posted 08-01-2006 11:50 PM               

quote:

---

Special Preliminary Announcement Astronaut Fred Haise Custom Autograph Private Signing

Due in part to the hundreds of requests we have received, The SpaceSource is proud to announce that we will conduct a private signing of your personal items by Apollo 13 Astronaut Fred Haise. Mr. Haise will donate his proceeds to his selected charity MAST, Inc.

Base price per autograph will start at $79.00 each on photographic materials and can include a two word personalization such as - To John. Additional prices, fees, and limits will be announced around mid-August. We plan to conduct this signing during the last week of September 2006.

Due to time restrictions, we will probably have to limit each collector to 5 items with possible other restrictions. This perhaps will be a one-time-only event.

Our offices, however, will be closed during August 2 to 12 due to previously planned scheduling. We hope to be have limited e-mail response capability during the period but expect any reply to e-mail questions to occur around mid August. You can contact us at spacesource@verizon.net

Thank you again for your interest and requests to achieve this special event.

---

posted 08-02-2006 07:29 AM               

Thanks,

posted 08-02-2006 08:23 AM               

I have had one item sent to them a few years ago for Tom Stafford to sign and they did a wonderful job.

posted 09-06-2006 08:09 PM            

Does anyone know if there was ever any settlement?

Kim Poor

posted 09-06-2006 08:22 PM               

Could you please clarify what AVD stands for?

posted 09-07-2006 11:51 AM               

But it soon became evident this was due to his frequently being away from home sourcing items for The Space Source or acting on behalf of Swann.

I have been delighted with the items and the service in general. Gregg does not make promises or enter into agreements he cannot keep and on each occassion he has over delivered.

I see no reason to worry. I only wish I had the spare cash to send something myself.!

Regards,

Rick

posted 09-07-2006 01:17 PM            

That was a few years ago, so I'm sure more care is taken these days.

Gregg also has developed a sunny disposition LOL.

posted 09-11-2006 06:33 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by leslie:
...was advertised originally by Robert Pearlman and told myself that Robert would not add his name to anything suspect!

---

posted 09-11-2006 08:56 AM               

I also have purchased many items from the Space Source and have never had any problems. Splitting hairs, I would say they are sometimes slow in shipping orders but they have never let me down. My comments related to the alleged experience of others with "lost material" sent for signings.

posted 09-11-2006 03:00 PM               

The Fred Haise signing will be going to benefit the charity building the Infinity Science Center to be built near the NASA/Stennis Center. The center will provide young people the ability to explore and expand their knowledge of science. Fred Haise is personally funding this charity with the proceeds from this signing. It is a good cause and you get something personally signed by Haise.

I think you can rest assured that your material will be well handled in either company's case.

------------------
Larry McGlynn
A Tribute to Apollo

posted 09-28-2006 01:32 PM               

Let me say, the poor guy has been hammered on here a bit. I spoke to Greg on the phone and explained a shipping problem I had courtesy of UPS, he was understanding and went out of his way to make sure my items made it in time for the signing.

As a side note, he did confirm subissions were low for the signing, probably due to the issues bantered about. It's a shame, Mr. Haise looks great in the photos and I think he really wants to support his charity in a way that also benefits those of us who really wanted a personalized item.

posted 09-28-2006 05:21 PM               

Regards,

Rick.

posted 09-28-2006 05:48 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Space Hunter:
As a side note, he did confirm subissions were low for the signing, probably due to the issues bantered about.

---

...not because comments were overly negative here (they weren't, as Rick correctly points out) but that it was reported back by several of TheSpaceSource's customers that they were preemptively placing blame for a potential lack of submissions on this forum.

Perhaps we make an easy scapegoat, but I would suggest a much more tangible reason is a lack of publicity and marketing. I saw no posts by TheSpaceSource — outside their own website — promoting the signing. The only messages on any of the Yahoo space collecting dedicated groups were initiated by customers.

My own post announcing the signing to collectSPACE readers was made only because I stumbled upon the listing on their website. It would appear as TheSpaceSource was relying completely on word-of-mouth marketing.

