October Pickups

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Posted By: Mark Steinberg

Mike:

The reason the Pennants feel undervalued is the aesthetic beauty, detail and artistry that they exhibit. They are not all that common either. Some turn up a lot less often than others. If you were to go on Ebay right now and search Original Hartlands (just an example), you will likely see about 6 Spahns, 5 Berras 4 Musials, 3 Mantles, 2 Maris and even a Groat or a Colavito.

That's a lot more inventory than you'll ever see (at a given time) on any variation of these Stadium Pennants. Yet the Hartlands range in price from $100 to $1,500, based on the player, condition and rarity. So if the Stadium Pennants were "valued" similarly, your KC Athletics example would be a $1,500 pennant!

I would bet my next paycheck (at least half, anyway) that there are a lot more Original Dick Groat Hartlands in existence than your KC A's pennant, as a point of comparison. For that matter, there are probably more '52 Topps Mantles and more '33 Goudey Ruths as well. That's what I meant by undervalued... perhaps under-appreciated is a better term.

My perspective and interests are obviously biased towards the pennants (even though I do own a Groat Hartland and a 1933 Ruth). The pennants just seem like a far better value, when taking rarity, aesthetics and displayability into account. Sorry for the long-winded rant...