Affordable Treasures

Back in August, I went to the mall show and managed to spend a little less than the price of your average blaster.  I originally scheduled this post for the end of August, but I'm a little behind in regards to blogging.

Enough chit chat... let's check out the affordable treasures I found at the show...

Purchase #1:  Shiny Topps Chrome  $5

The first dealer I stopped at had four or five 3,200ct. boxes filled with sleeved rookies, inserts, and parallels from a variety of sports.  I only flipped through the box with dollar baseball and it was loaded with shiny treasures.

2024 Topps Chrome All-Etch #CAE-14

This was the first card that caught my eye... and essentially motivated me to flip through the rest if the row.  I'm a huge fan of etched Chrome refractors from the 90's and this card reminds me of something from that era.

He had a few different players from the set, but Soto was the biggest name and the only one I deemed worthy of the one dollar price tag.

2024 Topps Chrome 1989 Baseball #89-CB1

2024 Topps Chrome Refractor #250

2024 Topps Chrome Strokes #S-1

2024 Topps Chrome Refractor #110

In the moment, I was pretty excited about finding all of these for a buck each.  Figured $5 was about how much I'd have to pay for a retail pack and at least I was getting cards that I wanted.

Sadly based on COMC prices... I overpaid.  But a buck a piece is still affordable.

Purchase #2:  Grab Bags  $2

Next up was a gentleman with dollar grab bags.  Most of them contained newer stuff, but there were two vintage ones sitting off to the side.  I grabbed them both:

Here's a peek at grab bag #1:

Here are my favorites:

1979 Topps #411

1979 Topps #416

Ichiro broke Sisler's single season record in 2004.  Pete broke Cobb's record in 1985.  But Jack and Cy still have a grasp on their records.

1979 Topps #215

1979 Topps #201

1979 Topps #95

The whole lot was low grade vintage with some decent names sprinkled in there.  My favorite was this oddball Reggie:

1980 Topps Burger King Pitch, Hit, & Run #17

The second box was even cooler.  Here's the contents:

Although most of the cards are well loved... at less than 4¢ each... this might just be my best bargain of the year.

1977 Topps #120

1977 Topps #580

There were a bunch of vintage hall of famers and perennial all-stars in this batch of cards.

Plus some Oakland A's:

1975 Topps #45

1975 Topps #461

1975 Topps #535

But my favorites were the league leader cards:

1973 Topps #67

1963 Topps #6

1970 Topps #61

These are the affordable treasures I dream of finding every time I walk around the flea market or card show.  Not sure if this dealer is a regular or not... but I'll definitely be on the lookout for him at next month's show.

Purchase #3:  Another Dollar Bin  $5

Grab bag guy also had a dollar bin.  Pulled these from it...

2022 Topps Platinum Anniversary Fuchsia Refractor #121 (#'d 028/100)

Beltre is one of those guys I grew to love over the course of his career.  It wasn't just the fact that he had hall of fame numbers.  It had to do with his personality, his relationship with Elvis Andrus, and his shenanigans on the field.

1963 Topps #126

As much as I loved those two vintage grab bags, this card was the highlight of the day.  It's damaged (paper loss on the right side of the card), but it's a sixty-one year old card of Bob Uecker for a buck!  This is the epitome of an affordable treasure.

2022 Topps Platinum Anniversary Blue Prism Refractor #24

A shiny Mays for a buck?  I'd buy that for a dollar!

2019 Bowman Platinum Purple Foil #74 (#'d 191/250)

A serial numbered Betts?  I'll take that too.

2019-20 Panini Hoops Premium Stock Green Prizm #59

I may or may not already have this card from one of Xavier's care packages, but for I'll grab multiples of shiny Curry cards if they're a buck each.

Purchase #4:  The Quarter Bin  $5

The final purchase of the day was from a friend of mine who recently purchased a bunch of 5,000ct. boxes filled with baseball and football.  They were quarter boxes, so I didn't find anything too crazy.  But it kept me engaged for close to an hour.

His boxes were semi-sorted by teams... and as you'll soon see the Reds, Tigers, and Phillies were the ones I was able to look through before my back started hurting.

Here's what I pulled:

Joey Votto is one of those guys who never failed to entertain... which is why I have a small collection of his cards.  I missed out on a lot of his early cards... so I grabbed these three and the nice color-matched 2014 parallel.  Sadly... none of these are his true rookie cards.

