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Author
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Topic: 257118986387: Armstrong signed NASA logo
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davidcwagner
Member Posts: 1163
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 09-22-2025 03:37 PM
   
Hall of shame: Neil Armstrong signed NASA insignia Extremely rare inscription “thats one small step for ma.“ “One giant leap for mankand.“ 100% positive feedback. 8.5x11 photo Signed at Purdue collage. The picture by astronaut Neil Armstrong is in near mint condition. The autograph comes with a Certificate of Authenticity with serial number and hologram.This was my father’s who has since passed. He purchased it at a NASA auction in Houston many years ago. My father collected many Apollo 11 signed memorabilia. Any way to report this seller to law enforcement? |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 5514
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-22-2025 04:21 PM
Comes with a notarized COA...must be authentic. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 2132
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 09-22-2025 08:53 PM
From the random quotation marks, to the missing apostrophe in "That's", to the supposed 2012 signing story, to of course the horrible attempt at the autograph... that is the second-worst forgery I have seen in 39 years of collecting astronaut autographs. Unfortunately, this seller has been at it for years, and has sold other Armstrong forgeries. (The worst forgery I've ever seen was an issue Life magazine about the funerals for the Apollo 1 astronauts... "signed" by the Apollo 1 astronauts. That was in the last auction Aurora ever did.) |
SpaceCadet1983
Member Posts: 557
From: Pacific NW, United States
Registered: May 2012
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posted 09-22-2025 09:38 PM
FYI — Neil Armstrong's secretary wrote me a letter stating "Mr. Armstrong never quotes himself" when signing autographs. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 55274
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-22-2025 10:08 PM
That statement is not exactly true, though the number of times he did can likely be counted on one hand. While doing research for Jim Hansen's book "First Man," I discussed this topic with Neil and showed him one example. While he stopped short of confirming it was authentic, he gave a coy reply that both acknowledged its existence and his refusal to ever publicly say as much. That said, the piece now on eBay is clearly not one of those exceptions. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 2132
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 09-23-2025 10:44 AM
While this is different from Armstrong writing the quote out for a collector, I made a lucky eBay buy almost 15 years ago: a three-ring binder divider on which Armstrong had written notes about what the binder contained, including a print called "One small step." I don't think others noticed those words in the middle, or recognized their rarity, because I got it for very little. Ended up needing to auction it at RR when we were about to buy a house in 2013. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1542
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 09-23-2025 01:54 PM
There's the anecdotal story about someone mailing in a photo of Armstrong posing with Mickey Mouse at an event at Disney World or Disneyland and asking for his signature. Being this was after he stopped honoring mail-in or in-person autograph requests, the sender received a polite form letter stating as such-and with the returned photo signed 'Mickey Mouse'! |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 55274
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-23-2025 02:20 PM
Not anecdotal, it happened and then was sold in 2012. |
Axman
Member Posts: 819
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-24-2025 07:00 AM
That's a secretarial signature... Minnie's without a doubt. |
MartinAir
Member Posts: 480
From:
Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 09-24-2025 08:04 AM
SOLD, for the listing price ... |
Axman
Member Posts: 819
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-24-2025 08:20 AM
Wow. |
SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 5514
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-24-2025 10:33 AM
"COA" claim Armstrong delivered a Purdue speech in the months prior to his death would have also merited scrutiny by any potential buyer. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4638
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-25-2025 08:28 AM
Only a month or two ago, a Belgian friend posted on a Facebook space collectors forum an Armstrong signed WSS litho that he had recently acquired.The signature looked the same as that at the top of this thread, was replete with the ubiquitous whistle and bells COA, and the exact same background story... word for word. I don't routinely express my own thoughts on the authenticity or otherwise of such a post, but given that it was obviously a fake I felt compelled to let him know. My compulsion was driven principally by the 19 or so "thumbs up" responses his original post had shockingly garnered. Thankfully, after a little input from myself that naturally included steering him to Steve Zarelli, my friend eventually got a refund and returned the dud. The moral of the story: that is now TWO bad fakes in a month... from the same seller. There are likely to be more where they came from, so if any member is in the market for an Armstrong signature, do your homework and above all, buyer beware. |
Axman
Member Posts: 819
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-25-2025 08:49 AM
... and sure enough there are yet more fakes by the same seller with exactly the same supposed provenance given.I have reported it to eBay, not that they actually do anything about it though. |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4638
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-25-2025 09:55 AM
The Armstrong "signed" WSS the seller is currently offering may well be the fake item my friend returned for a refund. |
Chuckster01
Member Posts: 1176
From: Orlando, FL
Registered: Jan 2014
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posted 09-25-2025 09:44 PM
I did an appraisal of a collection of signed photographs from a long time collector of Apollo and moonwalker items purchased mostly on eBay. Of the 150+ signed photographs this man had purchased more than 100 were clearly "poor" forgeries, most as poor as the for mentioned Armstrong signature. These items would not take a Zarelli authentication to disprove. I can understand being fooled by a high quality forgery (German forgers are often very good) and I have been taken myself. But if people are not willing to do minimal research just for education before spending large amounts of cash I have no sympathy at all. It is not eBay's job to authenticate anything it is always "buyer beware." |
Axman
Member Posts: 819
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-26-2025 06:56 AM
It may not be eBay's job to authenticate anything. But, once eBay has been alerted to a forgery it is incumbent upon them to follow their own policy and take the item down. The particular policy in this respect is for legal IP rights.As such, it is a pity that the majority of eBay reviewers who consider a report don't actually understand the policies they are supposed to safeguard. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 55274
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-26-2025 09:04 AM
eBay does take down sales when alerted by those who can speak with authority, including law enforcement and by the individual whose signature it is (or his or her agents).Everything else is s/he said versus s/he said. |
Axman
Member Posts: 819
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-26-2025 09:16 AM
Their policy states that any item for sale that is shown to infringe Intellectual Property Rights will be taken down. The Terms and Conditions that a user agrees to forms part of a contract. A Contract is a two-way street, there are obligations on both parties. Thus it is legally required for eBay to abide by their own policies and thereby satisfy the contract. Hence that is why it is incumbent that eBay should remove fake material when they have been made aware of it.I completely understand that authorities have 'weight', but I believe you are wrong to say everything else is s/he said versus s/he said. This is a specific case in point - it has already been refunded at least once before on the basis it wasn't what it was claimed to be. This was the 'authority' I stated in my report to eBay, and I thoroughly quoted at length all the relevant clauses both in their policy statements and their terms and conditions. They have yet to make a decision. [EDIT. They've made a decision. It remains, it doesn't violate their policy. 😶] |
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