Retro 51 Space Race Series Pen Collection Is A Tribute To NASA History

Pen company Retro 51 has revealed its new Space Race Series, a collection of pens featuring early iconic NASA imagery. The pens launch shortly before the space agency's 50th first moon landing anniversary, offering the public a chance to take a bit of NASA history around with them. A trio of rollerball pens are included in the collection, each resembling a NASA rocket.

According to Retro 51's Instagram account, the pens feature graphics related to the Gemini – Titan II, Mercury – Redstone, and Apollo – Saturn V rockets. Each pen is made from stainless steel; the graphics are silkscreened. The company is keeping the collection to a relatively small number of pens — 1958 each globally, to be exact.

Each purchase will include a donation made to the Astronaut Scholarship Fund. As the images show, each of the three commemorative pens will be sold in a gift tube that also features NASA imagery. Collectors can purchase all three as a set, which is sold in a box featuring the same type of graphic design as the tubes.

The Gemini and Mercury pens are each priced at $50, but the Apollo model is a bit more expensive at $60. The box set is $170. Each box set and pen has a serial number showing where it falls in the limited run. Retro 51 doesn't sell the pens itself, but they can be acquired from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's Astronaut Store.

The foundation is selling the low serial number pens alongside an Apollo astronaut's autograph. According to Retro 51's Facebook post on the launch, the pens will be exclusively provided through ASF, though its other pens are available through various dealers.