Flea Market Finds #165: Two Months & Four Trips Pt. 1

Just like my stacks of unsorted cards and care packages sitting on my desk in the office... my flea market posts have begun to pile up.  Considering they're usually the most popular posts on this blog... I hate the idea of combining them.  However I'm at the point where I don't see any other option.

This is a partial recap of my past four trips.  Two of them were at the De Anza Flea Market on 9/7 and 10/5.  The other two were quick trips to the nearby Branham Flea Market on 9/21 and 10/19.

Since recapping multiple trips isn't the norm, I figured I'd do something differently and utilize a countdown format where I rank them based on my excitement and overall value of each purchase.  Without spoiling too much, the #1 item is easily my favorite purchase of the year.  Unfortunately... I won't be revealing that purchase today.

In an effort to keep posts at a reasonable length, I'm going to break these four trips down into three posts:

Part #1:  #22 to #14

Part #2:  #13 to #6

Part #3:  #5 to #1

Let's get the ball rolling...

#22:  A Cringy Cassingle  25¢

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

Informer by Snow (1992)

This vendor had a box of cassette singles for a quarter each.  I was hoping to find at least one song I really liked, but came up short.  However for the price, I grabbed this single from the early 90's, because it a memorable.

One day I'm going to buy one of those Ikea display cases and fill it up with nostalgic pieces from my youth.  This one can go on the 90's shelf next to some pogs, Pokemon cards, Kenner SLUs, and one of my mom's Beanie Babies.

#21:  PS4 Video Game  $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

Injustice2 (2018)

Although I don't regret this purchase... I'm not excited about it either.  It's a fighting game (like Street Fighter) which is a genre I have little interest in.  That being said... I do enjoy collecting video games... especially if they are brand new and the price is right.

#20:  Oakland Raiders Binder $10

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

Picked up this binder for a few of my 4th period students who are diehard Raiders fans.

The only card I pulled out was this kicker:

2009 Score Inscriptions #217

One of my friends is a Raiders fan.  She named her son after this guy, so whenever I get Janikowski cards... they go to him.

#19:  Another Cassette Single $1

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

This Used To Be My Playground by Madonna (1992)

Two weeks after I purchased my first cassette single in decades... I added another one.  At least this one is related to baseball.

#18:  A Banned Book  $2

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss

I'm a sucker for controversy.  That's why I enjoy collecting cards featuring the middle finger or the F-word written on the end of the bat.

It's also why I picked up this book which was pulled from publication back in 2021 for this image:

As an Asian male who has spent his entire life dealing with Asian stereotypes... I am not offended by this picture at all.  But it's not my place to tell others how they should or shouldn't feel when they see an image like this.

#17:  An Informers Autograph  $20

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

I'm sure some of you were wondering if there were going to be any baseball card purchases.  Well here you go:

2024 Topps Archives Signature Series

1999 Topps Traded #T83

Not much to get excited about... considering it's Jose Canseco.  But the fact that he's with the Rays is what caught my eye.  I don't have a lot of his cards from his Tampa Bay days and I actually like the well-cropped action shot used on this card.

Canseco signs a lot at local card shows, so there's no shortage of his autographs around here.  But this purchase was about half the price he normally charges... plus I didn't have to wait in line.

#16:  A Premature Purchase  $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

The guy who sold me the Canseco, also had these two Shota Imanaga rookie cards:

2024 Topps Chrome #121

2024 Finest #45 (Common)

Worst deal of the post?  Probably.  I'm pretty sure both of these cards are sitting in dollar boxes (possibly quarter bins) at card shows all over the country.  If not, they're definitely cheaper on COMC.

I should have been patient... but in the moment I was stoked to add my first cards of the 31 year old MLB rookie.

#15:  A Small Card Collection  $30

Flea Market:  Branham on September 21st

This purchase delayed this Flea Market Find post.

It took me over a week to sit down, sort, and figure out what I had actually purchased.  I'm not exactly an expert on either sport, but here are some of the cards that stood out to me:

UFC Cards

Soccer Cards

I love shiny cards... and that's really what attracted me to these boxes.  Plus I have been looking to add some singles of Messi to the collection.

#14:  A Deck of Cards $1

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

1999 U.S. Playing Cards Major League All-Stars

One vendor's deck of cards is another man's set of cards.

This deck wasn't new, but I needed that McGwire/Canseco card for the collection.  I ended up adding seven other cards into my collection as well.  The rest will be tossed into care packages eventually. 

Most of the people who read this blog are baseball fans... so this is a good spot to stop.  Stay tuned for Part 2.  It should be published in two days.

Until then... feel free to share your thoughts or opinions on any of these purchases... or this "countdown" format down below in the comments.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!