Flea Market Finds #165: Two Months & Four Trips Pt. 3

Today is the day I share my Top 5 flea market finds of September and October.  Not gonna lie... there aren't any baseball cards featured (sorry Night Owl).  But there are some pretty cool items from the 70's and 80's that have a direct link to my childhood.

If you haven't seen the first two parts of this series (which do contain baseball cards), you can click on the following links:

Part #1:  #22 to #14

Part #2:  #13 to #6

Part #3:  #5 to #1

Before we get into the goodies... I just wanted to remind you that the twenty-two flea market purchases I made in September and October took place over the course of four days at two different flea markets.

Normally I write about each trip individually, but things got a little backed up... so I decided to cover them all together.  Unfortunately... I'm not a fan of super long posts, so I chopped up the purchases into three tiers.

And I have saved the best for last.  Let's get into it...

#5:  Rare Pack of Cards $1

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

Remember the guy with the skateboarding cards from Part 2?  He also had this opened pack of 1987 Astroboyz Surf Cardz.  Back in the 80's, I was really into surfing.  Not actually surfing, but watching surfing competitions and reading surfer magazines.  Yup.  I was one of those posers.

Anyways... I would have totally been into these cards had I known about them back then.  But I never saw them back in the day.  And based on eBay listings, they're pretty rare and some of these singles sell for a decent dime.

When I flipped through the pack I immediately recognized this guy who happened to be one of my favorite surfers:

Tom Curren won three World Titles back in the mid 80's to the early 90's.

Here are the cards in the pack:

The Mark Gonzalez card is also pretty cool:

In 2011 he was named The Most Influential Skateboarder of All-Time by Transworld Skateboarding magazine ahead of legends like Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, and Rodney Mullen.

#4:  Some Sentimental Singles $3

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

A guy with tons of toys from the 70's, 80's, and 90's had a 100ct. box containing 1977 Topps Star Wars Series 4 and 5 cards.

I'm sure most of you already know this... but in case you don't... I'll write it again.  1977 Topps Star Wars were the first packs of trading cards that I remember opening and collecting.  That's why I just can't walk away from adding more to my collection if the price is right.

Considering the condition, I was excited to pay 50¢ each for these:

1977 Topps Star Wars Singles

My focus were the character cards... but I was just as excited to add these two George Lucas cards to my collection.  If this guy is set up again this weekend, I will go through this box again.

#3:  Pee-Chee Folders $10

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

How often do you see these featured on a card blog?  It's gonna sound crazy... but I was more excited to see these folders than any baseball card I saw that day at the flea market.

I was one of those Trapper Keeper kids... but sometime around 5th or 6th grade... I switched over to those flimsy plastic binders and Pee-Chee folders.  Year in and year out... I'd decorate them in the same way.  I'd draw a microphone in the lead runner's hand, a mouse under the batter's foot, and extra hairy armpits on the guy shooting the basketball.  There were a few other things I'd draw/write... but they aren't very school appropriate.

#2:  BART Button $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th 

I'm sure most of you are scratching your heads about why I'd put a button (that isn't even sports related) so high on these rankings.  Simply put... BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit and it's how got to the Oakland Coliseum for the vast majority of the A's games I attended over the years.

I honestly had no idea that their first day of operation was so close to the day I was born.  That was a very cool bonus.

#1:  1977 Star Wars Lunch Box $55

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

I've purchased a lot of cool stuff over the years while wandering around my local flea markets.  This one will be up there among my favorites for years to come.

Just like 1977 Topps Star Wars were the first packs I ever opened as a kid... this lunch box is just like the first one I carried my lunch in when I was in kindergarten.

I've thought about buying one of these on eBay for years... but was always afraid of excessive rust.

This one is far from being mint, but it's pretty clean.  I might do is buy another Thermos, because the one it came with is faded:

But that's not high on my priority list... since I have no plans to actually use it.  Right now... it's the newest piece to my Star Wars display:

Well there you have it.  My five favorite flea market finds of September and October.  Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post... as well as the other two.  

De Anza is on Saturday.  The plan is to make it out there and get back on track with my Flea Market Finds posts.  But we'll see.  If you see one next week, then you know I'm back on track.  If not... another combination post might show up again.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!