30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Flea Market Finds #90: A Flea Market Trifecta

Life is good.  How good?  It's so good, I was fortunate enough to attend three flea markets in a span of four days.

This post documents my flea market adventures.

My journey started last Thursday.  It was the first day of my summer break and I had been looking forward to walking around the Capitol Flea Market for weeks.  For some unknown reason, it gets packed on Thursdays and if you ask locals, they'll tell you that this is the best day to walk around.

Unfortunately, I didn't find any baseball cards worth purchasing.  However... I did find a few new items for my collection.

Purchase #1:  2013 Hideo Nomo SGA Bobblehead $10


Normally, I try to keep all bobblehead purchases to $5 and under, but I've been wanting this particular one since I saw it two years ago.

Purchase #2:  A Pair of LP's $2


I recently rekindled my love for vinyl and couldn't walk away from picking up these two great albums for a buck a piece.  Suicidal Tendencies reminds me of my middle school years hanging out in my buddy's backyard with our skateboards and his half pipe... listening to: 


Back in 1984, I went through a huge Van Halen phase when they released their album 1984.  That's when I discovered their debut album, Van Halen.  At the time, I was more into "Jump" and "Panama", but over time this album has become my personal favorite.



There are three local flea markets that are open on Fridays (Capitol, Berryessa, and Santa Cruz), but I decided to take the day off since none of them are really worth going to.

On Saturday, I woke up... picked up my friend... and headed into Cupertino for the De Anza Flea Market.  We got plenty of exercise, but walked away with hardly anything.  My buddy purchased two churros, while I purchased another action figure for my collection.

Purchase #3:  2001 Art Asylum Bruce Lee Action Figure $4


I've written about my Bruce Lee fandom in the past, so when I saw this I knew I wanted it assuming the price was right.  It was.

These sell for a pretty penny on eBay, but this package was damaged so I got it for a good price.  It will sit right beneath my student's painting of The Dragon in my classroom.

The highlight of the weekend was stumbling upon this...


It's the Tomy Big Loader Construction Set.  Did any of you guys own this playset?  I had one when I was a kid and it was awesome.  The little dump truck moved around the track carrying these little black balls.  It's easily one of my favorite toys from my childhood outside of my Star Wars action figures.

On Sunday, I headed back to the Capitol Flea Market to wrap up the final leg of my flea market trifecta.  There wasn't much to look at.  A high percentage of dealers were out there on Thursday and didn't have anything new.

I did manage to spend a few bucks though...

Purchase #4:  Jim "Catfish" Hunter Autographed Photo $5


I saw one of my friends out there and he was selling some of his personal collection.  He had a lot of Oakland Raiders stuff, but he also had a small stack of Oakland A's autographs.  I didn't really need autographed photos of Lance Blankenship or Steve McCatty, but I have no probably adding another Catfish to my collection.

Who knows if it's real or not.  The signature looks like others I've seen, but you can never know for sure.  I trust the guy and for five bucks, it was worth the risk.

Purchase #5:  Grapes of Wrath DVD $1


You can always... and I mean ALWAYS.. count on seeing DVD's at the flea market.  I know that a lot of you have leapt into the digital age, but I'm old school and enjoy owning the hard copy.  And I've been wanting a copy of Grapes of Wrath since my freshman English teacher made us read the book.  Plus... how often do you find new DVD's of classic movies for a dollar?

Purchase #6:  Star Wars Pocket Model Packs $4


Before looking these up on YouTube, I had no idea what these were.  But they were in some guy's dollar bin and if you bought four items, you got two items free.  I won't bother showing off the two plush toys I chose as freebies, because I don't intend to keep them.  I'll be giving them away to a pair of lucky students in the fall.

As for the packs... I'll open up them up in the near future when I'm bored and have some free time.

Well that's it for now.  Tomorrow the cycle starts all over again as I'll be headed out to Capitol in search of hidden treasures.  Stay tuned to see what booty I can find.

Happy Hump Day!

9 comments:

Eric Bracke said...

Great stuff Fuji. All I want is a Pepsi.

night owl said...

A Nomo bobblehead, Van Halen album, toy dump trucks on a track, AND a Catfish autographed photo? This is the best non-baseball card post ever.

Tony Burbs said...

Van Halen's debut is probably on my desert island album list. That's a steal of a deal!

Tim B. said...

LOVE that Bruce Lee figure!!!

Corky said...

The Bruce Lee figure is amazing, you got a serious steal on it.

BobWalkthePlank said...

So much awesome stuff. That Bruce Lee figure is pretty cool.

I like the Grapes of Wrath too. The movie was a little different than the book, but still good.

The Lost Collector said...

That Nomo bobble is great! I love when they step away from traditional poses and do something unique to the player. Well done, bobble makers.

Fuji said...

Eric B - Such an awesome song.

night owl - I'm on an epic cold streak when it comes to flea market finds involving cool baseball cards. I went out today and struck out again.

Tony Burbs - I should really think about my desert island album list. How many can I bring?

Tim B. & Corky - Thanks. It's going to look sweet as a classroom decoration.

Matthew Scott - Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors. Of Mice and Men got me hooked in middle school.

The Lost Collector - yeah. I have two Nomo bobbles... but this is easily my favorite.

Kaiser The Great said...

Man, I need to start going to flea markets with you, good scores all around!