Old Friends and New Additions

I'm caught up with my Flea Market Finds posts.  Now it's time to catch up with my card show hauls.  While I tend to splurge on a variety of purchases at the flea market, I'm much more selective when I shop at shows.

In fact, the only reason I attended the Santa Clara Card Show back in late June was to hang out with my buddy who was setting up at the show.  Walking in with Ben saved me the $10 admission fee... but things balanced out, because I still had to pay for parking ($10).

This show shares the same story I've read across a bunch of your blogs: some sports cards and lots of Pokemon.

I did find a few guys with quarter bins and dollar boxes, but I only made a purchase from one of them...

Purchase #1:  Quarter Bin  $2

I'll happily hand over a quarter for PCA rookie cards.  This guy is super fun to watch.

The other five cards are refractors for the binders.  Although I'm happy to add these to my collection, finding them for 25¢ is a sad reminder that Topps is flooding the hobby with these shiny parallels.  

Purchase #2:  The Greatest Auto  $200+

1992 Pro Line Portraits Autographs #NNO

This card is a huge addition to my autograph collection.  It has been on my radar since the 90's, but honestly I never thought I'd actually own a copy.  Then I saw it sitting in Ben's display case:

He had a $400 price tag, but told me I could have it for $350.  We worked out a deal where I traded him two display cases (from my card show days) and $200 cash.

This purchase had me floating like a butterfly... but stung (my wallet) like a bee.

Purchase #3:  Oversized Stuff  $5

1997-98 NBA Hoops Great Shots #13

One vendor had some oversized cards sitting in a box.  This Kobe poster caught my eye and lured me in.  But buried in the stack below was this hidden treasure: 

2006 Topps Allen and Ginter N43 Box Topper #N43-4

At the time, I just thought it was a cool card of one of the greatest hitters of all-time.

But in regards to value... this was the best deal of the day.

Freebie #1:  Oakland A's Lanyard

While walking around the show, I ran into some old friends I hadn't seen in a few years.  Some of you are familiar with my buddy Mike.  Anyways... he introduced me to Alfredo and his wife about a decade ago.  They were regular vendors at the Serramonte Mall shows.  However since Mike passed away, I hadn't seen them.

Well they were set up there and it very nice surprise.  We shared stories and caught up.  Anyways, I saw this lanyard and tried to buy it.  But they refused to take my money.

Purchase #4:  An Ohtani Rookie Card  $20

2018 Topps Now #678J

After hanging with Alfredo, I went back over to Ben's table to tell him I was going to head out.  Saw this Ohtani in his display case and grabbed it. 

I'm not actively chasing all of Ohtani's Topps Now cards, but the "kanji" was interesting.

Well... that wraps up my purchases from this particular show.  I attended a card show last weekend as well that I'll try to recap next week.

Until then...

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #174b: Best Haul of the Year?

Tuesday's post was the appetizer.  Today's is the main course.

It covers the purchase of a pretty cool set, a super cool and hard to find set, and some items that take me back to my Little League days.

Considering that the next Branham Flea Market is only two days away... and these purchases were made almost five weeks ago... this post is long overdue.  Let's get into it...

Purchase #1: The Pretty Cool Set  $15 

Remember the guy who sold me the Sears football posters and the 1976 Laughlin Diamond Jubilee set?  He was back and I was very happy to see him.

The first set to catch my eye on his table was this 1978 Olde Cards Halsey Hall Recalls baseball set:

1978 Olde Cards Halsey Hall Recalls #20 Set

I had seen singles from this set before, but had no idea what they were.

1978 Olde Cards Halsey Hall Recalls #20

But with guys like Roy Campanella, Willie Mays and Ted Williams on the checklist... I was interested in it.

1978 Olde Cards Halsey Hall Recalls #21

A quick glance at the back dated it back to the 70's which intrigued me more.  When you factor in the $15 price tag, there was no way I could pass up this set.

But this purchase could have been part of the "appetizer" post, because it's the next two items that I'm mostly excited about.

Purchase #2:  The Super Cool Set  $10

1974 Laughlin Old Time Black Stars Set

The first time I met this vendor, I saw this set on his table.  However the price he quoted me (maybe $50) was a little high for a set I wasn't familiar with.

1974 Laughlin Old Time Black Stars #8

But I couldn't get the image of the Josh Gibson out of my head.  I was thinking how cool it would be to own this card.  Unfortunately the vendor didn't have the set with him the following month.

1974 Laughlin Old Time Black Stars #15

This time around he did and it was much more affordable.  He told me since I was a frequent buyer, I could have it for $10.  At the time I though it was a pretty cool deal.  It wasn't until I got home and started researching this set that I discovered its true value.  Let's just say this might just be my best flea market find of all-time in terms of monetary value.

