Hey, pennant guys

perezfan · #1 01-11-2017, 09:18 PM

I feel about the same as Mike regarding condition. If the pinhole has extended (torn) all the way to the pennant's border, thus causing a slit, I am out.

The other deal-killer for me is ink writing on the pennant. I can't tell you how many more I would've bought, if not for some ink notation or former owners name written on the front. My eye is immediately drawn to that, rather than to the pennant itself.

I can forgive writing on the back side, and pinholes are never an issue.... your searches would become nearly impossible if you can't look past those!

Have fun, and best of luck!

aelefson · #2 01-11-2017, 09:49 PM

This thread is always great to look through! I bought these four at an antique show in NH for a pretty good deal. They are in incredible condition and I wish they were full sized ones.

Alan

Fballguy · #3 01-12-2017, 01:12 PM

Pin holes don't bother me. Missing tassels are fine by me. The tip is key for me. Missing tip is most likely a deal killer. Blunt/ripped tips annoy me too but depending on the scarcity of the pennant and degree of damage may be overlooked.

For very rare pennants I can overlook minor staining. Writing not so much.

thetahat · #4 01-13-2017, 02:19 PM

I prefer them as pristine as possible, purely for the potential resale value. At some point, even if it a willed donation after I take a dirt nap, I want them to be worth something. But since I am primarily into the decorative nature of the pennants, I forgive a few flaws. Tassels? Bottom pair missing ... okay. Top pair ... no shot. Just looks funny IMO. Even a blunted tip doesn't kill me. Stains and fading do.

Funny thing about the pennant tips, though ... absolutely convinced that sometimes, some of the 50s and 60s pennants where produced with a tip that was slightly squared. I have a '55 Dodger "crown" pennant that is a full 30" and barely fits in the holder, yet the tip is a little squared off. I'm certain they made it as such - not so much by design (i.e. deliberately), only that it came out of the factory that way.

Which reminds me of someone currently selling a '59 White Sox picture "pennant" in eBay. That's how it is described. One tiny flaw, though ... it is missing the pennant! (Go look.)

perezfan · #5 01-13-2017, 04:23 PM

Yes, I agree....

Many of the vintage pennants were made with a blunt tip. I still have a few from childhood that are untouched, and know that they were made that way.

The deal-killer for me is when the pennant was ripped off the wall, and the tip remained under the thumb tack. The tell-tale sign is a concave end and about an inch missing from the tip. You actually see this a lot... I guess when the kids moved out, their Moms had little regard for those pennants left behind.

Fballguy · #6 01-13-2017, 04:49 PM

What about "off center" pennants? Not sure if they're common with baseball but I see quite a few with football. The graphic is closer to the bottom edge than the top or vice versa. I can never tell if it's a manufacturing error or if one edge was trimmed to create a false point at the tip. This is a deal killer for me because I never know if the pennant has been altered.

thetahat · #7 01-13-2017, 07:38 PM

I think the best way to tell if it is trimmed is when the angle of the tip corner seems too wide. That will happen unless it was trimmed all the way to the wide end, in which case the stitching will often reveal it. This all goes out the window if it is an Ad Flag pennant because they hired a 12 year old to cut the pennant sheets with scissors from art class.

thetahat · #8 01-13-2017, 07:47 PM

Mark, the flip side is when a pennant is too nice ... too pristine ... that's also scary. It can signal a big find somewhere. When my pennant addiction first started I was just getting 70s and 80s pennants. Then I went to a sale at Mitchell and Ness which is located near me in Philly ... bought a bunch of repros. But in the store they displayed (not for sale) some vintage pennants that just looked better. And then I got into eBay.

So anyway ... My first pre-'69 pennant was the Dodgers Orioles WS pennant from '66. I was so excited because it was flawless. What a deal I got. Then I saw another ... and another ... and another. Clearly someone had or found a box of them. Same thing with a batch of 60s 3/4 size football pennants, mints of these were once all over the place.

That's why a little wear adds some chard and comfort. And please tell me that, like me, you smell them. Or at least tell me that I am not insane.

Fballguy · #9 01-14-2017, 08:51 AM

That is funny. One of the first things I do when I add a pennant to my collection is smell it. I tell myself I'm doing it to make sure it doesn't smell like smoke but I actually like the "old pennant" smell. I think it's an artifact of my old card collecting days. I like the way old football cards smell. I still smell them from time to time when nobody is looking. LOL

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