Televue Apollo 11 mm eyepiece

[Space Hopper]

Fair point, but still an over the top markup.

£1000 at the current exchange rate + 25% = £1250 to me not £1500 !

Thats WCs profit margin i guess and if they can shift them at that price then good luck to them.

 

[John]

I think they could have charged more and still sold them. For some that sort of money is more or less loose change. A couple of new tyres on a Lamborghini or a Ferrari for example.

 

 

[Raph-in-the-sky]

4 minutes ago, John said:

I think they could have charged more and still sold them. For some that sort of money is more or less loose change. A couple of new tyres on a Lamborghini or a Ferrari for example.

 

 

True! The only issue is that the 10'' dob doesn't fit in any of my Ferraris 😉

[GavStar]

5 hours ago, John said:

I think they could have charged more and still sold them. For some that sort of money is more or less loose change. A couple of new tyres on a Lamborghini or a Ferrari for example.

 

 

It will be interesting to see how quickly they get sold John, several people on Cloudynights who were going to buy have passed, and I haven’t seen anyone confirming they are buying at that price. As you said, I think many of them will remain in their boxes unused as a collectors item. A bit of a shame.

[John]

I reckon one of the main points of a product like this is that it gets people talking about the company. There is this thread here and a couple of long and active ones on Cloudynights and I expect similar threads running on Ice in Space and other forums around the world.

The profits on the sale of the 300 units (thanks for the correction ) will be relatively "small beer" I suspect.

 

 

[bingevader]

Good point John, but although I've always overlooked TV as too pricey for me, I've never considered them rip off merchants until now.

[Louis D]

I'd almost rather have a Televue branded, high end wristwatch that was astro themed for that kind of money.  At least I could use it every day in that case.

I wonder if they'll hold their value like Beanie Baby collectibles have.

Regardless, I won't be buying a TV Apollo 11.

[johninderby]

I see why they’re only producing 300 and not making it a regular production item. Selling more than that could be a problem at that price. Wonder if this bit of price gouging will hurt their reputation?  🤔

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

I see why they’re only producing 300 and not making it a regular production item. Selling more than that could be a problem at that price. Wonder if this bit of price gouging will hurt their reputation?  🤔

It sure isn't going to help it.  Limited edition cameras rarely have any lasting collector value, so I don't see why this would be any different.  Once those original purchasers pass on in 30 or 40 years time, no one will really remember or care about what made it collectible in the first place.

[JamesF]

4 hours ago, Louis D said:

It sure isn't going to help it.  Limited edition cameras rarely have any lasting collector value, so I don't see why this would be any different.  Once those original purchasers pass on in 30 or 40 years time, no one will really remember or care about what made it collectible in the first place.

I think that's my feeling, too.  Genuinely collectable things become so because over time people decide they're desirable.  Making something specifically to be collectable is very hit and miss.  Probably far more miss than hit, really.

James

[joe aguiar]

Guys it simple

It's a limited only 300

Some people buy the tak or AP or tec telescopes which can cost 4000 for a 4 inch size. The 6 inch toa tak is $19,000 cdn. Theres are those that want and buy the best.

For others 300 for 4 inch acro is enough.

Even in cars only  1% own things like Lamborghini, ferraris or porches, and use it only few weekends here and there.

Each to their own

Others go to a bar club every week spend 200 to 300 on that, maybe smoke and drink a 24 a home per week.

That's the 11 appolo ep right there.

Joejaguar 

[Mick H]

Should I buy the Televue Apollo 11 mm eyepiece or a Celestron Omni Plossl Eyepiece 12mm?

I cannot decide.😉

[Louis D]

48 minutes ago, Mick H said:

Should I buy the Televue Apollo 11 mm eyepiece or a Celestron Omni Plossl Eyepiece 12mm?

I cannot decide.😉

The choice is obvious. 😙

[FLO]

Lamborghini tyres aside... 😁

-------------

We have been advised Tele Vue Apollo 11mm commemorative eyepieces will arrive for inspection at Tele Vue mid-November.

Dealers should start receiving them around mid-December.

Only 300 production Tele Vue Apollo 11 eyepieces will be made available with serial numbers 004 through 303 (the prototype eyepieces have numbers 001-003). Tele Vue say they cannot honour specific serial number requests (i.e. please don't request 007) 😎

Each eyepiece will be supplied in a presentation box with a message from Al and a commemorative coin. The box and coin will bear the same unique serial number as the eyepiece.

The price at FLO will be £1,229 (based on the US $ price plus UK Duty & VAT, at today's $-£ exchange-rate). 

If you would like to buy one please email us, we will then have an idea of numbers required and will do our best to source them. 

