Fequently asked questions : Ultimate Space Place

We know you have questions. Heck, so do we. There is so much to learn and know about space, space flight, astronaut autographs, photographs, space memorabilia and space collectibles. That is why we are here to try and help. We want you to be an informed consumer and space enthusiast. Whether you make your purchase from us or another source, we want you to have knowledge and comfort in the fact that what you are buying is authentic, a good deal, will increase in value and, most importantly, what you want. If your decision leads you to purchase from us, great, so much the better. That helps us maintain the educational and informational side to our web site which is growing every day. Your help and comments are always appreciated. We want this to be YOUR web site for space related products and information. So here is a list of your most frequently asked questions.

1. What are autopens?

2. Can my Gagarin autograph be an autopen?

3. How are astronaut autographs authenticated and do you issue certificates of authenticity?

4. Most companies charge more to have autographs personally inscribed. Are personally inscribed autographs worth more?

5. I have an autograph of astronaut (fill in name) . What is it worth?

6. I'd like to see what I am purchasing. Do you have a store?

7. Do you accept credit cards?

8. I sent you an email. Why haven't I heard back?

What are autopens?

An autopen is an autograph on an 8x10 or smaller photo, card, etc. that was created by a mechanical machine similar to the one the White House and some congressmen use. Autopens are normally shallow and uniform, and usually start and end bluntly without trailing off. The best way to identify autopens is to compare it to a reference known autopen to which it would be identical. They are not legitimate autographs and have very little value outside of being used as a template to reference against other autographs.

Can my Gagarin autograph be an autopen?

It is pretty hard to tell whether a Gagarin autograph was hand signed without having the actual photo to examine. The reason for this is something peculiar to Gagarin photos. Every so often you run into a type that looks genuine but in reality the color signature had been somehow preprinted (pre-photographed?) with the black and white portrait. As far as we know, this phenomenon is basically only encountered in Gagarin's photos although we have heard that it has occurred with Yeager autographs, so one should be extra careful in determining whether not only the signature appears genuine (in contrast to a forgery, which is also common), but also that it was not pre-printed (pre-photographed). I guess this was the soviet's answer to our ubiquitous autopens except that their process did not leave indentations and reproduced signatures completely, with trailing-off characteristics. Autopens leave indentations, though shallow and uniform, and usually start and end bluntly without trailing off.

How are astronaut autographs authenticated and do you issue certificates of authenticity?

A few of the biggest, strictly space autograph dealers/collectors generally DO NOT issue certificates of authenticity of any kind. This is also the case with the largest auctioneer of space memorabilia (well known for sometimes selling bad autographs -machine generated signatures known as 'autopens'). One of the greatest authorities in space autographs has sold an autopen autograph as if it were real (which shows that even the best can make mistakes if they are not careful enough). Even an auction house specializing in space memorabilia sometimes grossly misrepresented their goods. Our clients will never have to go through anything like that. We are breaking with the space autograph practice of not including certificates and DO issue certificates of authenticity to ease the mind of the potential customers because what we're selling has been very carefully analyzed. Many come with the certificates of authenticity from the auction as well. A buyer should be able to obtain a space collectible with confidence, unlike what you might be getting from others.

Most companies charge more to have autographs personally inscribed. Are personally inscribed autographs worth more?

No, to the contrary, they are worth less than uninscribed autographs. Personally inscribed autographs are only more valuable to the person they are inscribed for and carry no additional inherent value to any future collector. To a true collector, uninscribed autographs are just a little more valuable than inscribed autographs. To use an analogy of another collectible, it is similar to the difference between a coin in mint condition and one in fine condition. Both have value, one more than the other. Most companies charge more because they pay the astronaut or aerospace celebrity more to personally inscribe autographs. Plus, they can make a little more.

I have an autograph of astronaut (fill in name) . What is it worth?

Many factors dictate the value of astronaut autographs such as condition, type and age of the photograph or letter, and whether it contains a personalized inscription. Also, since autopens are all too common we would have to see the item and not a scan to determine its authenticity. We will authenticate your astronaut autographs for you and have certificates of authenticity issued. Contact us for pricing details. We may be offering a guide for the general value of individual aerospace autographs in the near future based on the assumption that they are authentic.

I'd like to see what I am purchasing. Do you have a store?

Since we made the decision to keep our price lower than anyone else, we are strictly mail-order to reduce the overhead. Because we realize you would like to see the items, we are providing links to scans of many of our items and are in the process of adding more. We are sorry if this causes any inconvenience but it will save you money in the long run.

Do you accept credit cards?

Because we made the decision to keep our price low, we are not excepting credit cards at this time. We do not want to increase our prices to cover the cost. However, we realize we may probably have to start excepting credit cards at some point in the future. Payment may be made by Check or Money Order, for U.S. Orders. Outside the U.S., please pay by International Money Order. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding. You may call in your order and we will reserve items for you until your check arrives. See our Order Info page for details.

I sent you an email. Why haven't I heard back?

Your questions and comments are very important to us and we answer all our emails. However, sometimes we are inundated with inquiries and it takes time to answer them all. Also, from time to time, servers (yours and ours) have problems and mail can be lost (this is rare) or a response from your server to our reply comes back as "undeliverable". Finally, if you called with your email address we may have miswrote it and could not get back to you. If you do not receive an answer from us within a week then please resubmit your question.

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