Flea Market Finds #168: Plates, Cups, and Cards

Last week was the first week of the second semester and things at work were a little busy which prevented me from writing this post in a more timely manner.  But now that things are settling down... I finally found some free time to sit down and write.

Back on Saturday, January 18th... I checked out the Branham Flea Market.  The chilly weather scared a few of the regular vendors away, but there were still forty to fifty vendors set up.

I had almost walked around the entire flea market before finding something I was interested in purchasing...

Purchase #1:  Bicycle License Plates  $10

There are a few regulars that set up at this flea market with some cool antique items.  One of them had a wooden box filled with old Wheaties license plates.  I wasn't too familiar with these, but the first two plates appear to be part of a promotion back in 1953 and 1954.  

1953 Wheaties #NNO

1954 Wheaties #NNO

The third license plate I purchased is much newer...

1980 Post #NNO

I'm not quite sure of the history behind these plates, but based on an eBay listing I found... it looks like people could purchase a complete set of these plate directly from Post.

Anyways... I thought these were pretty cool and the guy's asking price was fair... so I purchased them.

Purchase #2:  ALF Collectible Figure  $5

2023 Neca Alf Gordon Shumway w/Saxophone Figure

On the back row of the flea market, I came across a new vendor with a bunch of action figures.  He had purchased a huge collection and was trying to recoup some of his money.  One of my buddies is a huge ALF fan, so I picked this up for him.

Purchase #3:  Junk Wax Era Packs  $2

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #1

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #2

This is one of my favorite oddball sets from the 80's... right up there with the early 80's Granny Goose and Kellogg's sets... and the mid 80's 7-11 Slurpee Coins.

I already own an entire set of 40 unopened packs, plus another compete set stored in four pocket pages.  However, I can't pass up packs of this stuff when they're a buck each.

If you're not familiar with this set, they're oversized cards that utilize the 1989 Topps baseball card design:

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk #84

The backs feature a record:

Collectors who owned the special player could insert these cards and listen to interviews and highlights about each player.  If you're interested in listening to some of these cards you are in luck.  daclyde has recordings of all 164 cards in the set... including the Willie McGee.

Purchase #4:  1973 7-11 Slurpee Cups  $5

Let me preface this purchase by stating that I am not starting a collection of cups.  I'm just a sucker for older ones featuring players from my favorite teams.

1973 7-11 #NNO Catfish Hunter

1973 7-11 #NNO Bert Campaneris

1973 7-11 #NNO Nate Colbert

I purchased these from a regular vendor I have dealt with on a regular basis.  He had purchased a large collection of these cups and talked me into looking through them.  They're over fifty years old and pretty scratched up... but I couldn't turn down his $5 offer.

Purchase #5:  1981 Topps Scratch-Offs Set  $5

Just as I was about to leave the "cup" guy's booth, I noticed this set sitting in a box with some magazines.  Now if you're unfamiliar with the 1981 Topps Scratch-Offs there are two ways to define a complete set.

There are 144 different three-card panels that people can collect... and there are 108 different cards in the set.

A few years ago, Jim (cards as i see them) sold me a complete "panel" set for $25.  I knew right away that the above set wasn't big enough to contain every panel.

However for $5... I couldn't pass up the 108 card set.  As I started flipping through it, I found three panels containing two hall of famers each:

47.7 + 30.4 + 68.5 = 146.6

I decided to see which trio compiled the highest WAR.  Jim Rice, Mike Hargrove, and Jim Palmer had the lowest total.

88.6 + 46.2 + 70.6 = 205.4

George Brett and Alan Trammell's combined WAR was higher than Rice, Hargrove, and Palmer.  Willie Wilson was icing on the cake.

46.5 + 64.9 + 109.9 = 221.3

But in the end... Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, and Tom Seaver came out on top.  It would be fun to go through and compare all 144 panels... but I just don't have the time to research that right now..

