Over the weekend, my buddy and I set up at the De Anza Flea Market as vendors for the first time in years. I'm guessing it's been five to seven years and it will like be another five to seven before I go back (as a vendor).
In short... it was hot and I spent more money than I made.
That's on me though... since the only thing I brought were six boxes of sports cards I wanted out of my garage. I ended up selling one box for $5... and giving away the rest to a guy who walked up. He was excited to get almost 20k cards for free. I was happy that I didn't have to lug those cards to Goodwill.
Let's check out what I bought...
Purchase #1: 2002 Topps Archives Starter Set $10
As you can see, someone opened up one of these retail blasters and just tossed the cards into it.
Actually it must have been multiple blasters, because there were almost 200 cards in the box.
After sorting the cards, I discovered the box contained exactly 60% of the set which is right around the mark where I decide to scrap the set build... or go for it. For now... I'm going for it.
If anyone else is building this set, maybe we can help each other out. The right side of the box are my duplicates... and the left is the starter set.
Purchase #2: Die Cast Replicas $6
2021 Hot Wheels #178 (Speed Graphics #5)
2021 Hot Wheels #241 (Then & Now #8)
Whenever I walk around local flea markets, in addition to cards and vinyl... I'm always on the lookout for die cast versions of the MK5 Toyota Supra. I picked up the yellow version over a year ago... and now I have the white and red versions too.
As for the one sitting in my garage... it's still my favorite toy. I only recently hit 1,000 miles on my odometer, but actually drive it at least once a week. Just haven't taken her on any extended road trips or anything.
Purchase #3: 2023 Topps Singles $5
We set up a few stalls down from some friends who are regulars at the two local flea markets I walk around. One of them is Tony, who is this older guy who is really nice. He's so nice that I almost feel obligated to purchase something from him whenever I see him.
2023 Topps #471
2023 Topps WBC Stars #WBC-34
The only new baseball he had since I last ran into him were some 2023 Topps singles. Since I haven't started that set build... I picked out the trio of Yoshida rookie cards and a Roki Sasaki insert.
Well that wraps up the last flea market trip of my 2023 Summer Break. I'm already back in my classroom setting up. The school year officially starts next Thursday and the kids will be arriving on the 21st. But I'll write about that a little more next week.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
19 comments:
iF YOU'RE GOING TO BUILD THE 23' tOPPS SET, LMK. i HAVE SO MANY DUPES. dang it, done it again caps lock. sorry.
I put together the 2001 Archives set a few years ago. Those early Archives sets are way better than the current products. I think I might have a few 2002s hanging out. Will have to send them your way.
I've got some 2002 Archives doubles somewhere, just have to dig them up
I love that 2002 archives set, good luck on completing it.
I love it when I buy a lot and discover its got the makings of a starter set in it. Good luck with that!
And very nice Roki Sasaki!
Were you selling the boxes as bulk? I'm sure you made the guy's day by offloading so many cards to him. Beats bringing them home!
Flea Market posts are always a favorite. School on Thursday, time flies... I don't think I could get used to school in August.
Roki is the Next BIG Thing, That Iteration of Archives is Far Superior in Cardstock to any other release or issuance since...
With a Few Tweaks this could be a Reincarnation of the mostly forgotten, retail exclusive, Topps Archives 65th Anniversary. I believe that to be the same year that Topps Holiday was 1st released, if memory serves, which I consider a SLAP in the face 🤔 😳 😀 of collectors whereas 65th was a proverbial bone thrown...
Hopefully Fanatics takes the Collector into consideration and brings back products that cater to the lifers.
#JunkWax1976-1993
I didn't even know those partial sets existed. Interesting.
i really enjoyed 2001 and 2002 archives and then had my mind blown in 2003 when they switched to fan favorites with new photos on old designs.
i have set aside cards 41, 48, 140, 169 for you.
Nice $5 lot there, I'd hoard Yoshida RCs if I had shows/flea markets near me.
Hope you enjoy what's left of your break.
Glad you were able to pass the cards on! Sounds like a fun time if anything else!
Nice job passing along the cards. Every time I hit up Goodwill or garage sales, it's a big fat zero. There's one flea market that has a couple of people selling cards, but there's not much there.
And to gcrl's point... 2003 Favorites with new photos were very good.
Kinda curious what years / types of cards you off loaded on the guy.
Have you figured out yet how many different die-cast Supras are out there?
johnnys trading spot - i'll probably end up buying a factory set or a complete set on ebay. but thanks for the offer
the snorting bull - love the early 2000's archives sets. any help would be appreciated
dayf - lmk if you're building that set. i have a lot of doubles myself
sg488 - thanks. might take me a decade, but i'm gonna try to complete it
sean - i was hoping it was a little closer to being completed, but i can't complain with the price
the lost collector - i was selling them to get rid of them. bulk or individual boxes. didn't matter to me :D
steve at 1975baseballcards.com - i sure miss the days of starting after labor day :D and agree with the fan favorites comment
xavier higgins - sure hope roki finds success in the mlb one day. i vaguely remember topps archives 65th. didn't they have autographs?
matt - it wasn't sold as a partial set. someone opened a couple of blasters and stuck them back into the box
gcrl - big fan of both of those archives sets and the 2003 fan favorites. sad that i wasn't collecting those years
chris - i think i'm up to five copies. i'll be happy to fill a 9-pocket page
sumomenkoman - it was a little too warm to be considered fun. i think we were both excited to get out of there and grab food
michael d - it was a win/win situation. after cleaning out my dad's place... trying to shed the hoarder mentality
jafronius - the one 5k ct. box that i sold for $5 was filled with a variety of sports, but mostly baseball. it also had the newer stuff (2017 to 2021). pretty sure the guy who bought it works at the local card shop. the rest of the stuff that i gave away contained mostly baseball from 1986 to 1992.
jon - i haven't. i knew about the three that i have (red, white, and yellow)... plus there's one with a transport. i feel like there might be other variations, but if they are more than $5... I'm not gonna chase them.
$15 for what amounted to a hanger box, like 8 cards with one guaranteed autograph and usually one Parallel. The Autograph was likely to be a low-end fan-favorite and the Parallels were all cardback color Parallels. It had its flaws however it catered to the Collector's that appreciate the under appreciated, while every once in a blue moon 🌙 delivering a Legendary On-card signature for the price of a discount blaster box 📦 at the time. Holiday is such a lazy effort that smacks of a cash grab.
$15 for a hanger box with a guaranteed auto? I would happily pay $20. As for holiday... it was cool once upon a time. I feel like it's gotten stale.
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