1919 Reds Pennant

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by gratefuldog3

Me again, I just got home from a perfect day of hell at work to find three missed calls from the seller. As I was listening to my messages, he called again. He has read the thread and is as concerned as I am. Being a stand up guy he has already refunded my Paypal account, and wants me to open the package and take a peek. He's giving me the time I need to make a logical decision.Really, what else could I ask for? It would be great if all the bad talk about this guy would stop. He has been nothing but reasonable from the beginning. He even refused to end the auction early! I tried and I know one of you who have posted here offered him 1800.00 to do the same. Which I'm confused by, for obvious reasons. I do appreciate this thread. It's just a shame it didn't start until after I dropped the bomb. Oh well, no harm done. In review, seller did the right thing. I'm glad that for once my hunch in a person was correct.

I never posted anything bad specifically about the seller... just the item! I think he is probably a stand-up guy who was guilty only of being a trusting soul. He likely had no reason (or the necessary expertise) not to believe the person from which he acquired the pennant. The only thing he is guilty of is a bit of naivety and perhaps negligence (given the supposed high-ticket item he was selling). I wish every seller would go to the detail he did, regarding his description. The problem is not so much the seller, as it is the people feeding this deceiving material into the marketplace. It's kind of analogous to the illegal drug trade...

I am sorry we couldn't get you the necessary insight sooner, and draw these conclusions before the action closed. I could never see the photos on ebay (just red X's appeared) and a friend (Mike H.) had to email me the photo personally. So I saw it late in the game. If you look at my first post within this thread, you will see that I was just a bit leary at the start, and became convinced of its un-authenticity as the evidence mounted. Seeing the span between 1927 and 1958 really clinches the fact that these were made to commemorate "monumental" subject matter (way after the fact).

There is no way that these similarities (felt, materials, stenciling, font, stars, shape, red strip, etc.) would all be identical over a 31 year stretch. This isn't shocking... this has been going on with ad signs, broadsides, fans, and even card reprints for a long time (Max - I think you are the safest of us all, with vintage books!)

Anyway, I am sorry this info came out later than ideal, but at least I believe we helped you in the end. It is great that this seller has issued the PayPal credit so promptly. On a wider scope, I hope we've enlightened other collectors, so perhaps fewer people will be duped in the future. To me, that's what this forum is all about. I know that many people here have helped me on numerous occasions (and that's what makes this such a great resource!)

Thanks,
Mark