posted 09-18-2009 06:01 PM               

Certainly, for autograph collectors who go after shuttle crews, the goal for completing the "set" is now well defined... not unlike the goal for completing a Gemini or Apollo set. Does this make shuttle collecting any more attractive to some people? Or will collectors lose interest in their shuttle autographs once they've completed the set and know there are no more flights to add to the set (and that part of their hobby is now "complete")?

And, overall, will collectors gain greater interest in shuttle collecting (autographs, flown articles, etc.) as the program fades further into history? Certainly, there will be some nostalgia for a generation of collectors who only witnessed shuttle flights in their lifetime. And soaring prices among Mercury, Gemini and Apollo collectibles might make shuttle collecting seem more sensible for those who are younger and have limited budgets (as many shuttle astronauts still sign for free). But will that actually translate into greater interest in collecting in the long term? Or was the shuttle program so vast in it's length, number of flights, number of astronauts, etc. that it's simply too daunting for many collectors to even begin to pursue compiling a well-defined shuttle-themed collection?

posted 09-18-2009 11:12 PM               

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Originally posted by MCroft04:
Fast forward 20 years. Do you think the shuttle astronauts will have the same lure that the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo-Skylab astronauts have now?

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I don't know, in 20 years, if people will be comparing the shuttle to those other, earlier programs. Part of me suspects they will be comparing the shuttle to whatever is taking place at that time. How the shuttle is remembered will likely depend on what follows the shuttle. As Jay says, it won't take long of hitching rides with the Russians before the shuttle starts to look like the "good old days."

As for the "lure" of the astronauts themselves, I personally find the shuttle astronauts just as interesting and accomplished as the M-G-A astronauts. They put themselves at as much risk for space exploration as any other astronauts did in any other era...even if the program they worked for didn't come across as glamourous as Apollo did.

posted 09-19-2009 11:35 AM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
Perhaps only then will people start to focus more on the shuttle astronauts and what they accomplished.

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I wondered, if coupled with a screening of the Hubble 3D IMAX movie and a gallery of the best of Hubble photographs, could such an event even rival the attendance of the current M-G-A-centric shows even now, ignoring the fact for the moment that some of the astronauts are still active within NASA?

posted 09-21-2009 09:57 AM               

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
I wondered, if coupled with a screening of the Hubble 3D IMAX movie and a gallery of the best of Hubble photographs, could such an event even rival the attendance of the current M-G-A-centric shows even now

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That sounds like a great idea for a show! But I have to suspect that, as long as the M-G-A astros are actively doing signings and shows, an shuttle-related program will have trouble competing. Perhaps a Hubble-related show would do well in 10+ years, when the Hubble astronauts are retired (therefore available to do such a show) and Hubble itself has come to the end of it's lifespan, allowing for a full retrospective of it's impact on space sciences.

posted 09-21-2009 10:29 AM               

• Signed crew portraits
  
• Signed crew covers
  
• Signed individual portraits (or covers)
  
• Signed groupings by class
  
• Signed total grouping of all astronauts (or as many as possible) on one large item
  
• Any other theme not mentioned above

posted 09-22-2009 07:02 PM               

Then it became apparent that Shuttle astronauts WERE "real" space heroes too, and I really messed up with the "burn out" period, as I blame it on.

posted 09-23-2009 04:24 PM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
I'm also curious how successful people have been and how close they are to completing their sets.

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posted 09-23-2009 06:17 PM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
Signed total grouping of all astronauts (or as many as possible) on one large item

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posted 09-23-2009 06:28 PM               

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Originally posted by Spacefest:
I'm not well-versed in latter shuttle personalities. I'd like to hear some future nominations for signings. Anyone?

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posted 09-24-2009 06:25 AM               

I have some of the earlier Shuttle Astronauts but as the purpose of the Shuttle began to be watered down so did my interest. I've already decided that at some point I'll dispose of the few Shuttle autographs I have to someone who has more of an interest than I have.

As the M-G-A Astronauts start to fade from the public view, signing shows, etc., the Shuttle Astronauts simply won't catch the imagination as their presence was hardly noticed by the public when they were flying let alone in retirement.

posted 09-30-2009 09:01 PM               

You could collect all of a certain well known astronaut like Musgrave, Young, Crippen or Hoot Gibson, or Hubble missions, but only the truly hardcore will want any of the oft forgotten missions.

posted 02-03-2010 06:08 AM               

The Shuttle simply did not create the interest (or actually have any interest) when compared to the earlier space program.

Nearly everyone knows Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. It carries weight when a news program introduces moonwalker Gene Cernan, etc. It means little to the public when introducing Mission Specialist on Shuttle xxx.

posted 02-03-2010 06:43 AM               

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Originally posted by jimsz:
I think there will be a niche market for Shuttle astronauts but i truly don;t think it will be any where near the interest in Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

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I never asked if the shuttle program would gather as much interest as Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo. I asked if there would be greater interest in collecting for the shuttle now that the program is ending...and especially now that Constellation is essentially dead.

quote:

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Originally posted by jimsz:
The Shuttle simply did not create the interest (or actually have any interest) when compared to the earlier space program.

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posted 02-03-2010 11:46 AM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
To say the shuttle program didn't have any interest is simply not true.

