The checking or crazing (depends on what part of the world yer from) is caused by shrinkage of the lacquer. Don't kick yerself to hard cause it happened to yer baby.
Personally never meet a collector that wanted the finish to look like that. Any that do would want them real cheap so they could get them re-finished.
Find a luthier that specializes in respraying, not the guy who works outta the back of the local guitar shop, although he might be able to point you on the right direction.
Biggest question is do you want it as a piece to hang on the wall or as an instrument to play? You might really pissed off with yerself if you re-finished it and then scratched it on its first outing.
I wouldn't bother with re-finishing it if I was playing it live, but I am really hard on my instruments.