Flea Market Finds #180b: The Rest of the Stuff

Here's part two of my De Anza Flea Market haul from earlier in the month.  If you're interested in seeing part one, click here.

This post has been delayed long enough, let's dive into it...

Purchase #3:  Action Packed Football  $15

1990 Action Packed Football Factory Set

I'm not sure why I'm so interested in Action Packed football cards, but I am.  A vendor had this set sitting on his table.  He was asking $10, which I figured was a fair price.

Here's a closer look at the set:

After I told the guy I was interested in the set, he dug out this box of cards:

1989 Action Packed Football

This was the test issue released by Action Packed in 1989.  I actually picked up a pair of factory sets of this product back in August.  This box contains unopened packs of the same cards.  He told me that if I bought the set, I could have this box for $5, so I grabbed that too.

Purchase #4:  One on One Video Game  $10

1987 Electronic Arts One-On-One Basketball (Atari 7800)

I never owned an Atari 7800, but I remember playing this game on the Apple IIe.  Even though I won't be able to play it, I figured it's a cool display piece and the $10 asking price seemed reasonable.

Purchase #5:  A Friendly Purchase  $8

2024 Panini Contenders Rookie Ticket Swatches #RTD-JDS

Outside of some Packers and Seahawks, I don't own a lot of newer football.  That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the sport.  Jayden Daniels had a stellar rookie season last year, so I've been interested in adding a rookie card of his to my collection.

My buddy Tony had this card sitting in his display case, so I bought it.  He's taken care of me over the years, so I don't mind paying him top dollar every now and then to return the favor.

Purchase #6:  A Pair of Bruces  $25

Tony sets up next to Tom who primarily focuses on non-sports stuff.  A few months ago, he was selling these boxes of Bruce Lee cards.  Well he eventually opened a few and had them displayed in his case.

I picked out these two:

2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary #228

2024 Keepsake Bruce Lee 50th Anniversary #230

At the time, I thought it was pretty cool to own a pair of cards with swatches of clothing once worn by the legendary martial artist.  Unfortunately these are just swatches from modern keepsakes featuring him.

Had I turned the card over, I would have noticed the yellow Bruce Lee x Vans Half Cabs which I purchased a few years ago myself.  Oh well... at least the money went to a friend.

Purchase #7:  B&W Bo  $1

1990 Score #697

Found a lady with an entire binder filled with Bo Jackson cards.  She wanted $50 for the binder, which I had zero interest in.  But I was interested in this iconic card which she let me have for a buck.  It's not in mint condition, but this is one of those cards I'd love to fill a 9-pocket page with.

Purchase #8:  An 80's Oddball Set  $15

1982 Diamond Classics Set

I found this set sitting in this guy's display case with a $15 price tag.  I wasn't familiar with it, but the set was numbered to 10,000 and loaded with legends.  I discovered that if you're patient you can grab this set on eBay for under $10 shipped.  Guess not all of my flea market finds are winners.

That being said... I'm still happy to add this set and those silly Bruce Lee cards to my collection.

Well that's it for my De Anza Flea Market haul.  I'll be headed back out there in nine days.  

Until then...

I should have one more Flea Market Find post (from my trip to the Branham Flea Market) coming out next week.  Stay tuned.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Back to School

When I was a kid, I always had mixed emotions about going back to school.  Sure part of me was excited to see what friends I had in my classes... and whether or not I got the teacher(s) I wanted.  But there was also the fact that summer break, sleeping in, chilling out in the neighborhood, cruising around on bikes and skateboards, and staying up late were all coming to an end.

The same thing still applies to me as an adult.  Only now I'm checking to see how large my classes are and which prep period my friends have at work.  And although I'm no long chilling out in the neighborhood or cruising around on bikes and skateboards, I still enjoy sleeping in and staying up a little later than usual.

That's all over though, because the Summer Break of 2025 is officially coming to an end.  This Thursday I officially report back for my 28th year in my current district.  But I've actually been going in the past two weeks and working in my classroom.

Not sure if I've ever done this, but here's a peek at some before and after shots:

Every summer, the custodians clean the carpets and wax the floors... so we come back with a clean slate.

All of the student desks are up on the counters and we take them down and set them up.  This is usually when I tweak my back.

But I'm happy to report... no injuries this year.

