Pennant Warning to board members

[mjkm90]

Mark S. (perezfan) and I believe the attached pennants to be pieced together from multiple parts of others. The piece with the Tigers Head was listed months ago and we spotted it. Now the same seller has another example. Notice the Detroit portion of each are identical. We believe the Tiger head is from a collegiate (Princeton) pennant. While we clearly havn't examined them in person...I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

Looks like this seller is trying to sell his Frankenpennants as vintage originals. If the first pennant were legit...it would be a $4000 piece. As it is now...$4.95.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-fabulous-Detroit-Tigers-Champions-pennant-/170535769902?pt=Vintage_Sports_Memorabilia&hash=item27b4b9572e
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-1935-Detroit-Tigers-baseball-felt-pennant-/170535763426?pt=Vintage_Sports_Memorabilia&hash=item27b4b93de2

[BrockJacob]

Thanks for the info Mike. I have been looking at those for days now and something just didn't seem right. The fact that he has two is an immediate red flag. And the dating does not seem to add up. You or Mark would know more than I but it seems odd that the two look so similar given one is dated 1935 and the other is in the style of an oversized pennant from the teens.

[Joe Hunter]

I also saw that 2nd pennant, and I immediately thought it was a University of Detroit college pennant. The font on the "D" did not resemble other early Tigers pennants that I have seen.

[mjkm90]

Brock, the size is definately consistent with the teens. I have never seen an oversized pennant from the 30s.

[powderfinger]

After I hit the link Mike provided yesterday to look at the pennant, I logged into eBay. Guess what? The start-up page decided to show me the pennant as something that I might be interested in based on items I had recently looked at! Doesn't look like they have any intention of having this item removed.

[perezfan]

Ebay has gotten pretty good about removing fake autographs. But fraudulent memorabilia is another story. It's a shame that these pennants will likely run their full course. Same goes for all the fake easel-backs, ad signs, broadsides and "fans for a fan".

Plenty of obvious fake memorabilia is making it through with no eBay intervention. It hasn't been as prevalent with Pennants, but another bogus Negro League example recently surfaced as well. So hopefully this is not a sign of things to come for vintage pennant collectors.

[Duluth Eskimo]

This Ebayer has been selling this garbage for well over a year and has sold dozens of these forged pennants. Unfortunately, he is from my area (Mpls.). I have asked to personally examine one pennant he listed and he adamantly refused. I also asked to meet if I won and pay him in cash, he also refused. These are poorly done and upon close examination, he uses paint or something with no age to it. He generally waits a month or two in between listings so you cannot view his past listings. I have reported him to Ebay, but they refuse to act on it. I don't proclaim to be THE expert on vintage pennants, but I am smarter than the average bear when it come to them. Please spread the word to anyone you might know who would be fooled with this garbage because NOTHING he sells has been authentic. We need to continue to police ourselves as no one else seems to be interested in doing it. Take care, Jason