Really cool, was it on Ebay or a local shop? Would not mind a set to go with my watches. Cheers Henrik
Nice set... FYI ... crew patches worn by Apollo crews were made of fireproof Beta cloth... these can be found but the high quality thick thread embroidered Bullion patches are a nice alternative An example as It looks like You're missing Apollo 7 ... .
Nice! Now you can have them stitched to your undershirt so it matches your NASA Underoos. Imagine how much cooler you'll feel when you're doing your Neil Armstrong / Buzz Aldrin moonwalk imitation around the house! I bet after you paid the vendor, you walked away saying "The Eagle has landed!" quietly under your breath.
There are some specialist websites out there for that. Heck the Apollo Soyuz had about 12 official patches with about 4 looks to them. I dove down this hole trying to research what was and was not the correct patch for a train wreck of thread while you where on vacation. In the end, a buck for all of them who cares.
Can You elaborate a bit on these framed (large size) patches? As said before, Bullion embroidered patches (photo) are best quality... but my focus lays with the fireproof beta cloth patches. .
Hello, SpeedyPhill. Those patches are nothing special. My original intent was to collect (for display) the patch from every manned mission (we were early into the Space Shuttle program at the time.) They are 4" patches as you observed and I got the early ones from a company whose name I don't remember (but it may have been AB Emblem). I do remember that those were pre-Internet days, and they mailed out a black and white, paper flyer that was tri-fold and had two or three pages to it. I would guess I started buying them in the middle '80's, although there are a couple of earlier ones (from Gemini and Apollo) I got while I was in high school. The same company, though. I bought the cases early on also, and at the time, there were only enough patches to fill two. I continued to collect the patches, eventually sourcing them from Space.com (I think) and I have one for every flight until the Shuttle program ended. There are also a few odd ones from International flights here and there. I have not been able to find a matching frame in order to mount the rest of them, and I think I'd need two to finish it up. (Can't find the time, either!) Just an aside, my favorite has always been Apollo 7, with the Shuttle Approach and Landing Test a close second.
Or you could pay $1,500-2,000 for a flown beta patch..... http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/space-and-exploration-n09897/lot.282.html
@timjohn FYI that's a flown embroidered cloth patch not a Beta cloth... Beta cloth is white with mission logo printed on it !
It depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for vintage patches sought by collectors there are a few space collectors forums that would be a good place to start to educate yourself and place WTB ads. Just like vintage watches, period correct patches can be a minefield if you don't know what you are looking at. If you are looking for the best source to buy mission patches the company that still makes and provides patches to NASA is AB Emblem.
