for $8,750.

Once again, the market proves that historical significance is not the ruling factor when it comes to what people are willing to pay. The headset is one of a kind, iconic and was a key part of history. The Apollo 11 flag was one of hundreds and the patch, even if unique, was a souvenir with no role on the mission.

Posts: 122
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 05-21-2021 01:18 PM               

---

I really don’t understand the bidding population here. They seem to love mass-produced flown mementos and ignore one-of-a-kind flown objects.

For example, I am excited to have won Kraft's flown ASTP CM-DM umbilical... while medallions and lucite went for 3x higher! I was the underbidder on his iconic headset, and agree it was the flagship item of this auction.

Posts: 1509
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 05-21-2021 02:34 PM               

---

Anyone else think the PSA encapsulation of vintage NASA photos is superfluous/ridiculous?

Perfect test... NASA photo AS8-14-2593 sold for $4,000 encapsulated, $4,500 unencapsulated.

Posts: 456
From: Santa Paula, Ca,. USA
Registered: Dec 2007

Posts: 122
From: Los Altos an SF, CA, United States
Registered: Sep 2011

Posts: 46300
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

Posts: 170
From:
Registered: Aug 2018

posted 05-21-2021 09:06 PM               

---

For me, the biggest surprise was to see a collection of eight red number photos from Kraft's collection sell for $38,000, a full $5,000 more than the headset. Personally, I've never really understood the appeal of the red number photographs anyway. I understand why they're special, but they're so expensive, and most of them look really faded and discolored at this point. So it's shocking to see a direct piece of NASA history sell for significantly less than a set of photos.

But overall, it's been a pretty good auction so far. I was able to get a few items that I was certain I wouldn't be able to afford. I also won the training-used Apollo 16 cue cards, which I noticed you consigned, Steve. Do you happen to know who originally owned those cards? I always like knowing the history when I can.

Posts: 805
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 05-21-2021 09:20 PM               

---

Although the cue card dated December 1971 could have been used in training for the Apollo 16 mission it's not obvious how a cue card dated September 1972, five months after the mission, could have been used in training for Apollo 16.

Perhaps cue cards that aren't changed can be used for multiple missions but are there examples of missions using cue cards with dates months after the mission?

I also was surprised that the Apollo 11 heatshield plug lucite sold for $9,000 more than the same Lucite that was owned by Neil Armstrong.

Posts: 170
From:
Registered: Aug 2018

posted 05-23-2021 10:12 AM               

---

Good catch, Randy. I wonder if the top card was used for Apollo 16, while the bottom card was used for Apollo 17. Maybe Steve will know.

Also, does anyone have an opinion on the leather name tags that were sold? A couple of years ago, Heritage sold a similar set that were supposedly "owned and worn" by the astronauts. I bid on several, but I lost. Later, I saw someone mention here that Alan Shepard's tag was listed as "AJ Shepard", not "AB Shepard". That cast some doubt on the authenticity.

This time, a similar set was sold, presumably from a different seller. The original set was from a person who serviced their T-38s. This set was sold by a NASA employee on the KC-135 "Vomit Comet". I was able to win a few tags from this auction. But I later noticed that this set has the same incorrect "AJ Shepard" tag, along with a "DK Slaton" tag.

Do you think this puts the authenticity into question? Or does the fact that two different sellers have owned the incorrect name mean that the astronauts likely got a bad stack of tags at one time, and chose to just use them instead of replacing them?