Flea Market Finds #186: Win Some, Lose Some

Spring doesn't officially start until Friday, but two Saturdays ago it was warm enough to wear flip flops, but not quite warm enough to make you sweat.  That's the perfect weather for a walk around the local flea market.

Unfortunately there was also a card show in the area, so I didn't see any of my friends who usually set up.  But I did find stuff from other vendors.

Let's check out my De Anza Flea Market haul...

Purchase #1:  Cheap Comic Books  $4

1985 Comico Robotech Masters #1

1992 Celebrity Comics Metallica #2

Comic books aren't really popular among my readers, but that doesn't stop me from flipping through bargain boxes in search of titles I enjoy.  Robotech was one of my favorite cartoons back in the 80's... and Metallica is one of my favorite bands of all-time.

Purchase #2:  A Rare 90's Hologram  $5

1991 Pro Set Winston Cup Hologram #NNO

Once upon a time, this card would have commanded triple digits to some collectors.  Today you can find them for a fraction of the price.

There was a gentleman with a small collection of Junk Wax Era cards scattered on his table.  This one immediately caught my eye.  The top loader had a $20 price tag, but before I could say a word, he asked me if five dollars was fair.  That's a price I could live with.

Purchase #3:  A Sweet Ticket Stub  $5

1963 Orange Bowl Ticket Stub

I found this ticket stub sitting on a five dollar table with a bunch of movies, McDonald's toys, and other knickknacks.  I decided to Google the game to see who participated.

It featured #5 Alabama and #8 Oklahoma.  When I dug a little deeper, I saw that Joe Namath was the starting quarterback.  No way I was going to pass this up for five bucks.

Purchase #4:  Pair of Hall of Fame Autos  $40

A gentleman bought a storage unit filled with football and hockey cards.  He had a bunch of top loaded cards sitting in two row shoe boxes.  My eyes lit up when I saw this:

1997 UD Legends Autograph #AL-15

I grew up listening to stories about the legendary Green Bay Packers of the 60's from my father.  Ray Nitschke was the anchor of Vince Lombardi's defense which won five NFL titles (including the first two Super Bowls) in a span of seven seasons.

Unfortunately he passed away in 1998, a year after Upper Deck included him in their iconic UD Legends set.  This is one of only a handful of certified, pack pulled signatures out there and for $20... it's a win. 

1997 UD Legends Autograph #AL-99

Eric Dickerson was the premiere running back in the NFL during the 80's and one of my favorite players.  In the moment, I figured $20 for an on-card signature of his was a steal... but that's about the going rate.  Win some, lose some.

Purchase #5:  Hockey Hits  $50

After going through his two football boxes, I dove into the hockey.  By this time there were several other people interested in his stuff, so I settled for sifting through one two-row shoebox.  Here's what I pulled out...

1999-00 ITG BAP All-Star Teammates Relic #TM-10

Back in the late 90's, Kariya and Forsberg were two of the hottest players in the hobby.  These swatches are from their 1996 NHL All-Star jerseys when they were teammates for the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, this card was stored in a screwdown holder made for thinner cards, so I damaged it (see chipping along edges) upon removal.  Win some, lose some.

2002-03 Stadium Club St. Patrick Dual Relics #SP-CAMCJ

Patrick Roy was even more popular than Forsberg and Kariya.  This card was part of a tribute set and inserted into packs during his final NHL season.  It features game worn swatches from Avalanche and Canadians jerseys.

2001-02 Pacific Titanium Double Sided Jersey #32

I was pretty stoked to find a Mario Lemieux jersey card sitting in the box and surprised to see another player on the back.  It's a shame Aleksey Morozov was the other player and not someone like Jaromir Jagr.  Win some, lose some.

1980-81 O-Pee-Chee #140

Ray Bourque is one of the greatest defensemen in NHL history and I have wanted his rookie card since the 90's.  I'm very happy to finally own a copy.  It's even cooler that it's the OPC version.

