Opinions Wanted

[Scott Garner]

FWIW, to be fair, I believe he did a very good job of supporting many of his points...

For full disclosure, I have no skin in this game as I am certainly no expert on vintage pennants. I'm just an interested observer.

In an earlier net54 post I commented that David Maus is an ethical eBay seller. I also believe that he is one of the very best when it comes to thoroughly researching vintage pieces, especially vintage baseball ephemera. FWIW, I would rank him in the upper 2% in this regard, BTW...

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

FWIW, to be fair, I believe he did a very good job of supporting many of his points...

For full disclosure, I have no skin in this game as I am certainly no expert on vintage pennants. I'm just an interested observer.

I have stated in an earlier net54 post that David Maus is an ethical eBay seller. I also believe that he is one of the very best when it comes to thoroughly researching vintage pieces, especially vintage baseball ephemera. I would rank him in the upper 2% in this regard, BTW...

I do believe him to be very knowledgeable, but listing this pennant as a Negro League pennant is a stretch. And yes David, I know you're reading this...I also believe a lot of what is presented in this hobby is a huge stretch and a thorough reading of our archives will show you that we do indeed take on the auction houses and other ebay sellers. I didn't start this thread, I just offered my opinion.

[MK]

Well despite his being so upset with me for posing an innocent question, and for the rest of you for giving your opinions, this pennant sold for $765. He didn't make a friend with me.

[slidekellyslide]

It's not even over yet...still has a couple hours left. I think that's crazy, but people are free to spend their money however they like.

[prewarsports]

I dont know the seller and certainly am not picking on him. It would not matter to me one bit who the seller was, but there simply is no way this was a Black Baseball pennant. He provided a ton of evidence to support that the PCL (huge league with TONS of money) and of course Major League Teams were making pennats but black teams and low level Minor League teams simply were ot making pennants in the 1910's. Where they played their games means nothing, it is all about the dollar and Black Baseball was not big enough business until well into the 1920's to even consider an item like this as a money maker. I stand behind everything I said above, because it is correct. Sometimes people want something to be true so badly that they find ways to justify their beliefs without compromising their morals. I do not believe this seller is a dishonest person or bad in any way, I just think they refuse to look at this item objectively because they have a vested interest in its outcome.

This (if actually an "ABC's" pennant) would be a $20,000 item. Why did it sell for $765? Because the free market spoke loud and clear and only a handful of people refused to listen. No major auction house will ever touch this item, but by chance one of them did I would say the SAME THINGS to them.

Nothing against the seller, I dont know the guy from Adam, but what I said is correct no matter who is trying to sell it.

[perezfan]

Well, he was critical of me specifically, at the very bottom of his listing. But I still maintain that this one required a leap of faith. If indeed, it's a $20K pennant that sold for $765, I think it's safe to say that big spenders were hesitant to take the leap.

He did make some good points in referencing completed auctions with some big prices realized on generic-type pennants. A few could definitely be traced to the corresponding teams in question. But others definitely required "leaps" of various sizes. Wish he would have posted here, as he obviously is well-versed. It would have made for a more interesting debate.

[slidekellyslide]

He sends stuff to auction houses (ie Negro League ticket stubs to H&S) so why didn't he send this pennant to an auction house where he undoubtedly would have gotten much more money?