Hey, pennant guys

[perezfan]

Hard to believe that Greg had to save this pennant from getting no bids (as a duplicate, no less). I was tempted to do the same when I saw it was still available for the opening bid amount. But at the time of the initial bid shutdown, I thought I still might win a couple of lots later in the night. So I stayed away, in the fear of spending too much money. Had I known I'd be shutout, I might've done the same thing as Greg!

This pennant used to cause a "bloodbath" of activity. I have noticed a slow downward trend with Brooklyn stuff in particular. Anything Brooklyn Dodgers was almost untouchable a decade ago. This included everything from the Rempel Dolls to Dodgers Pennants to Programs, Ad Signs, Uniforms, etc.

But as the last generation of fans who lived through the Ebbets Field days is now well into retirement (or has passed away), I think we have lost a significant percentage of Brooklyn collectors. Seems that way, at least.

[jsage]

Mark -
You are correct about the current lower value of Brooklyn Dodger items.
My 1955 WS Pennant sold in a Lelands Auction for a little over $1,000.
As you can see by the red staining - the condition was not great.
The one in REA was beautiful.

Also note the irregular cutting of the tip.
Jerry

[thetahat]

It used to be that a clean Emmet Kelly pennant would fetch about $300.

[rlevy]

Mark, I can’t really comment on the market for Brooklyn pennants, but I believe you are correct regarding Brooklyn memorabilia in general. Richard Simon (veteran autograph dealer) made the same comment a while ago regarding autographs. While I am an avid Dodger collector, I am marginally too young to relate too much to the Brooklyn team (plus I grew up in LA). I used to collect both LA and Brooklyn because I appreciated the history of the team, but about 5 years ago I quit buying Brooklyn stuff in general and actually sold off a lot of what I already had (other than anything relating to Jackie), mainly figuring the Brooklyn collector base would begin to shrink each year as they aged and quit buying. The connection to Brooklyn is fairly weak here in LA, and a lot of fans aren't even aware that the team moved here from Brooklyn. Certain Brooklyn players like Snider and Hodges still do well because they are also known from their playing days in LA and were popular here, but I think there is a definite softening in prices for players whose careers were strictly in Brooklyn. Incidentally, I believe prices have softened for items relating to early (1958-1970) LA players as well.

Rick

[doug.goodman]

Speaking about Dodgers pennants.

Long time lurker, infrequent poster, to this thread.

I'm going thru my pennants and have come upon these three.

The one with the play at the plate is in Egner's guide, but only as a Los Angeles version.

Neither of the other two are in there either, unless I'm missing them.

Anybody have any knowledge or thoughts? I don't really consider myself a pennant collector, although I do have some pennants.

Thanx,
Doug

[Duluth Eskimo]

Doug,
All three of those pennants are very difficult and would command very good money. Condition is very nice as well. Don’t be afraid to post over here, there’s lots of good info to be had and we all love pennants.

[perezfan]

Agree with Jason... All 3 of those are nice as well as pretty scarce.

The top one is extremely common as an LA Dodgers Pennant, but quite rare as a Brooklyn Pennant. The combination of it being Brooklyn (as opposed to LA), and having color graphics make it lots more valuable than the frequently seen LA version. It features typical AdFlag artistry, but is about 10 times rarer with colored graphics than just the usual plain white.

The "Our Champs" pennant is small (even for a 3/4 size pennant), but the rarity overcomes its rather diminutive size. I sold mine about 10 years ago, and have only seen a couple since then. It's a charming pennant that tells an endearing story... Almost certainly made prior to 1955, the Bums were perennial contenders and came close many times, but could never quite win it all. So while they were not World Champs, they were "Our Champs".

The third pennant is a somewhat rare 3/4 size variation. I've always felt it was an interesting graphic image... a fine representation of early 1950s artwork.

Very nice trio and great post!

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Duluth Eskimo

Doug,
All three of those pennants are very difficult and would command very good money. Condition is very nice as well. Don’t be afraid to post over here, there’s lots of good info to be had and we all love pennants.

Thank you Jason.

Any idea what years they would have been released?

I'm thinking late 50s for the green one, due to sharing artwork with the LA release.

50s, maybe 40s for the other two. I have a second "Our Champs" pennant, which is listed by Egner as 1940s, so I'm go with that.

I need to dig thru my records to see where I got them, and how they were listed. I really need to pay better attention to the stuff I pickup. Hahaha.

[thetahat]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Speaking about Dodgers pennants.

Long time lurker, infrequent poster, to this thread.

I'm going thru my pennants and have come upon these three.

The one with the play at the plate is in Egner's guide, but only as a Los Angeles version.

Neither of the other two are in there either, unless I'm missing them.

Anybody have any knowledge or thoughts? I don't really consider myself a pennant collector, although I do have some pennants.

Thanx,
Doug

Great pennants Doug. Interesting, I have the top pennant in colors, although mine are a bit faded. The cloud of dust behind the catcher in mine appears to have been a different color ... more gray than gold. Also the threads in your spine are black and mine is white. Very cool!

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by thetahat

Great pennants Doug. Interesting, I have the top pennant in colors, although mine are a bit faded. The cloud of dust behind the catcher in mine appears to have been a different color ... more gray than gold. Also the threads in your spine are black and mine is white. Very cool!

That's a nice looking variation, Greg!

I have been going through many of my 1950s - 60s pennants, and cannot believe the number of subtle color variations that exist. Even the somewhat common "Stadium" pennants can have up to 6 or 7 variations when you look closely. So many of the color combinations are actually quite scarce, if you know what to look for.

Maybe some day, more collectors will know to look for (and appreciate) some of these subtle nuances. If collecting pennants was like collecting cards, many of these rarities would sell for really big bucks. Sometimes I wish the collector base for pennants wasn't so thin, and that these things were more appreciated. But I suppose it's nice that we can still collect them for relatively cheap prices, and without such fierce competition.

Below is one such example of an otherwise common White Sox pennant. The Blue example features a white infield, and white hands and face. The red example features a tan infield, tan hands, and beige face. Both are rare with the colored graphics, as the pennant is normally found with graphics that are just white. Not sure who really cares... but for those who do, there are hundreds of other hidden rarities just waiting to be discovered.