2001-02 UD Legends Milestones Jersey #M-WG

Finally... the key card in the lot.  It's not often you find Wayne Gretzky jersey cards sitting in boxes at the flea market.  As excited as I was to see this in the box, I was even more excited when he told me I could have all five cards for $50.

Sadly... this card was also squeezed into a screwdown too.  When I took it out little specks stuck to the holder.  Oh well... win some, lose some.

Purchase #6:   8-Track Tapes  $2

Johnny Cash Greatest Hits

The Partridge Family Up To Date

Can't say I'm a huge fan of either of these albums, but The Partridge Family was sealed and the price was right.  These go into my slowly growing 8-track collection.

Purchase #7:  Junk Wax Era Factory Set  $5

1993 Topps Toys R Us Factory Set

Back in 1993, I was out of the hobby and in the midst of college.  In other words, I wasn't hitting up Toys R Us regularly and never owned this set.  However for $5, I figured it was finally time to add it to my collection.

The plan is to open it up in the near future and write up a post.  I'm mostly excited to check out the complete set of Master Photos.  Stay tuned.

Purchase #8:  Bag of Legos  $3

2019 Legos #30624

In 2019 Lego celebrated the 20th anniversary of Lego Star Wars with a bunch of cool sets and special minifigures.  This Obi-wan Kenobi poly bag was originally a gift with purchase.  I missed out back then, but was pretty happy to find one in the wild at the flea market.

Purchase #9:  My Other Dream Car  $15

2026 Hot Wheels Car Culture Team Transport #86

Two weeks ago, I wrote about one of my dream cars.  In 2022, I bought my other one.

Since then, I've tried to collect as many diecast versions as I can find.  You'd think it'd be easy to find just about any mass produced Hot Wheel on pegs at Target, but I see less Toyota GR Supras than baseball card blasters.  In fact, I have never seen one in four years.  That's why I didn't even try to negotiate the fifteen dollar price tag.

Well that wraps up my latest trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  The Branham High School Flea Market is on Saturday, but I might be going to a card show in Danville with one of my buddies.  It'll probably be a last minute decision.

Thanks for hanging in there for another long winded post.  My goal is to produce shorter posts on a more frequent basis, but that plan seems to fly out the window whenever I start typing.

Until next time...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Not Perfect, But That's Okay

Starting a new unit with my students.  Dinner with an old buddy.  Lounging at a late night board meeting.  Chaperoning a school dance.  Bonding with my brother.  Last week was a little hectic.  

But I finally got a chance to scan some cards over the weekend.  So I can finally hammer out some posts I've been meaning to write.

Today's post features some quick stories involving cards, high school, and my interest in flawed cardboard.  It centers around the only notable MLB player to attend the high school I went to (albeit he was there over a decade before me).  I've written about him before, so some of you might already know who I'm referring to.

If you don't, here are a few hints...

#1:  He was a standout outfielder in high school and community college who transitioned into a pitcher while attending Southern Illinois University.

#2:  He led the MLB in WAR among pitchers in the 80's and had the second most wins behind Jack Morris.

#3:  He's the Blue Jays all-time leader in several pitching categories including: games started, wins, and strikeouts.

Yup.  You guessed it.  Dave Stieb.

Right around the same time he was turning into a perennial all-star, one of my Little League coaches mentioned that he played with him.  A few years later I discovered that he attended the same high school.  Both of these things stuck with me and molded me into being a fan of his.

Decades later, I have built a small collection of his cards that include a few autographs, a bunch of his base cards, and even a Topps rookie card that Night Owl pulled from a pack back in 1980.  However one card that has eluded my collection, but was high on my wantlist is his O-Pee-Chee rookie card.

Well Angus over at Dawg Day Cards generously took care of that when he sent me this:

1980 O-Pee-Chee #42

Technically he handed it off to Night Owl who shipped it to me as part of Angus' care package back in December.