Even if the TheSpaceSource felt that they had a valid case based on a subtley negative post, they did nothing to correct for the situation other than make another post to their own website. They neither contacted collectSPACE nor used their own existing account on this forum to respond. I felt this demonstrated a lack of concern for this community.

posted 09-28-2006 07:40 PM               

I won't repeat anything the notice said, because it's an issue between the two parties in question...and is something I personally have no knowledge about, thus am unable to take sides. (Plus, I've had excellent service from both parties, so I have no bone to pick with either.)

I know for myself, if it hadn't been for Robert posting the notice here on CollectSpace, I probably wouldn't have noticed the signing...or it would have taken a while to do so.

posted 09-29-2006 06:29 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by mjanovec:
It's unfortunate the turnout for the siging was low, because the Infinity Science Center was the real loser here.

---

Well no one has mentioned the prices of the signing so I will bring it up. I was considering purchasing a simple photo for Fred to sign. I liked the idea of having him sign a photo of the released Apollo 13 lunar lander and adding his "good ship" quote but that would have cost 130$. I felt that was too much. The basic fee for the signature was kind of high at 79$ and I felt the 49$ for the quote was real high.

This weekend there was a Fred Haise signed Apollo 13 launch photo on E-bay. It opened at 20$. I was going to be out of town when the auction ended so I placed a high bid of 50$ on it. This beat the opening bidder's high bid of 30$. Later the same bidder beat my bid by 1$. If I had not bid the other guy would have won it with his opening bid of 20$.

Do you think more money would have been raised if the prices were lower? I think more money would have been raised if the signing was a public signing. Remember how busy Gene Kranz was in San Antonio? He charged 25$ at this public signing and I think his lines were the longest of anyone there.

I would suggest that Fred attend the Sims/Hankow show or the show that Kim Poor is doing next year. Things might be better at a public show.

Just my two cents.

posted 09-29-2006 07:38 AM               

The key thing to my mind is the differential between the 'going rate' for a signed item on eBay and the signing fee.

The $79 fee for this Haise signing seems a bit high in this respect. I can't help feeling that at say $49 the amount of requests might have been much higher, enough to bring in more money overall for the charity in question.

posted 09-29-2006 08:19 AM               

I wanted to send in a multi-signed item and have 'Apollo 13' added under his signature, but that would have run upwards of $130 for me also. The way I look at it is Haise flew in space one time and did not walk on the moon. In my opinion, his signature simply isn't worth spending that kind of money to obtain. Moonwalkers Duke, Mitchell and Bean all charge signifcantly less for their autographs at public shows.

I might have considered paying the high fee if I were able to attend the signing and at least meet Haise. I live near the The Space Source, so just for kicks I e-mailed them about attending the signing. However I received a reply stating it was strictly a private signing so that made my decision for me.

As Mike said, I think Haise would be better off attending next year's SpaceFest and/or UACC convention and charging less for his signature. I hope Kim, Steve and Nolan are successful in having Haise attend at least one of those shows.

Jamie

posted 09-30-2006 02:53 PM               

As for pricing, I think almost all of these signings are expensive. But if you want the autograph, on your item, to your specifications, it beats any ebay autograph.

As far as I know this is the first mail-in signing hosted by TheSpaceSource. First-time jitters on the part of contributors may account for some of the no-shows. But I'm glad Robert posted the signing here; otherwise I wouldn't have known about it. (That's what this site is for, right?)

posted 09-30-2006 03:02 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by space1:
But I'm glad Robert posted the signing here; otherwise I wouldn't have known about it. (That's what this site is for, right?)

---

posted 10-01-2006 06:06 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by MCroft04:
And you never know who is monitoring Collectspace. I know first hand that either one of the Apollo astronauts, or their wife, reads collect space, as I once receivced an email from a spouse regarding one of my posts.

---

Yes, some of the astronauts and NASA personnel read Cs. I received an e-mail from an astronaut about a post that I placed on Cs.

Fees are part of a fundraiser but, in my opinion, the more reasonable the fee the more likely people will send in their items and their funds. I encourage the astronauts and NASA personnel to continue to support their charities by attending autograph shows and by having private signings. I encouraged the people who support the Max Ary fund to host a signing. I never heard from them but I know that some of those astronauts were at San Antonio.

I don't think anything has been said on this thread to knock Fred or anyone else. My posts about the fees were just an explanation of why I did not get anything signed. If the base fee and the inscription fee had been lower I would have purchased a photo and had it signed.