Back in mid-September, I went to the Branham Flea Market which is a monthly flea market with about 100 vendors. It's small compared to the other flea markets in my area, but it has the same number (if not more) of sports memorabilia vendors.
Purchase #1: 3200ct. Box $5
I found a woman who was cleaning out her house and selling off her son's baseball card collection. Her son became a teenager last year and is no longer interested in collecting cardboard, so she had a pair of 3200ct. boxes and a tub filled with cards. Most of the cards were from the past five years and appeared to be in less than mint condition.
It actually made me smile knowing that there was a kid out there who collected and handled cards without caring about condition. It reminded me of how things were when I started collecting back in the early 80's.
Anyways... the woman was asking $8 per box, but she accepted my $5 offer. Most of the cards aren't worth shipping to fellow bloggers, but I figured I could hand them out to my students and use them for one of their upcoming projects.
I eventually found the time to sift through the box and found this:
There were also a few other low-end memorabilia cards and autographs that will eventually be sent out in care packages.
I'm not sure if the lady will set up again this month, but if she does... I hope she still has the other 3200ct. box.
Purchase #2: Blemished Bobbles $15
I always enjoy finding discounted stadium giveaway bobbles. Unfortunately... sometimes the price is too good to be true. I was so excited when the guy told me he only wanted $5 for the Bol and $10 for the Posey, that I didn't bother opening up their boxes and actually checking out the bobbles.
Manute's left ear was painted to look like a zombie had taken a chunk out of it, while Buster's left eye was colored in with a Sharpie. Oh well... win some, lose some.
Purchase #3: 2015 Panini Rookies and Stars Blaster $5
It might not be baseball... but it's an unopened blaster for $5... which is something I just can't pass up.
Purchase #4: Box Bottoms $5
Remember the guy with 25¢ box bottoms from the last Branham Flea Market? Well he was back... and this time, I bought the rest of his inventory. He had 28 box bottoms, an uncut magazine sheet, and a few oversized cards which added up to 32 items. He remembered me, hooked me up with a frequent buyer discount, and now has a loyal customer in me.
Purchase #5: Vintage Lunch Pails $6
I don't have the space to store lunch pails. I don't collect lunch pails. And I don't want to start collecting lunch pails. But I just couldn't pass these up for $3 each. I'll try to flip them the next time I set up at the flea market. Worst case scenario, I'll bring the Sesame Street lunch pail to work and display it in my classroom.
Well... that's a wrap. Have a great week. Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
13 comments:
Win some, lose some indeed. So the bobbles weren't in the best shape - you got a MadBum auto for $5! And 3,199 other cards for free ;)
And I would have grabbed those vintage lunch pails too. I think I had one tin box (Muppets maybe?) and one plastic (ALF - which I'd gladly pay $20 for if I saw it again) Also, I'm with you on having more blog post ideas than time. I could post something every day if it wasn't for that pesky old day job :/
Obvious win on the MadBum.
That Manute Bol is awesome!
I've got that same Manute bobblehead on my card desk, watching over my every move. Got mine on eBay in good unboxed condition for $20. It was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but he's my only bobblehead. And aren't those huge boxes for less than pennies per card the best!
Nice find on the Bumgarner!
Mad Bum auto!!!! You showed good restraint only buying the one box.
A Madam for $5-steal-I love those big boxes of cards-though my luck is they are always junk era cards ahhhh..
Awesome! I still remember my lunch pail. 18-wheeler big rig. Ahh, the memories!
chris - one of these days i'm going to go out and buy me an original star wars tin lunch pail. that was the first one i ever owned.
hackenbush - yeah. i got lucky that it wasn't damaged like 70% of the cards in the box were.
the lost collector - yeah... even with the painted ear, i'm glad it's on my bobble shelf.
ko rob - it a shame my bol has been altered... but for $5 i can't complain too much. after i sorted through everything it turned out to be a great deal. but the majority of it are pretty well handled. looks like the kid made the most of his trading cards.
greg zakwin - thanks! nice addition to my lefty pc.
matthew scott - the crazy thing is... at the time had the lady not accepted my $5 offer, i would have walked away. sure glad she accepted. if she's back again in a few weeks, i'll definitely buy the other box.
b man - these weren't junk wax era... but they were pretty beat up. they're so bad, that i don't feel comfortable putting them in care packages.
r laughton - i know right. lunch pails totally bring back memories of my childhood.
I heard on Beckett Radio this week that they are working at cataloging bobble heads now. Will be neat to see a checklist someday.
That would be awesome! There are so many these days with all of the SGA's, it's really hard to keep track.
Nice purchases! It would be awesome if years from now that kid starts collecting again and then starts a blog and laments about the time his mom got rid of all his cards including his prized MadBum auto.
Yeah... that'd be pretty awesome.
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