This is not to say collecting pennants is good, bad, or indifferent. But there's likely never been a better time to jump into that aspect of memorabilia because prices are low, product availability high, and the novelty of the hobby still extreme. Pennants are a curious element of sports memorabilia. Pennants suffer from natural imperfections that would make other collectibles damaged, like having pinholes for hanging the pennant. The condition of any collectible is important.
All older pennants are somewhat dirty and fading.
Most actually should have pinholes where they've been displayed, and should have some paint cracking. A good older pennant would almost be expected to have some of these 'character' marks. As long as the felt pennant isn't torn or has large chunks missing, fine. The confusion on condition is just one problem for pennant collectors. Schipper and Sagi also believe they are a minority because dealers are more inclined to push pricer items that have a bigger mark-up.