Aviation art - valuations, print care and print terminology.

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	COLLECTING AVIATION ART - AN INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this part of the site is to give an introduction to aviation art for new collectors. It includes information on print values, the secondary market, print terminology and print care.

The Secondary Market
Background information on the aviation market place and the factors that affect secondary market print values.

Some Sample Valuations
A selection of prints from various artists and estimations of how much their value has increased since first released. This section also contains some information on four of Robert Taylor’s early print releases that we get asked about a lot: Spitfire, Hurricane, Lancaster and Duel of Eagles.

Print Terminology
If you are new to collecting the multitude of edition types now issued by publishers can be confusing. This section gives a useful summary of the most common print terms.

Print Care
One of the big factors in the value of a print is its condition. In this section we give some advise on how to handle and store your prints.

What to Buy?

Often we are asked by new collectors what are the best prints to buy in terms of potential increases in value. There is not necessarily a straight forward answer to the question as many factors can affect a print’s value (for more on this read our Secondary Market section). However there are certain subjects that have proved consistently popular, the top three being the Dambusters, the Battle of Britain and the Doolittle Raid, most things signed by aircrew from these historic events will be in demand and they rarely come up for sale on the secondary markets. We have noticed collectors wanting to sell whole collections will still keep back these subjects for themselves.

As a general rule it makes sense to buy items that are still available at their issue price if you are looking for the greatest potential. The selections below have been chosen because there are still copies available (at the time of writing). As always we must add the cautionary note that valuing prints is not an exact science and predicting which will do well is even harder so if in doubt make sure you buy images you like anyway - just in case.

Dambusters - The Impossible Mission by Robert Taylor


Dambusters The Impossible Mission Robert Taylor

	Into the Teeth of the Wind Robert Taylor (Doolittle Raid)

You can’t go too far wrong with the Battle of Britain although its now getting harder for publishers to find good signatories.


The Battle for Britain Robert Taylor

	First Light Gerald Coulson

617 Squadron subjects and signatures generally are very popular, particularly the Tirpitz Raid.


Welcome Home Stephen Brown

	Sinking the Tirpitz Nicolas Trudgian

Following close behind would be the Schweinfurt and Ploesti raids.

Schweinfurt - The Second Mission by Robert Taylor


Schweinfurt The Second Mission Robert Taylor

	Operation Tidal Wave Nicolas Trudgian

Luftwaffe subjects and signers in general have proved consistently popular with increasing interest recently in the jet fighter pilots.


Savage Skies Robert Taylor

	Alpine Thunder Nicolas Trudgian

Other subjects that are also popular with the right signatures include D-Day, Toranto, the Memphis Belle, Concorde and Kursk amongst others. Our review has a UK orientation where Pacific War subjects are understandably in less demand. Having said that there are many titles that command good secondary market prices here, for example Zero Encounter (Taylor), Pacific Morning (Kodera), Jolly Rogers (Trudgian) and most prints depicting the Flying Tigers.


Hellcat Fury Robert Taylor

	Black Sheep Nicolas Trudgian


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COLLECTING AVIATION ART - AN INTRODUCTION