I did look up one other panel of note though...

36.0 + 66.4 + 111.1 = 213.5

I knew Rickey would carry any trio he was partnered with... but was blown away by Buddy Bell's career WAR... which happens to be higher than Dawson or Rice.

Anyways... sorry I got off track.  Just thought this was an interesting way to look at these panels.

That wraps up another trip to the flea market.  I'm planning on hitting up the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday.  Hopefully the cold weather doesn't scare off more of the vendors.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

An Attempted Run at Area 51

My memory isn't what it used to be.  That being said... I still remember watching Ichiro Suzuki receive a standing ovation from players and fans at the Tokyo Dome as he walked off the field as a player for the final time in his career back in March of 2019.

Since then it's been a waiting game... since there was no doubt in my mind that he'd be a first ballot hall of famer.  And as we all know... the wait is sort of over.   Last Tuesday he got the call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but now Ichiro and his fans must wait another six months for the Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony which will be held on July 27th in Cooperstown.

Until then you can expect at least two or three posts celebrating Ichiro's career.  Today's post focuses on his Topps flagship base card run.  It's not complete, but it's darn close.

2001 Topps #726

2002 Topps #225

No Topps base card run could be considered complete without his rookie card.  It took me twenty-three years, but I finally acquired a copy last summer at the flea market.  Unfortunately, I'm still looking for his 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies card.

2003 Topps #100

2004 Topps #10

His 2004 and 2005 Topps base cards are two of my favorites.  Both feature attractive action shots.

2005 Topps #400

2006 Topps #225

2007 Topps #400

Topps dropped the ball on Ichiro's 2007 base card.  What could have been one heckuva "play at the plate" card ended up being a zoomed in... cropping disaster.

2008 Topps #320

2009 Topps #300

2010 Topps #125

Topps redeemed themselves in 2008 with a nice photo of Ichiro and his iconic "samurai" pose.

2011 Topps #200

2012 Topps #537

2012 Topps Update #US272

On July 23, 2012... the Seattle Mariners shipped him off to the New York Yankees where he'd play the next two seasons.  Unfortunately Topps didn't have a contract with him, so Ichiro didn't have base cards in their 2013 and 2014 flagship sets.

2015 Topps Update #US396

2016 Topps #700

In 2015, he signed with the Miami Marlins as a free agent and returned to Topps in time for their Update set.

2017 Topps #699

2018 Topps #157

2018 Topps Update #US100

In March of 2018, he'd return to play for the Seattle Mariners for about a month before transitioning to a position in their front office.  The following season, he'd play his final two MLB games for the Mariners in Japan for the 2019 MLB Opening Series.

Ichiro has one of those "legends" variation cards in 2019 Topps flagship and another in the 2019 Topps Update set, but I haven't tracked either of those down yet.  In fact, I haven't really gone out of my way to obtain any of the Topps flagship short prints with the exception of this card:

2020 Topps #363

I'm not sure if this card fits into Dime Box Nick's Into the Sunset category or not... but it's an Ichiro Topps flagship base card (albeit a legend variation) that happens to feature statistics from his entire MLB career:

This is one of my most recent Ichiro purchases.  I had been waiting for this card to pop up on eBay for a reasonable BIN price.  Then last month, one came up for auction and I wound up being the highest bidder ($14.75 + $1.25 shipping).

I will continue to look for reasonably priced Topps flagship variations of Ichiro, but who knows when I'll be fortunate enough to land another one.  In the meantime, if you like these sorts of things... I encourage you to check out Reds Card Collector.  His Ichiro collection is super impressive.

Well that's it for now.  I'm a little behind on blogging, but I do have another Flea Market Find post in the works.  Hopefully I'll get it published on Thursday.  I have another trip to the flea market planned for Saturday and I'd hate to start piling up posts.  But we'll see how things play out.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Desperately Seeking Sasaki

Heartbreak is the word that best describes how I felt when I heard the news that Roki Sasaki picked the Dodgers.  Obviously as a Padres fan, I wanted him to choose Yu over Shohei and Yoshinobu.  But you don't always get what you want (unless you're a Dodgers fan).

