Collectors Are Still Moonstruck Over 1969 Moon Landing

By Joyce Worley

It was 30 years ago this month that man reached out and grabbed the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended the ladder from the Apollo 11 lunar module, and made "one giant leap for mankind." Although he might not have known it, he was also making one giant step for collectors, who have been reveling in moon-landing keepsakes ever since his walk.

A meteor shower of collectibles commemorates man's proudest accomplishment. New items continue to appear now, in celebration of this 30-year anniversary. The Cook Islands issued, and Franklin Mint is distributing, a solid sterling silver proof-quality $5 coin in acrylic capsule, with embossed picture of Armstrong planting the flag on the moon's surface.

There have been thousands of items using moon landing images since the Apollo 11 astronauts took their strolls. Collectors can start with the newspaper headlines from papers around the world, dozens of magazine articles such as the August 11, 1969 episode of Newsweek magazine, or the August 1, 1969 issue of Life. There are also 8 mm films of the video broadcast, and even ViewMaster chronicles. There were audiotapes and even a few LPs of the event, including reportage, commentary, and Armstrong's legendary speech.

Armstrong had barely uttered his immortal words when the first collectibles appeared. They've never stopped. Postage stamps are a very large area. The moon landing has been commemorated on more postage stamps than almost any other subject.

Paper items led the pack. There were posters, such as the one done by Peter Max in 1969, and photographs from NASA, with and without autographs. There were postcards and collector cards, as well as notepaper and bookplates. There were also plastic and paper plates of the event. And, there were books of every description, from coloring books, to picture albums, to novelizations and true-life adventures.

Since then, the floodgates opened, to offer every imaginable use of images of the moon walk, or images of the earth taken from the moon. There's a paperweight of Armstrong's space-suited walk. Zippo lighters bore the image, and so did buttons and pins, and the faces of clocks. Wedgewood issued an eight-inch blue Jasperware plate to honor the event.

There were toys, such as the Lego Toys Moonlanding Set (1975), the G. I. Joe Space Walk Mystery & Doll, a Space Walk Man Robot, and the Astronaut Barbie (1995). Hundreds of space toys have followed, including a steady stream with the NASA logo.

There are medals and coins, including ones issued in 1994 on the 25th Anniversary of the Moonwalk. Other anniversary issues include a Coca Cola bottle only distributed by Kroger in 1994; a Miller stein, part of their Great American Achievement series; phone cards and figurines of the event.

Perhaps the greatest of the modern collectibles that commemorate the event is the multipart movie "From the Earth to the Moon", now available on four DVDs, or six VHS tapes. (The laser disc movie by the same name is based on the Jules Verne novel.)

The moon isn't nearly as far away as it used to be. The Apollo missions brought it closer, and so do the collectibles that let us keep those accomplishments fresh in our mind.

Joyce Worley is Editor of the Collecting Channel. These are the opinions of the author, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.

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