[perezfan]

I've been known to smell a pennant or two as well. I guess I've been lucky and can't recall any that wreaked of smoke.

My biggest issue with pennants (especially from ebay) isn't smoke, but pet hair. Often the pennant will arrive with cat hair intertwined into the felt. I used to try to pick it out with my fingers or tweezers, but now just use scotch tape. Sometimes you take off a tiny bit of felt (actually more like peach fuzz) with the tape, but the process goes so much quicker.

As for off-centering... yes, it bugs me too. I can usually detect alteration, but if its worse than "60/40" centering, I tend to pass on it (unless it's something I'll never see again). It's just too distracting otherwise.

If a pennant has been cut/altered, the edge or border will look different in that area. Typically it will have a sharper looking or more squared-off cut. Natural vintage borders will typically have softer, more muted edges. Just another skill you acquire after 25 years of doing this... utterly useless to 99.9% of the population!