30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Flea Market Finds #87: The Holy Grail, The Captain, and The Black Mamba

When:  Sunday, July 12th
Where:  Capitol Flea Market
What:  Baseball Card Binder & Bobbleheads
How Much?:  $16

Purchase #1:  Binder Full of Baseball Cards $3

It's that time of the year again.  The sun was out.  The holidays have passed.  And there were at least ten vendors set up this weekend with sports cards.  Unfortunately there wasn't anything older than 1986 and nothing newer than 1992, which pretty much meant I wasn't interested.

Until... I stumbled across this binder:


It was somewhat hidden under some issues of Life magazine, but I saw the word "CARD" on the cover and decided to flip through it.


Inside was a complete, yet partially damaged, set of 1987 Hydride Baseball All-Time Greats.  They're were several cards I was interested in, so I asked the guy his price.  His response was $20, so I laid it back down without a counteroffer.

He asked me, "how much do you want to pay?" and I replied "we aren't really in the same ballpark".  He dropped his price down to $5, so I countered with a respectable offer of three bucks... and he accepted.

Here are the key cards I wanted for my collection:


Let's kick things off with the Holy Grail of Cardboard... the 1909-11 T206 Honus Wagner.  I'll never be able to afford an original, so I was excited to see this reprint sitting in one of the pages.


This was the primary reason I was interested in the binder.  I remember seeing these pop up a lot in the 90's and was excited to see a copy of #42.  It's an excellent addition to my Jackie Robinson binder.


Last, but certainly not least is this sweet card of Phil Niekro.  How often do you see baseball cards sponsored by a major beer company?  This card by itself is almost worth the three dollars I spent on the binder.


Purchase #2:  Derek Jeter Columbus Clippers Bobblehead $10


Judge me as much as you want.  I know I overpaid for this bobble, but it's not everyday you see minor league bobbleheads sitting at my local flea market.  This is going to look awesome standing beside my other baseball bobbleheads.


Purchase #3:  Kobe Bryant Upper Deck Bobblehead $3


I keep saying that I don't collect basketball memorabilia anymore, but I keep adding stuff to my collection.  The Black Mamba is one of my all-time favorite players and I just couldn't pass this up for three bucks.

Well that's all I picked up last weekend.  Like I said... there were plenty of vendors with sports cards.  They just haven't figured out that their stuff isn't going to pay for their child's college tuition.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

12 comments:

Mark said...

Cool finds. I can't pass whenever I see a bobble that seems reeeeally out of place (I once found a Rockies SGA bobble at a thrift store in Pittsburgh from the prior season). For $10, the Jeter still seems like a good price to me.

The Lost Collector said...

That Jeter is great!

Tony L. said...

Love that Niekro -- from when he was the ostensible manager for the women's baseball team that Coors sponsored!

Man said...

Nice Jetter. I took in a Columbus Clippers game when they were the still the Yanks triple-a, Should really dig the program out and see who was playing in that game.

Jason Presley said...

Kills me that the Clippers still haven't done a bobblehead for Hensley Meulens, who played parts of five seasons in Columbus, won an MVP there, and helped them to a championship in 1992. Great deal on the Jeter, though!

Jupiterhill said...

Do you plan on using the binder itself? I have been looking for that exact kind for a while now. I have one on its last legs (I've actually had to retire it) that belonged to my dad and have tried to find one at a reasonable price.

BobWalkthePlank said...

I think $10 for anything Jeter is probably a good deal.

Junichi said...

Oh my god.....I used to have that binder when I was a kid. Can't remember where I bought it but sure brought back memories.

Zippy Zappy said...

You haggled from $20 to $3. Man, I'd never be able to do such a thing. Great finds though :).

Matt said...

Great pickup on the Jeter!

acrackedbat said...

Awesome pickups! Love the binder too. I'm building this set and the cards would display perfectly in it. Knowing now this binder exists, I must go in search of... The Niekro Bullet is a card I don't often see. I have the set and Coors framed display which shows off each card, a silent auction win for $3! Super fun stuff Fuji!

Fuji said...

Mark - I now have a shelf in my office dedicated to "out of place" bobbles. My general rule is I'll usually grab any common bobble for $2 or less, or a star for $5. I sort of broke my own rule last weekend... but figured Jeter was worth it.

TLC - Thanks!

Tony - Love that card. I don't even remember his managerial years... but I imagine he coached like Tom Hanks.

Brady - Imagine you have the program from Jeter's first Columbus game. How awesome would that be?

Jason - These days they make bobbles for everyone... so I'm sure Hensley is just around the corner. Best of luck!

Jupiterhill - It's not in the greatest condition, but if you want it... it's yours. Email me.

Matthew - I was a little hesitant on paying $10... so I walked around the flea market and went back before I left. It was still there, so it was meant to be ;)

Junichi - I never owned the binder, but I remember seeing it back in the late 80's/early 90's.

Zippy - Yeah. Believe it or not... the guy was dumping his stuff. I probably could have had it for less. Sometimes (and I know this from experience) vendors just want to dump their stuff and will literally take anything you're willing to give them.

SCC - Thanks!

Julie - Let me know what numbers you need for your set. I'll throw them in your care package. That framed Coors display sounds awesome!