30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Flea Market Finds #130: The Holy Grail of '86

As I've mentioned in previous posts... life has been pretty hectic the past month or so.  Allergy season hasn't helped.  The good news is that it's also flea market season... which has allowed me a few hours each weekend to take my mind off of things and if I'm lucky... add some collectibles to my collection.

Two weekends ago, I walked around the De Anza Flea Market and came home with a variety of items.  There weren't any big ticket items, but it was my largest flea market haul in quite some time.

Let's see what I found...

Purchase #1:  Michael Jordan Kenner SLU's  $20


These days, I typically won't spend more than a buck or two on Kenner Starting Lineups.  However... I'm a sucker for Michael Jordan pieces.  Anyone else remember the era when these three figures sold in the $80 to $100 range?


Purchase #2:  Highland Mint John Elway  $5


Highland Mint rookie card replicas are another 90's item I enjoy picking up from time to time when they're reasonably priced.  Each bronze card came housed in this thick screw down holder.  Since I don't have the storage space, I took mine out.  Here's a better look at the card and full color COA:



The lady who sold me this also had a pretty nice copy of his rookie card too, but she was asking $25, which seemed a little steep.


Purchase #3:  Jose Canseco Rookie Card  $2

1986 Donruss #39

There was a guy out there who looked like he was selling off his sports memorabilia collection.  He had tons of old baseball programs, sports posters, newspapers, sports figurines, and a variety of sports cards.

The only thing I was semi-interested in was an incomplete 1985 Topps baseball card set.  However... the guy was pretty firm with his $25 price tag.

As I was digging through the last few boxes, I found this Canseco rookie card sitting inside one of an older A's program.  I set it aside and asked him about it when I was finished.  He told me to make him an offer, so I replied $2.  He accepted.  Gotta wonder if he would have taken a buck.


Purchase #4:  1998 Fleer Ultra Series One Box $10


I normally don't have a lot of interest in 90's football boxes, but 1998 is an exception.  This box might contain a gem mint Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, or Charles Woodson rookie card.  Only time will tell.

Well that's it for now.  Two days left of the regular school year.  It's hard to believe that I'm wrapping up my 20th year in the district.  In fact... Peyton Manning and I were rookies the same year.  Too bad he gets to relax and make Papa John's commercials, while I've got another 15 to 20 years in the classroom.

What about you?

What were you up to 20 years ago?  Collecting?  Working?  In diapers?

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

17 comments:

Registered History said...

Not quite in diapers, but I was three...so that's something. If nothing else, that '98 Ultra box will satisfy the urge to rip some packs.

The Lost Collector said...

Those MJ SLUs are amazing!

Jeremya1um said...

20 years ago today, I was 2 days away from turining 15. I had done something wrong, and as a result, my parents took away my baseball card privileges for a week. I got the last laugh though, because my best friend got me a pack of ‘98 Collector’s Choice, and I opened it on my birthday like I had access to my cards like normal, and my parents didn’t seem to catch on. ‘98 was a good year, as the Home Run Chase was happening, and I got as many packs as my small bank account could afford, mostly Topps, Upper Deck, and Collector’s Choice.

Kin said...

I'm not sure which I'd have been more happy about, 1 or 3!

Hackenbush said...

Not a bad deal on the Jordans. Man I miss him. Sorry Lebron. MJ was 6 for 6 in the Finals with 6 MVP's. Still the best in my book. Congrats on 20 years. Sounds like you still enjoy it most of the time. That's great! 20 years ago I was working. I don't think I was collecting cards. I was probably collecting Peanuts stuff and maybe sheet music.

SumoMenkoMan said...

I never got into the SLU crazy, but I am reading old Tuff Stuff magazines at the moment and am amazed at how expensive they were. 20 years ago I was still in college having been out of collecting for 4 years at that point. It would be another 4 years until I would get back in it. Great post!!

Corky said...

In 1998 I was working as a manager for Toys R Us in the Seattle area, single with disposable income so I was really collecting everything at the time including die-cast cars and action figures.

BobWalkthePlank said...

I was collecting 20 years ago. Right on the cusp of getting my license which opened the flood gates for me. The ability to hop in my car to hit a kmart for packs was a big deal. Right around the time I hit my first autograph out of a pack (Cris Carter).

Fuji said...

jasongerman9 - Can't wait to see what I pull. I'll probably save it for football season.

The Lost Collector - Yeah. I was pretty excited to find them in such great condition.

Jeremya1um - I didn't do too many bad things... but when I did I got grounded. If they only knew that taking away my card collection would be 20x worse.

Kin - As an A's fan, I should say #3 (especially for the price). But I was most excited about that first purchase.

Hackenbush - Yeah. I still do enjoy it most of the time. This year has been rough, but it has nothing to do with my job or my students. It has to do with watching my parents slow down with age... and school administration (more at the district level) issues.

SumoMenkoMan - I love reading old Tuff Stuff issues. I was flipping through one earlier in the week and immediately looked up those Jordan SLU's.

Corky - Always wanted a job at Toys R Us... to get first dibs on SLU's. It never happened though.

Matthew Scott - Lol. I remember one of the first things I did when I got my license was hit up all of the shops that had been out of "bike" range.

GCA said...

In '98 I was in my 2nd year of my previous job building computers, and hadn't collected cards since '84. I was probably getting about 20 comics in the mail every month. I remember following the McGwire/Sosa HR chase.

Fuji said...

Comics in the mail? Didn't even realize that was a thing.

Jafronius said...

20 years ago I was finishing up college, only to realize that I was a class short of graduating with a second major. Fortunately for me I was able to do a correspondence course to finish it up. Awesome Jordan SLU's! I have the first one but not the other 2...back then I saw no need to get the same player twice since I already owned one.

Fuji said...

when it came to slu's i wanted every different version of my favorite players. kinda glad i did it that way... since they have different cards

Chris P said...

20 Years ago would've put me just about to be a freshman in high school. The NBA Lockout was looming which was bumming me out. Although i collected cards, SLU's took over as my #1 priority during this time and I spent every weekend hunting SLU's at every Target, Wal Mart, Kay Bee, Toys R US and even grocery stores. Fun times that I really miss!

Fuji said...

I remember looking for SLU's at Kay Bee and TRU... but most of the local card shops paid people to grab them before the average collector could get them, so I was forced to pay secondary market prices. The good news is I eventually started working for one of those shops.

Adam Kaningher said...

I just happened to run across The Highland Mint's headquarters in Melbourne, FL, not far from where my dad lives. Funny they call it that; it's about eight feet above sea level.

Fuji said...

Very cool. Have you been there? Do they have a store? If they did, I'd love to one day check it out.