Fuji's Flea Market Finds #3

When: Saturday, Sept. 4th & Sunday, Sept. 5th

Where: De Anza Flea Market & Capitol Flea Market
What: 45's, Tecmo Bowl NES game, pack of cards, 1972 A's Pennant, & 2 McFarlane's
How Much: $18.25 ($21.75 if you include the pennant holder from the card shop)

This weekend I went to two flea markets in two days. The De Anza flea market is on the first Saturday of every month, while the Capitol Flea Market is open every weekend (& possibly on a few weekdays as well).

Two flea markets... two very different environments.

Day 1: I attended the De Anza flea market on Saturday. It's located in Cupertino (home of Apple) and has a variety of venders. Some people sell antiques, while others sell scrap booking supplies. Most of the stuff there is either new and clean or kept in good shape (unless it's very old and collectible). This is my favorite flea market, because there's a toy dealer (former collector) who sell his stuff really cheap. I try to find him first, so I can get the main purchase out of the way.

1st Purchase: Barry Zito McFarlane & Shaquille O'Neal McFarlane (both new in package) for $5

I was pretty stoked about getting these, because up until now, I only had two McFarlane's in my collection (both Ichiro Suzuki's). He had a bunch (like McGrady & Lebron), but these were the only two he had from teams I collected. He's going to look for more when he checks his storage, so hopefully I have a few more to show off next month.

2nd Purchase: A pack of 1994 Flair baseball (series 1) for $.25

This might be the steal of the weekend. A guy had a box of loose wax packs (mostly early 90's junk wax), but laying on top was a pack of 1994 Flair baseball. He wanted $.25 a pack or 5 for $1. Since I couldn't find anything else worth picking up, I just grabbed this one.

I love the packaging of these products, which contains three layers. The cards are first sealed in a clear wrapper/pack. The pack is put into a nice cardboard slide box, which is then wrapped in cellophane. It's one of the coolest packaging designs in card collecting history (obviously my opinion).

Now for the good stuff. As I slid the box open... Mr. Ripken's Hot Numbers insert was laying right on top staring at me. I was stoked, because I love this insert set... In fact, I just posted about it less than 2 weeks ago. A $25 card for $.25... can't beat that. The rest of pack was nice too. I found an Eckersley and Steinbach for my A's PC and a clean looking Kirby Puckett. The base design is amazing with it's dual picture and nice gold foil text. The colors really stand out and the card stock is thick for it's era.

3rd Purchase: a 1972 Oakland A's World Series Pennant for $10

Here's my most expensive purchase of the day. He originally wanted $15, but I told him I'd pass. It has a couple of stains (below the word "champions" and at the tip) and has a slight crease (at the bottom left tip), so I was only willing to pay $10. As I was about to leave, he told me he'd give it to me for $10 without the cover (which was beat up and cracked) and I accepted.
Later, I went to my local card shop and picked up a pennant holder for $3.50... so I actually payed $13.50 in all. Either way... I'm stoked because the A's are my favorite team and this is a huge piece of their history.

Day 2: On Sunday I woke up early, so I decided to head out to the other flea market I like. The Capitol flea market is completely different from the De Anza. De Anza's flea market is held in the parking lot of their community college and is very clean. The Capitol flea market is located at a nearby drive-in theater and is pretty dirty. In fact most of my friends refuse to go.

Most of the dealers sell garbage and I promise you I'm not exaggerating. You really have to dig through barrels and bins to find stuff. However, on a good day you can find hidden treasures. I guess today wasn't a good day, because I only picked up 3 things for a total of $3.

1st Purchase: two 45's for $1

I'll be honest, I'm not sure why I wasted my money... since I don't even have a record player. I think it was because I was caught up in the moment and both of these records stirred up memories of the 80's.

The first 45 is Pat Benatar's Hell Is For Children. I remember growing up thinking this song is so cool, because Benatar is bad ass. She thinks that hell is a place for kids. Eventually, I discovered that it was about child abuse. I'm still embarrassed to admit that. Either way... one of the classics.

The other 45 is from one of my favorite bands of all-time: The Police. It's far from being one of my favorite songs, however it's one of their most popular (especially during the 80's). Synchronicity was the first album that I bought of The Police and after that I was a fan for life. These days, I actually prefer listening to their earlier stuff... but it's hard to forget my roots.

2nd Purchase: Tecmo Bowl (NES) for $2

This is hands down my favorite NES game of all-time. I still have my system stored somewhere in my garage (and I actually think I have this game already). However when I saw this in a stack of other NES games, I had to pick it up. I'm not going to go into it anymore, because this item will be featured in a future post.

On that note, I'll leave you with today's "question of the day". What's the best steal/deal you've gotten at a flea market or swap meet?

Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend. Stay safe!