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Photo: eBay
While the economy continues to dig a deeper recession hole, vintage space collectibles continue to bring in big money on the popular online auction site eBay.
eBay Pulse, a daily snapshot of current trends, hot picks, and cool stuff on eBay, shows the word “patches” as the most popular search term used in the site’s “Astronaut & Space Travel” category.
Over 1,100 listings are currently active on eBay selling space mission patches - another 1,000 auctions have already ended.
One NASA Skylab patch signed by the entire crew sold for $200. Skylab was America's first space station - launched in 1973. Three crews visited the station. The $200 patch sold on eBay was signed by the crew of Skylab II, Alan Bean, Jack Lousma and Owen Garriott.
eBay’s Astronaut & Space Travel Category Popular Searches
1. patches
2. flown
3. model
4. apollo
5. space
6. x prize program
7. coin
8. signed
9. space patches
10. medal
As of Sunday, the top selling space collectible on eBay was an eight by ten signed photo of the original Mercury astronauts.
The seller, using the eBay ID: kkchuckie, located in Ann Arbor, Mich., described the item as “original photo of Mercury seven astronauts. All seven signatures, plus additional autograph by Gus Grissom in dedication to original owner, a childhood friend of his son.” The signed photo sold for $2,500.
With the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery tonight, there is little buying and selling on eBay related to the mission designated STS-119. A simple search on the term “STS-119” provides a list of only 12 active auctions. The top selling item, again being STS-119 mission patches, sold for $4.95.
With the current plan of retiring the shuttle fleet soon, we may see a jump in value on Space Shuttle collectibles over the years.
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