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posted 02-04-2010 10:14 PM               

I'm using the round number 100 as my cut-off point for two reasons: I won't need 107; and with 34 more flights, that's $3,400 (if they're an average of $100 each?) that I can put toward something else.

I hope some of these will have some monetary value in years to come (like when I retire!), but as we all know, they have intrinsic value regardless. I got many of the early flights for free by mail or in person over many years, so I really don't have all that much money invested in them (other than 51L).

posted 02-09-2010 10:26 PM               

Florida Today: No value launch for collectibles

The winding down of the space shuttle program probably has some people wondering if those shuttle patches, pins and coins they've collected over the years might increase in value.

The word from longtime collectors and auction houses? Don't count on it.

posted 02-10-2010 12:43 AM               

Of course, we've seen certain signed crew photos easily top $500, including the two ill-fated crews (which can fetch several thousand). And single signed portraits of certain astronauts, like Greg Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe would be expected to easily top $500. Probably to most expensive piece of shuttle memorabilia sold on the marketplace was John Young's STS-1 patches, which sold for nearly $57,000 at the April 2009 Heritage Auction. Granted those pieces are generally the exception, not the rule.

posted 02-10-2010 01:40 PM               

Surely prices of Space Shuttle collectibles won't take a nose dive soon after the last Shuttle flight, and surely experienced space collectibles dealer Donnis Willis was misquoted in stating that no Shuttle material will sell for over $500 (perhaps he was just refering to gift shop-type material). That would mean, for one example, that one of the most sought-after Shuttle autographed items, an STS-51L crew signed litho, would sell for only about 1/10 of what one would often sell for today (approx. $5,000). Really don't see it.

Probably what prevented many from getting into Space Shuttle collectibles all these years, was that for so long the Shuttle Program was open-ended, with no end in sight. Now with the end very near, there will be a known and set number of flights, 134, and a set number of Shuttle astronauts, 353, so the popularity of pursuing Shuttle collectibles from those categories may increase to some extent.

Surely, some collectors will become interested in trying to complete some sets in various topics, such as, crew patches for all 134 flight crews; launch covers for all 134 flights; crew portraits for all 134 flights; portraits of every Shuttle astronaut; autographs of all 353 Shuttle astronauts (good luck); crew signed lithos or covers for all 134 flights (ditto), etc.

And those not so ambitious, may concentrate instead on several selected "big" flights (ALT, STS-1, OFT's, HST, etc.), and the more prominent Shuttle astronauts. And an advantage with Space Shuttle material is there is a vast amount available of all sorts to choose from and many ways to pursue it.

And we need to be wary of predictions from those involved in space collectibles (not to criticize Donnis), as for years before space collectibles, including Armstrong and Apollo 11 autographs, took off in popularity and price, the big auction houses shunned space material and had only very limited material, if any, and considered them "second class citizens" and not worthy of being included with the "big" stuff. But once space material became popular, they then jumped on the money wagon.

posted 02-15-2010 10:52 AM               

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
While I highly respect Donnis' knowledge, I can't quite agree with the assessment that no single piece of shuttle memorabilia is likely to top $500.

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posted 02-15-2010 12:13 PM               

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Originally posted by albatron:
You make a good point Mark, but I believe Donnis is correct. You point out exceptions to his rule.

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I also believe Donnis was probably speaking in general terms... and that's why I think the article might have misquoted him slightly... because the article says "he would be surprised if any single piece of shuttle memorabilia would bring in $500 on the high end." I was disagreeing with the idea that there aren't any pieces of memorabilia worth more than $500.

One other collectible that came to mind since my last post are the Robbins medallions for the shuttle program. While most probably pull in $300-500 each, a few examples pull in $500-$1000+. Some of gold flown ones pull in $3000-$6000+

posted 02-15-2010 03:50 PM               

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Originally posted by David Bryant:
...even got a mention in a Billy Joel song!

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posted 02-15-2010 05:05 PM               

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Originally posted by David Bryant:
I'm always amazed that Sally Ride's autograph isn't more valuable: she was, after all, the first American woman in Space

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I read with great humour how a lot of folks believe SHE'S the first woman in space, and the National Aviation Hall of Fame (which I'm still scratching my head over her induction there) even says that on her bio page!

posted 02-15-2010 05:12 PM               

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Originally posted by David Bryant:
I may have missed a reference above, so apologies if this has been said already: but I'm always amazed that Sally Ride's autograph isn't more valuable

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Ride signs a lot and her autograph can be obtained pretty easily, hence her signature is neither rare or valuable. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she has signed more material than any other shuttle astronaut in the history of the program. (But that is also indicative of the demand for her signature.)

Part of me also suspects that as more women fly in space, the "special" aspect of Ride's flight will seem less important overall as time passes. And while she was an inspiration to many young women who grew up in the 80s, it probably doesn't resonate today as much as some other space firsts. Plus, as Al has already mentioned, I think the fact that Tereshkova was already the first woman to fly in space (two decades before Ride) probably looks to be the more significant accomplishment in retrospect. Certainly, Tereshkova's flight was more risky...done at a time when just getting to orbit was still a dangerous prospect.

posted 02-15-2010 05:31 PM               

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Originally posted by albatron:
I did forget, as David pointed out, she IS in a Billy Joel song.

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That's gotta be worth at least $1, dontcha think?