Collectors understand that O-Pee-Chee baseball cards from the 80's and earlier tend to have issues in regards to condition and centering.  This card is no exception.  It's not perfect, but that's okay.  I absolutely love it and is now one of the cornerstones of my Dave Stieb PC.

Angus sent a few other O-Pee-Chee Stiebs...

1981 O-Pee-Chee #5

His second year card is really off-centered.  But holy moly... I love seeing O-Pee-Chee printed in the middle of that baseball on the front of this card.  

1986 O-Pee-Chee #353

This card is a little off-centered too... and suffers some minor edge issues (common O-Pee-Chee baseball issue).

Neither of these O-Pee-Chee Stiebs are perfect, but that's okay.  Check out that cool O-Pee-Chee logos on the backs, the French translation of text, and bright card backs.  Pure awesomeness.

The final Stieb from Angus is the cleanest of them all:

1988 O-Pee-Chee #153

It's actually shockingly clean for an 80's O-Pee-Chee card.  The card back even mentions hall of famer Pat Gillick signing Stieb to a contract back a few days after the Blue Jays selected him in the 1978 MLB Draft.

Switching gears, but staying in the same lane.  Here are a few other cards that Angus sent my way...

2020 Topps Rookie Card Retrospective Logo Medallion #RCR-CA

Back when I was in high school, Jose Canseco was one of the biggest names in baseball and a Bay Area fan favorite.  His 1986 Topps Traded was a key card in my collection at the time.

And check out this cool early 90's food issue:

1990 Wonder Bread Stars #14

I know I don't cherish logoless cards as much as some of you do, but oddball issues from my childhood get a pass.  In other words, this food issue isn't perfect, but that's okay.  It still cool to know that someone found this card sitting in a bag of Wonder Bread back in 1990.

Canseco may have had his share of struggles on and off the field and was obviously far from perfect, but that's okay.  This oddball is still cherished by A's fans and card collectors around the world.

Speaking of oddballs, let's check out the lone football card in this post:

2015 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Auto #151

You might be wondering why Angus sent me a card of former Cleveland Browns draft pick: Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.  Well he happens to be married to my friend's cousin's daughter.  Back in 2014, he was considered one of the best cover corners in college football.  Unfortunately he suffered a knee injury that altered the path of his football career.

Angus also included these two Jordan Yamamoto autographs:

2020 Topps Gypsy Queen Auto B&W #GQA-JY (#'d 20/50)

2021 Donruss Optic Signature Series #SS-JY

Yamamoto fits into two of my PC's:  Japanese athletes and athletes born in Hawaii.

Like Ekpre-Olomu his career as a professional athlete might not have been perfect, but that's okay.  I still enjoy collecting their cards.

Finally a pair of miscuts that some collectors would discard with their kitchen scraps:

1986-87 O-Pee-Chee Album Stickers #115-129

At first glance, this sticker is a monstrosity of a miscut.  But check out who is featured on it. Two members of the Hall of Very Good and two of the greatest hockey players to play the sport.  How awesome is that?  I'd have to do some digging, but I'm guessing this is the single greatest miscut hockey sticker/card in my collection.

1991-92 Pro Set MusiCards #174

Can't say I was a big fan of Extreme, but I do remember listening to their acoustic ballad More Than Words which reached #1 in the summer of 1991.

Both of these stickers/cards are not perfect, but that's okay.  I'll make sure to provide a loving home for both of them.

Thank you Angus for sending me these awesome cards and stickers!  They might not fetch high grades from PSA or Beckett, but that's okay.  They're still awesome and I promise to cherish them in my collection.

As for the rest of you, here is your question of the day:

What's a favorite card or collectible in your collection that is far from perfect, yet you're perfectly happy to own it?

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments (hopefully sooner than later).  Until then...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

Red Cardboard is back behind the keyboard and he's giving away a vintage Mickey Mantle!  So click the link, follow his blog, and enjoy his posts!