One of the biggest projects every year is taking all of my toys and collectibles out of storage and creating my display.  This is a collection of items I have accumulated over the years.  Some of the stuff are things I bought... while others are gifts I have received from students, parents, fellow teachers, and others.

Here's a peek at my collection of sealed collectibles:

Luckily my principal doesn't make me take these down every year.  In fact, I don't think I've messed with these in six to eight years.

Anyways, there were three things I wanted to accomplish with this post.  First... I wanted to honor a few people who passed away recently.  Although none of these gentleman were personal favorites, they each played a role in my childhood.

Ozzy Osbourne

1985 AGI Rock Star #2

(December 3, 1948 to July 22, 2025)

It's hard to say what stands out the most about Ozzy.  The story about the "bat" or his MTV show.  Both immediately come to mind when I think of him.  Wasn't the biggest fan of his music when I was little, but I learned to appreciate his stuff from the 70's with Black Sabbath in high school and college.

Hulk Hogan

1987 Topps WWF #3

(August 11, 1953 to July 24, 2025)

There was a time when WWF was more important to me than the MLB.  It was right around 8th or 9th grade... and if it was on... I'd do whatever I could to watch it.  Hogan played a big part of my fanfare.  Today he would have celebrated his 72nd birthday.  Happy birthday Hulk!

Ryne Sandberg

1983 Topps #282

(September 18, 1959 to July 28, 2025)

As a Gwynn fan, Sandberg was always one of the other two big rookies in the 1983 baseball sets.  Their names along with Boggs always seem to go together when you discuss that awesome rookie card class.

Rest in peace Ozzy, Hulk, and Ryno.

Next up... I wanted to honor the Cooperstown Class of 2025:

Dick Allen

1966 Topps #80

Dave Parker

1982 Donruss #95

Billy Wagner

1997 Topps Gallery #178

CC Sabathia

2017 Topps NYY Factory Team Set #NYY-10

Ichiro Suzuki

2023 Stadium Club Red Foil #72

Congratulations Dick, Dave, Billy, CC, and Ichiro!

And finally... I wanted to show off the final care package of the summer.  The same day I receive'd Matt's PWE, I also received a flat rate box from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.

He filled it up with a bunch of stuff, so let's dive in and check it out.  Let's start with a huge stack of Ichiro cards (including the Stadium Club card above):

In addition to the the sixty to seventy cards in this photo, he also sent me these nine:

Plus there were these three cards from a Topps On Demand Ichiro set:

2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #16

2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #19

2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #20

A large percentage of the box were new additions to my Japanese Athlete PC.  Here are a few of the highlights...

2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destination Stardom Memorabilia #DS-AI

2024 Topps Now Off-Season #OS-13

2025 Topps Stars of Japan #SOJ-6

Saw this cherry blossom decorated insert a few weeks ago over on Cards As I See Them.

Very happy to add five to my binder.  I'm debating on picking up a few more over on COMC before I request shipment later in the week.

2021 Donruss Optic Signature Series #SS-JY

2023 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Autographs #MA-FS

And here are a few other Japanese athletes who don't play baseball...

John also sent me a stack of Mr. October...

Here are a closer look at nine of them...

He also sent me a a few other A's for my collection...

In addition to baseball cards, he also sent me some MJ's...

1994 Action Packed Minors #23

This card stood out, because I liked how Action Packed kept it real in their scouting report.  

The second half of his care package were a ton of Wacky Packages.  Let's start with two vintage tan backs:

1973 Topps Wacky Packages 4th Series Brute 88

1974 Topps Wacky Packages 9th Series Windstun

He also tossed in a nice starter set...

2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Starter Set

Within the starter set was a complete puzzle:

2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Quacker Oats Puzzle Backs

I pulled out a few of my favorites:

2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Favorites

And rounding things out are some album stickers from the mid 80's:

1986 Wacky Packages Album Stickers

These are smaller than your standard size cards.  Here's a size comparison with the album sticker on the left and a standard Wacky Packages card on the right:

1986 Wacky Packages Album Stickers Size Comparison

Thank you John for another generous care package!  I had a lot of fun going through and organizing the stacks of Ichiro, Reggie, and Wacky Packages.  It was a fantastic way to wrap up my summer.

I hope all of you had a great summer.  After a reasonably mild summer in regards to weather, things are starting to heat up around here.  I might be ready for the students, but I'm not ready for triple digit temperatures.

Happy Monday and sayonara!