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-   -   MMI Aerobee HI 001-A 795 original Kit need advice (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=18180)

GrannyCooper 11-15-2019 10:40 AM

MMI Aerobee HI 001-A 795 original Kit need advice
 
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Hello - I found your forum while searching for information on a rocket model kit I inherited from my dad. His main area of interest was balsa/motor free flight airplanes, but this kit was in with his supplies and appears never built. I understand it's a rare one, and am ultimately interested in selling it. I am looking for some opinions on what you see and if it should be sold intact ( sell and ship with the propellant is problematic), but am inclined not to break up the kit. It was in his hobby room closet for decades, and kept in another closet when I got it. I'd rather it go to someone who appreciates the history and can take care of it. Description and photos included - would love to get your input and advice. Thanks for any suggestions - your posts are instructive and dad would have enjoyed them.

Aerobee Hi Model Missile Kit, Denver Co. #001-A-795 . Original Box - shows foxing, wear on corners and tape marks. I haven't cleaned off the dust or other signs of aging on the pieces, but have the small loose pieces in a bag. Original Pricing was $7.95. Appears complete with blast deflector, 1 piece launch rod, plastic silver nose. Since the Rock a chute box was open I show the pieces - with 5 of the 6 still in the box. Took a separate picture of the body of the rocket and it appears something is in there - it's tight and I don't want to pull it out.

Thanks again. I appreciate any input as I figure out next steps for this kit.

astronwolf 11-15-2019 11:05 AM

You have a valuable collectors item. If you are going to sell it, auction it. Go for the highest bidder like on eBay.

Previous threads in this forum related to the MMI Aerobee kit:
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/sho...ghlight=Aerobee
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/sho...ghlight=Aerobee
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/sho...ghlight=Aerobee
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/sho...ghlight=Aerobee
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/sho...ghlight=Aerobee
There may be more....
-W

GrannyCooper 11-15-2019 11:39 AM

MMI Aerobee Hi 001-A 795
 
Thanks for the links - they are very helpful especially the great photos from Gus. I notice in one that there is a balsa sheet for the parts to be popped out, so apparently dad did get that far, since there are pieces and no sheet. The ones in the other photos appear to be in pretty good shape - while mine is nice, it shows its age and I'll need to study the pictures and inventory the original parts and compare to the direction sheet. My concern with ebay is that I'd likely have to separate the original box of motors to list it not to mention the challenge of shipping this item. (Unless they let me include but for pickup in our central fl area only.) I agree an auction would be preferable but still trying to figure out what I have and interest. It deserves more than bubble wrapped in a closet - your links will help with the research.

ghrocketman 11-15-2019 02:11 PM

DO NOT BREAK IT UP !
It is worth FAR MORE $$$ intact.
FIND A WAY to ship it.

GrannyCooper 11-15-2019 02:53 PM

MMI Aerobee Hi 001-A 795
 
I agree with you. I think it's better preserved intact. Will work on the details of how to sell/deliver without cannibalizing it. Thank you.

Rocketcrab 11-15-2019 08:54 PM

Oh my, that's a true piece of model rocketry history!

Royatl 11-25-2019 03:21 AM

You have a good piece of history there. The motors included are those made in the initial production run by Brown Manufacturing, a fireworks manufacturer. Vern Estes made the later production of Rock-a-Chutes, and started his own company when Model Missiles couldn't take all the motors he was able to make!

frognbuff 11-25-2019 06:17 AM

That's like finding a 1959 Corvette with 500 miles on the odometer under a tarp in Grandpa's barn! Amazing find! PLEASE keep it together! And let us know when you list it, assuming you go the ebay route!

GrannyCooper 11-25-2019 03:03 PM

MMI Aerobee Hi 001-A 795
 
Thank you for the information and kind words. Yes, I agree it all needs to stay together. Ironically the motors are the problem - trying to sell/ship an old kit as a private individual as opposed to being in a business means either hand deliver, have it picked up in my area or split it up. I received and accepted an offer to purchase the kit in its entirety and buyer is willing to wait until we travel north to sell and hand off the rocket. Should he change his mind, then I will let this forum know asap. I knew by instinct this was something special but needed the forum's knowledge to explain what I had and to work through the logistics. I wanted to be a good steward and pass it along - thank you all for helping me do just that.

blackshire 12-01-2019 05:45 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by frognbuff
That's like finding a 1959 Corvette with 500 miles on the odometer under a tarp in Grandpa's barn! Amazing find! PLEASE keep it together! And let us know when you list it, assuming you go the ebay route!
That's long been a dream of mine, too--to walk into some old Mom & Pop shop (perhaps just on a whim), and find one or more MMI Aerobee-Hi and/or Arcon kits or starter sets with Rock-A-Chute motors in a box, which the proprietor parts with for just a few bucks because he or she has no idea of its historical significance or worth! Also:

Selling motors over eBay, and mailing parcels containing them, can be done and is done every day; I've unintentionally (well...sometimes) bought motors, which were stashed in old model rocket kits and "parts junk boxes" that unexpectedly (they hadn't been mentioned in the descriptions on eBay, although sometimes they were ^just^ visible, inconspicuously, in the pictures...) contained motors. One motors-containing parcel--the un-labeled 18 mm motors, which I hadn't known were included, were sealed inside the kit bags of two Brazilian-made kits (two motors per kit)--came, *by Air Mail*, all the way up from Brazil! Plus:

I was particularly happily astonished when four Estes Moon Mutt Launch Sets that I bought from an eBay seller--which I'd bought mainly for their Mini launch pads, the extra Electron Beam launch controllers, and the red Moon Mutt nose cones (for kit-bashing the original-style, Centuri-like Estes Viking rockets, see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ca...86/86est26.html )--each contained one bagged 13 mm motor with motor use instructions, which had been inserted *after* the sets had originally been packed at the factory (the boxes even bore prominent Estes notice stickers that mentioned the "late additions" of the motors!).


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