Specifications*

Focal Length: 11mm
Apparent Field of View: 85°
Eye Relief: 19mm
Field Stop diam. (effective): 16.2mm
Coatings: Glass matched multi-coatings on all surfaces
Barrel diam.: 1¼” with 2” thread-on adapter
Filter Treads: 1.¼” and 2”
Length: 4.8”
Width: 2.13”
Weight: 21.6 oz. (1.35 lbs.)
Total Production: Less than 300

The development team for this eyepiece are: Paul Dellechiaie, Al Nagler, David Nagler

*Specification subject to change

HTH, 

Steve 

[FLO]

Some photos from Tele Vue 🙂 

[Louis D]

57 minutes ago, FLO said:

Some photos from Tele Vue 🙂 

Beautiful packaging.  I'd be terrified to actually use the eyepiece for fear of ruining its collectible value.  That would be a shame to have it just sitting in a display cabinet unused.  Perhaps they could later issue an ugly, non-collectible version for the plebeian masses to actually use and enjoy.

[joe aguiar]

2 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Beautiful packaging.  I'd be terrified to actually use the eyepiece for fear of ruining its collectible value.  That would be a shame to have it just sitting in a display cabinet unused.  Perhaps they could later issue an ugly, non-collectible version for the plebeian masses to actually use and enjoy.

but some things are meant to be put on display

I have about 40 meteorites which just sit on a display

90% of the time our telescopes sit in the living room on display due to weather not being good work life family too tired to obseve.

joejaguar

[Mr Flibble]

1 hour ago, FLO said:

Each eyepiece will be supplied in a presentation box with a message from Al and a commemorative coin.

 

Do you mean hand-delivered by Al himself?

[martinl]

10 minutes ago, joe aguiar said:

90% of the time our telescopes sit in the living room on display due to weather not being good work life family too tired to obseve.

Jesus! You only average 2.4 hours of observing per day? That’s it. I’m moving to Toronto!

[FLO]

22 minutes ago, joe aguiar said:

but some things are meant to be put on display

I have about 40 meteorites which just sit on a display

90% of the time our telescopes sit in the living room on display due to weather not being good work life family too tired to obseve.

joejaguar

Most of the time we buy what we want; not what we need. 

If you look around your living room, you'll see it is true 🙂 

Steve (looking at the books on his bookshelf, realising he has read only a fraction of them!). 

[joe aguiar]

24 minutes ago, martinl said:

Jesus! You only average 2.4 hours of observing per day? That’s it. I’m moving to Toronto!

sure I could use another astro buddy helping me with youtube 😛

 

[John]

The Tele Vue Apollo 11 is not the only commemorative piece of kit celebrating the lunar missions though. Hasselblad have one and for just under £7,000 you can have one too

 

[bingevader]

23 minutes ago, FLO said:

Most of the time we buy what we want; not what we need. 

If you look around your living room, you'll see it is true 🙂 

Steve (looking at the books on his bookshelf, realising he has read only a fraction of them!). 

In that case, I think we are paying you too much for our astro gear Steve!

It's definitely not much of a sales pitch.

We still have a 27" telly, I don't need a new one and I certainly don't want the 55" one that the chap in Currys was saying everyone wants these days.

But yep, I don't really need anything in my living room.

In fact, I don't need a living room really, we could sit around the oven in the kitchen watching the baked potatoes cook!

[FLO]

2 hours ago, bingevader said:

In that case, I think we are paying you too much for our astro gear Steve!

Unfortunately not. It is only I am a sucker for Waterstones 3-for-2 and buy-one-get-one-half-price offers. The Japanese have a word for my affliction ‘tsundoku’. ☺️

Steve 

[Ben the Ignorant]

Something that's more for the common stargazer: APM and Teleskop Service have issued a 100° 13mm eyepiece priced at 249€.

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p11689_TS-Optics-Optics-XWA-13-mm-100--x-treme-Weitwinkel-Okular-1-25-und-2-Zoll.html

https://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/eyepieces/more-74-ultra-wide-angle/apm-lunt-eyepieces/apm-hdc-xwa-13-mm-100-eyepiece.html?info=362092

I've long been dismayed by the 15mm 100° being featured among the other focal lengths (20mm, 9mm, 3.5mm and 5mm), but always tagged as "unavailable". Well, now a substitute of a similar focal length is "in stock", and the cost is reasonable for a 100°, although it's above my personal limit of 200€ per eyepiece. We're talking usable things in the real world, here, not collectibles that people will be afraid to pull out of their box.

The circle of collectors is strange; here is a story I read somewhere: one guy had a super-expensive replica of a vintage Wild West revolver, probably engraved and silver-plated or whatnot. He presented it to a friend who also liked old weapons, but was not into the world of collecting, so he didn't know their particular rules. He handled the revolver, and cocked the hammer once to feel the mechanism, wanting to appreciate the surely fine tolerances in the action.

Well, collector revolvers are not only not supposed to be fired, but also not supposed to be cocked, not even once, because the moving parts will leave magnifier-level wear lines on each other, greatly reducing the price, at least in the mind of said collectors. Of course someone outside their world is not supposed to know, but the revolver's owner "terminated his friendship" with the offender who wrongly assumed mechanisms are meant to move.

I suspect the Apollo 11 eyepiece would also lose a lot of value if the barrel was ever touched by a brass compression ring (but maybe not a rubber Twist-Lock), or even worse, a locking screw!