Warbird Information Exchange

The Book: Time Life - Epic of Flight series, "America In The Air War."

One page has a full-page, wartime color photo of Gabby in the cockpit of his P-47.

The autograph is made out to my brother.

As with the magazines from my prior posting, my brother is interested in getting rid of this.

Is this the sort of thing a collector would pay money for?

Thanks all!

It would seem to me if its not his autobiography, probably not plus if its signed to him(your brother) and not just his name than probably not, but I'm no expert just guessing?

Col. Gabreski autographed a lot of stuff (including my copy of his autobiography) so I'm not sure how much value his signature would add.

While we're on the subject, Gabby also autographed a model I built of his plane at the 2001 IPMS National Convention. His two crew cheifs also autographed the belly. From what I understand it was the first (and possibly only) time all three had been together since the war. Don't know if it has much monetary value, but it definately has a place of honor on my mantlepiece!

SN

Gabby autographed my old copy of "Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II", the book that got me started back in grade school all those years ago.

Jimmy Swett too.

The value is in having had the honor of meeting both those gentlemen.

Dan

I got Gabby to autograph my copy of Thunderbolt, along with Hub Zemke, Bud Murhan, Robert Johnson, Jerry Johnson, Leo Lester,

Hey Steve...that model ain't worth nothing. Why don't you go ahead and mail it to me (COD on the postage) just to get it out of your way and have one less thing in your house collecting dust

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Earn my respect and never lose it.
Demand my respect and never gain it. -Me

...just another plane dreamer.

Well, I normally build 1/72, so it is out of scale with the rest of my collection...

Seriously, though..it's not my best work, and won't win any contests, but it's priceless to me. I built it for a commission years ago, but the guy who wanted it never came through with the money, so I hung onto it. When I heard Gabby was gonna be at the show, I figured "what the heck?"

SN

Hey, looks great to me...plus you've got an awesome souvenier now.

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ATC: "Oscar 2, cleared to engage wildlife at your discretion..."

Thanks!

But getting this thread back on track, I'm not sure how autographs are valued, or how much value they add to a given item. It probably just depends on what someone's willing to pay. Unfortunately, while Gabreski and other aces are icons to us, most aren't widely known outside of aviation geekdom.


SN

as said, a great collectable. for decades, so many "ww 2 celebrities" have been on the air show circuit, & have signed more autographs than checks. it's all in perceived value.

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!