The worst part about the situation is that even though he's officially a rival... I want to see him find success in the MLB and I'll definitely seek out his cards

Yesterday, I started the hunt.  I kicked off my morning by purchasing his first Topps Now Dodgers card off of eBay.  Then I ripped open seven packs of 2024 NPB cards that were sent to me by Ryan (@ SumoMenkoMan) a few weeks ago.

Back in December, I read on NPB Card Guy's blog that Topps was releasing three NPB products on their website.  Since Ryan is currently in Japan for work, I showed these products to him.  I also mentioned that if he was going to place an order, I'd be interested in buying some too.

A few weeks later, a box from across the Pacific arrived in my mailbox:

2024 Stadium Club NPB

2024 Topps 206 NPB

2024 Topps Chrome NPB

With shipping... these three boxes came out to almost $300.  But he tossed in a few bonuses: more snack packs with cards, a pack of 2024 Stadium Club NPB, and a pack of 2024 Topps 206 NPB.

Let's bust into some of them.  First up are five packs of 2024 Bandai Pro Baseball Deforme Card Collection.  Some of you might remember these from Ryan's advent calendar back in December.

Here's what I pulled:

I actually pulled two of Takuya Kai's cards, but no Roki.

Next up is the pack of 2024 Topps 206 NPB:

I was excited to open up this pack and check out this product.  Nothing too special and more importantly... no Roki.

Last up is a pack of 2024 Stadium Club NPB:

Here's a peek at the card backs for those who are interested:

Most of the photography is decent, but one particular card stood out:

Not sure if they're celebrating a championship or a no-hitter... but this card is awesome.  The joy on the catcher's face is priceless.

The final card in the pack wasn't a Roki, but it was an insert:

Even though part of his right hand is cropped of, it's a decent looking card.  Unfortunately, the card back is boring:

Lots of wasted space, but that seems to be the trend with Topps NPB cards.

Well... no Roki cards in these seven packs.  But that's okay, because there will be plenty of his cards for me to collect in 2025.

Just like they flooded the hobby with Yoshinobu Yamamoto cards this year.  But I'm not complaining, I'm excited.

John over at Johnny's Trading Spot included a huge stack of Japanese athletes in the last care package he sent my way and one of them was this awesome rookie card of him:

2024 Topps Chrome #18

He also tossed in this Hobby Rip Night card:

2024 Topps Hobby Rip Night #35

Here are eight other cards from his care package:

2022 Allen & Ginter Pitching A Gem #PAG-9

2024 Topps 1988 Chrome Silver Pack #T88C-27

We live in an era where every Shohei Ohtani card is treated and hoarded like gold... so whenever I can add two new cards to my binder, it's an exciting day.

2024 Topps Chrome Future Stars #FS-9

Kodai sat out most of his sophomore season with a calf injury, but he did return for one game in the playoffs.  It wasn't pretty... but these Future Stars inserts are.

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights WBC Preview #WBC1

Love this card.  I'm a big fan of the 2008 Topps design... and this card previewed the 2009 WBC tournament... which Dice-K dominated in.

Here are two more popular Japanese players...

2006 Topps Stars #TS-HM

2020 Topps Chrome Prism Refractor #166

And you can't forget this legend...

2024 Topps Hobby Rip Night #31

Looking forward to seeing Ichiro get inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.

And I'm looking forward to seeing where this guy will land in 2026...

2023 Topps WBC Stars #WBC-60

Unless... of course... he lands with Roki Sasaki and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Thank you John for another large stack of Japanese athletes for my collection.  And thank you Ryan for helping me acquire those boxes... and for all of the freebies you tossed into the box.

Happy Monday and sayonara!