Hey, pennant guys

[Fballguy]

I know we've talked about this previously but I'm too lazy to hunt through 100+pages to find the discussion. Apologies to anyone who doesn't feel like rehashing an old topic...

I was looking at the results from Hunt's Duke Hott collection/Super Bowl auction a couple years ago and I was surprised at the strong sale price of some of the pennants despite what I'd consider to be lower grade condition. It got me to wondering, is condition that important? Is there that much of a premium put on a pennant in NM condition, compared to one say in average condition? Or does rarity trump everything?

I'm also wondering what your condition down grader/disqualifiers are.

For me, above all else...a torn or missing tip really bothers me. A very slight bluntness I can live with as long as the tip still appears to come to somewhat of a point. But a tear near the tip or missing tip really turns me off to that pennant. Interestingly, a tear elsewhere on the pennant doesn't bother me as much. I can live with stains, fading, cracked paint, missing tassels and/or a moth eaten spine. I actually like my old pennants to look old.

What about you? What is the most egregious defect to you? Curious to hear everyone's thoughts....again.