MotoArt, a company that designs and creates authentic memorabilia from retired aircraft, recently announced that it would be returning the SR-71 to its PlaneTags collection. The launch will go live three times before the year ends, with the addition of a couple of giveaways along the way.
The PlaneTags store features aircraft history from across the entire industry, ranging from A-380s to F-14s to NASA MLP-2s. It also has skins from some of the more common GA planes, like the Piper PA-28 or Cessna 172, for those of us who have a soft spot for our trainers.
Depending on the aircraft’s rarity and popularity, its PlaneTags typically cost anywhere from $25 to $250. A recent addition to the MotoArt collection, however, is anything but typical… and its price tag agrees.
The company released its first set of SR-71 plane tags in 2019. It was a limited-edition drop of 2,250 skins made from the original stabilizer of 61-7967, which was one of two SR-71s reactivated in 1995 for the Air Force before the program was cancelled. These were, obviously, bought up as soon as they were launched, and SR-71 PlaneTags were being resold for upwards of $2,000 on various sites.
To please the hungry collectors, MotoArt used the last of 61-7967’s stabilizer for a Second Edition drop of 425 PlaneTags. These were also quickly sold out, but the demand for SR-71 PlaneTags never ceased.
So, when MotoArt tracked down a new opportunity, the team ignored its hefty price tag and started working on another edition. The 3,000 skins will be split between three drops: one on July 10, the second during Oshkosh AirVenture, and the last around Christmastime. More were reserved for special events, including a giveaway at the SUN ‘n FUN aerospace expo.
“The first SR-71 we came out with, Lockheed came to us and said, ‘How did you get this?’ And, so, we actually had to delay the launch to get Lockheed’s approval,” stated Dave Hall, CEO of MotoArt PlaneTags. “So these are all, you know, licensed by Lockheed Martin.”
FMI: www.planetags.com
