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!

Summer Vacation (& Baseball Cards)

This week was my annual Ashland, Oregon trip.  Four days up there with my friend and her family.  Four days of delicious food, gorgeous sunsets, good company, and excessive spending.

If you've never heard of Ashland, it's known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that runs from March to October each year.  We've never watched any performances, but we did participate in a Shakespeare inspired "escape room" this year.

We also enjoy walking around Lithia Park in downtown area.  That's where I took this wallet card shot: 

Downtown Ashland also has a bunch of cool stores.  This year I spent more money than usual on Christmas and birthday presents for friends and family.  While my friend and her kids were shopping for clothes and stuff, I spent time in the record and toy shops.

But we would always meet up at the book stores and a comic book shop called More Fun.  This year I promised one of my nieces that I'd buy her a comic book.  She picked out a Godzilla vs. Avengers comic that looked really interesting.  I bought a copy for myself:

Godzilla vs. Avengers #1

I'm a huge Godzilla fan, so I also bought this issue:

Godzilla vs. Spider-Man #1 (2nd Printing)

I couldn't find any card shops in Ashland, but I did manage to purchase some cards in Medford... which is about 15 minutes away.

There's an antique shop I love to visit every summer called Main Antique Mall.  I found two vendors with sports cards, so I supported both.

The first one had this set of 7-11 discs for $8:

1983 7-11 Angels/Dodgers Coins

There are twelve discs in the set with a total of two hall of famers:

1983 was the first year 7-11 created these lenticular sports discs.  Their baseball set was a regional issue released in the Los Angeles area.  Here's a closer look at the front and back of Rod Carew's disc:

1983 7-11 Coins #1

The other vendor I purchased from had a box of 2025 Bowman singles that were priced at two for a dollar.  I grabbed these two:

2025 Bowman Chrome Mojo Refractor #12

2025 Bowman Chrome Mojo Refractor #BCP-114

There were a ton of 1st Bowmans, but I'm not big on prospecting... so I grabbed a Sasaki for my Japan PC and a Kurtz for my A's PC.

The final thing I want to show off is this awesome Thrifty's ice cream scoop:

I have been looking for one of these for quite some time.  A few weeks ago, my friend came across one of these at a store near her house.  She knew I worked there back in high school, so she bought it for me.

I'll go ahead and wrap up this post with one more baseball card:

1990 Donruss #229

Why am I showing off a Junk Wax Era card of a back-up catcher?  Well... he was born in Ashland, Oregon back in 1961:

Now that I'm back home... I'm hoping to continue to organize my collection and hammer out some blog posts featuring some recent card show pickups, flea market finds, and a few care package summaries.

Until then...

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Blog Bat-Around: Junk Wax Favorites

Twenty months ago... way back in July of 2023... Night Owl wrote a post about his favorite baseball sets of the Junk Wax Era.  As a collector who was heavy into collecting for most of that time span, I definitely have favorites.

It seems like every collector has their own definition of this era, so I'll go ahead and make my selections based on the range of years he established:  1987 to 1993.

Night Owl chose his favorite seven... so I went with seven as well.  Let's get it started...

#7:  1993 Pacific

1993 Pacific #257

This set doesn't seem to receive a lot of attention, but if you're a fan of well-cropped action shots... you should give it a shot.  I didn't really take card backs into consideration when making my selections, but I will point out things I like as they pop up.

The extra photo (which is usually well-cropped as well) and Spanish text are nice bonuses. 

#6:  1990 Leaf

1990 Leaf #25

Out of all of the sets I've chosen for this post... this is the only one that is overtly plain and simple.  Back in the early 90's, I was a little obsessed with this set.  The card shop I worked at opened a ton of boxes, so I had access to all the commons I needed for my set build.  The only thing I needed to supply were some of the stars and key rookies.  It wasn't cheap, but I still have the two sets I built back in the day.

The one drawback is the photography.  Most of the pictures Leaf used are too zoomed in for my liking.  But the nostalgic factor... along with the simple, yet clean design made me reserve a spot for it in this post.

#5:  1993 Upper Deck

1993 Upper Deck #136

This was Night Owl's top pick and it's hard to argue with the Blogfather.

It boasts some of the best photography in a flagship set... ever.

#4:  1989 Upper Deck

1989 Upper Deck #300

I started collecting back in the early 80's when white borders were the norm... but Upper Deck's high quality card stock made them brighter.  Toss in the first base line that included the grass, dirt, and runner's lane... and you have one helluva inaugural set design.

The one thing that keeps this set from being in the #3 spot is the fact that I didn't open a lot of this stuff.

#3:  1991 Upper Deck

1991 Upper Deck Final Edition #55F

What can I say?  Upper Deck had something special going on during their first five years in the game.

The designs tend to be a little too similar for some collector's liking (sort of like 1982 and 1983 Donruss), but a nice looking design is a nice looking design.

#2:  1992 Fleer Ultra

1992 Fleer Ultra #485

The best way to describe my feelings towards 1992 Fleer Ultra baseball is love at first sight.  I spent every dollar I made at the LCS (plus a few dollars on my very first credit card) on packs and boxes of this stuff.  And with the help of some generous customers, I was able to build a master set of both series.

This set's design and photography are top notch and it gave off high-end vibes.  How often do you see marble and graph paper integrated into a card's design?

#1:  1987 Topps

1987 Topps #749

I wrote two versions of this post.  One had the 1992 Fleer Ultra set at #1.  This is the other version.

Ultimately the classic wood bordered design prevailed.  When I picture what a stereotypical baseball card looks like... this is one of the designs that comes to mind.  The team logo in the upper left corner and the the team color matched box housing the player's name in the bottom right corner balances each other out.  Honestly... the only downside to the front of the card's design is the lack of the player's position.

The backs aren't anything (remember... I focused mostly on the card fronts), but that just shows how powerful nostalgia is.

1987 Topps has the honor of being the product I have opened the most over the course of my collecting timeline.  It's also a reminder of when I shifted from a full-time collector to a part-time investor.  Don't worry... I have since shifted back to a full-time collector.

Well these are my favorite Junk Wax Era baseball card designs.  Every since I read Night Owl's post, I though this would make a fun Blog Bat-Around.  So if you're looking for some content for your blog, I encourage you to chime in (even if it's nineteen months from now).

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

After I finished writing this post, another set popped into my head that would compete with 1993 Pacific for the final spot in my Top 7.  It's the 1993 Flair set.  Unfortunately I discovered my omission while at work, so I don't have access to my sports cards and I couldn't find a personal scan in my cloud from that set.

But I really like the thick and high quality card stock along with the blending of the two photographs on the front.  When you actually see these cards, it's kind of crazy to think that they were produced during something known as the Junk Wax Era.

It's a few weeks later after originally publishing this post.  I figured I'd add a few links to blogs who joined in on the BBA:

Card Buzz

Baseball Cards Come to Life!

The Collective Mind