But this isn't even the coolest purchase of the day...

Purchase #3:  7-11 Slurpee Cups  $8

If you grew up in the 80's and enjoyed 7-11 Slurpees... you know exactly what these cups are.

The best part wasn't even the Slurpee.  When you were finished drinking it, you would turn the cup over and see a false bottom.

 

The false bottom could be removed to reveal one 7-11 Slurpee Disc.  I ended up purchasing over seventy cups (about 30 football and 40 baseball) that contained these discs:

Now unlike the Laughlin set, these don't hold much monetary value.  However they hold a ton of nostalgic value to me.

Back in the 80's, I would ride my bike to 7-ll after baseball practice to grab a Slurpee.  They didn't always have these special cups, but every now and then they would.

Back then Rickey Henderson was my favorite player... and I would have been stoked to pull him from the bottom of a cup:

1984 7-11 Super Star Sports Coins (West Region) #XXI

Forty-one years later, I got the opportunity to experienced that... and it was awesome.

One of my favorite flea market hauls in a long time.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I have.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

The More Recognition, the Better

Last December, MLB finally recognized Negro League players as Major League players.  It was obviously long overdue, but better late than never.

There have been several Negro League baseball card sets produced over the years... two of which I have added to my collection within the past thirteen months.  The first one was purchased over at the Negro League History website back in August of 2020.  Due to the size of the set (184 cards), I have no idea if or when I will review it.  The good news is there are at least two blogs out there that have.  I first saw the set over at Waiting 'til Next Year....  I encourage you to head over to Tom's blog and read his review.  He did a great job on it.  I also saw this set over at A Cracked Bat.  Julie was the one who inspired me to run out and spend the $59.95 (+ $10 shipping) and I'm so happy with the purchase.

Then back in July of this year, I noticed that Gio over at When Topps Had Balls designed a Negro League baseball card set of his own.  This one was less than half the price and much smaller in size (26 cards), which makes it much easier to showcase on my blog.

Now I'm not really an expert on Negro Leaguers, so I'll keep my commentary to a minimum and let the scans do the talking.

The set came in a very attractive foldable package that features a 44¢ USPS stamp of Rube Foster and a custom WTHBALLS stamp of Ted Radcliffe:

He produced a total of 80 sets and as you can see mine was numbered 046.  When you flip the package over, you see a Negro League Legends stamp along with a WTHBALLS sticker used to seal the set.

Here's what the set looks like when you open the flap:

The set was wrapped with a strip of gold foil paper and another WTHBALLS sticker.  On top you can see the two bonus items that were included with the set.  I'll show them letter on in the post.

The first card in the set is the header card:

It says that this is a 25 card set, but there are actually 26 cards (the header card + 25 player cards).

2021 WTHBALLS Negro League Legends #2-7

2021 WTHBALLS Negro League Legends #8-13

2021 WTHBALLS Negro League Legends #14-19

2021 WTHBALLS Negro League Legends #20-25

And the final card in the set:

2021 WTHBALLS Negro League Legends #26

The set design is simple, yet attractive.  I like the use of pastel colors, dual images, and the inclusion of the Negro League team logos.

Although the card backs are missing the player's stats, Gio did a great job of writing a detail summary of the player's accomplishments.  I also like the inclusion of the year the player was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Out of the twenty-five players listed in the set, twenty-three have a plaque hanging up in Cooperstown.

If you want to find out the two who aren't, look for yourself:

Scans are too small to read?  Okay.  The two non-hall of famers are Dick Lundy and Ted Radcliffe.

Gio also included two bonus items.  The first honors one of the greatest teams of all-time... the 1931 Homestead Grays:

According to the card back this team featured seven future hall of famers.  I was curious to see if any MLB team had more and it looks like the 1928 and 1931 to 1933 New York Yankees had nine future hall of famers on their rosters.  As for having four 20-game winners, only two MLB teams have accomplished that feat:  1920 Chicago White Sox and the 1971 Baltimore Orioles.

So yeah... I'd say the 1931 Homestead Grays were pretty special.

The final item was actually the key to this set purchase:

When I saw these four stamp panels on his blog, I was sold.  I headed over to PayPal and immediately sent him $25.  I guess you could say these stamps sealed the deal.

My panel contained the following players:  Leon Day (upper left), Willie Wells (upper right), Ray Dandridge (bottom left), and Rube Foster (bottom right).

I realize this set isn't for everyone.  However if you're interested in collecting cards of Negro League players, I'd recommend it.  The $25 (free shipping) price tag might scare some of you away, but I figured it's just a few more dollars than a blaster at Target, but way more limited.  Plus you would be supporting a custom card blogger.

Feel free to leave your thoughts on the set's design and checklist down below.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!