Flea Market Finds #42: A Little Bit of Everything

I wasn't able to go to any flea markets on my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest... so I made sure to set aside a few hours last weekend to make up for lost time.

Normally, I'd combine the two days into one post.  But when I finished writing it... I realized it was way too long.  Here's day one of my Flea Market Finds.

When:  Saturday, August 3rd
Where: De Anza Flea Market
What:  Cards, Figures, Posters, and a Magazine
How Much?:  $46

Purchase #1:  Inserts & Vintage $15

One of the first vendors I visited had several boxes of cards.  After digging through his stuff, I made him an offer on the collection, but he told me he wasn't looking to sell everything.  I ended up grabbing a bunch of cards for my 90's insert binder... as well as a few cards for my vintage binder too.


Purchase #2:  McFarlanes and SLU's $24

De Anza almost looked like a toy convention.  There were probably seven to ten different vendors who had sports figures.  I picked up these seven figures from three different dealers.  Here's the breakdown of what I paid:

1988 SLU Magic Johnson & 1988 SLU Kareem Abdul-Jabbar $10

1998 SLU Vince Lombardi & 2005 McFarlane (3") Brett Favre  $4

2008 McFarlane D. Driver, 2008 McFarlane B. Favre & 2008 McFarlane (Collectors Ed.) B. Favre $10

Purchase #3:  1992 Front Row Christian Laettner Autograph $1

I'm not a huge fan of Laettner and the signature is starting to fade.  But for a dollar, I couldn't pass it up.  

Purchase #4:  Two Posters & a Baseball $5

This is my favorite purchase of the day.  I'm a huge fan of Billy Ball Era memorabilia, so when I find stuff at reasonable prices... I'll usually grab it.

Oakland Tribute "Billy Ball"

I looked online, but wasn't able to find any information on this ball.  It's actually the item that caught my attention at this guy's booth.  From there, he showed me these two A's posters from the 80's:

1982 Mother's Cookies A's Poster (17" x 24")

Mother's Cookies produced cards for the Oakland A's from 1984 to 1998... but I had no idea they also produced team posters for them too.

1984 Oakland A's Schedule (17" x 22")

The Saturday Evening Post + Oakland A's Cardboard = Perfection.  It's a shame that I don't have any space on my office walls for this awesome poster. 

Purchase #5:  Sports Illustrated (3/13/80) The Year In Sports Issue $1

A friend of mine once told me that keeping old issues of magazines is a sign of hoarding and as I watch my collection of magazines continue to grow, it's hard for me to argue with her.

However this particular issue of Sports Illustrated was begging me to buy it.  It contains vintage photos of Pete Rose, Thurman Munson, and Earl Campbell... along with stories covering The Miracle on Ice and the famous national championship game featuring Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.  Plus, it's hard not to appreciate old school advertisements like O.J. Simpson's Dingo Boots.

But the icing on the cake is the amazing condition this thirty-three year old magazine is in.  It looks like it's been sitting in a box in some guy's garage all of these years.  Thank goodness for hoarders.

Okay... stay tuned for the second half of my flea market finds.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!