But I did find a rookie card of Eric the Red:

1985 Topps #627

Let's move on to another famous Cincinnati Reds player:

Love him or hate him... he's the MLB all-time hits leader and an all-time great.

Next up are some 70's affordable treasures...

And some 80's affordable treasures...

Most of these cards were scanned back in August and I'm only now getting a chance to reflect on my purchases.  The first purchase is the only one I really regret.  However... it's nice to see current inserts and parallels finally returning to dollar bins.

Overall... the affordable vintage saved the day.  Hopefully I'll find some more affordable treasures at next month's show.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #162: Some Nice Surprises

Clear skies and fresh air have a way of drawing people out of their homes.  That's why the De Anza Flea Market was packed two weekends ago.  Not exactly a fan of large crowds but if it motivates more vendors to set up in the future... it's something I can live with.

Made a total of eight purchases... which is more than usual.  So let's get to it.

Purchase #1:  2019 Topps Clear Travel Packs  $Free

I'll be teaching summer school again for the first time in four years, so I was looking for some cheap packs for a math lesson involving statistics.  I found a vendor with a bunch of these packs which would totally work.

The purchase involved a storage tub filled with over 200 of these, but I ended up selling the bulk to a friend to help cover the cost of the thirty-six packs I kept.

I kind of regret selling the, because when I got home I discovered these weren't your ordinary 2019 Topps cards.  They're an oddball issue that was distributed at ballparks and airports.  I plan on writing another post about this nice surprise in the near future.

Purchase #2:  New VHS Movies  $1

Stumbled upon a lady with a box filled with brand new VHS tapes.  Believe it or not... I still watch movies on my VHS player.  But I won't be opening these.  Pretty much purchased these for nostalgic purposes and because the price was too good to pass up.

Purchase #3:  1992 Impel Star Trek TNG Master Set $5

The husband of the lady with the VHS tapes had a bunch of non-sports sets.  My cardboard addiction was drawn to the shiny holograms.  Back in the 90's, I was one of those collectors drawn to holograms... especially if they were inserts.

Included in the purchase was also the base set, some promo cards, and a foreign language insert set.

Purchase #4:  1989 World Series Program  $5

I wasn't sure if I had a copy of this program or not... so I picked it up.  With the news of the A's leaving for Sacramento next year... I guess I was feeling extra nostalgic.

Tucked between two pages was a white envelope containing a nice surprise:

You're looking at a 1989 phantom World Series ticket.  The Oakland A's swept the San Francisco Giants that year... so there wasn't a need for a Game 5.  

Purchase #5:  Early 90's Rap Packs  $16 

Discovered this set during the hobby boom... when people were grading anything and everything.  I'm a fan of late 80's and early 90's rap... so the idea of pulling cards of NWA, Naughty by Nature, and Too Short appeals to me.

The vendor had twenty packs left in this box for a buck each.  I bought one to see if they were "bricked" and they weren't.  So I offered up $15 for the remaining 19 packs and he accepted.

Purchase #6:  NSYNC Dolls  $15

Not all of my flea market finds are for me.  My friend is a huge fan of Justin Timberlake, so I asked her if she wanted it and she did.  Made a special trip to the car to drop this off, because I didn't want to be seen carrying it around the remainder of my time there.

Purchase #7:  Steve Carlton Bat Relic $3

2003 SP Legendary Cuts Historic Lumber #B-SC (#'d 005/350)

Ran into a guy who had some monster boxes sitting on his table containing mostly football and basketball cards.  He was one of those guys who looks up singles on eBay and gives you a price.  He couldn't find any listings for this card, so he told me he'd sell it for $10.  I politely passed, so he asked what I was willing to pay.  Three dollars later, the card was in my pocket.

Purchase #8:  Another Toyota Supra  $6.50

2024 Hot Wheels Gran Turismo

There's a regular vendor that specializes in diecast cars.  I'm always searching for MK5 Supras I don't own.  Sometimes he has some, most of the time he doesn't.  This time he did.

It's from the Gran Turismo series that was released about a month ago.  I'm pretty sure these are only a couple of bucks in the store, but like blasters... I never see these at my local Target.

Well that wraps ups another trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  I was pretty happy with the haul.  I'll be heading out to the Branham High School Flea Market on Saturday.  Looks like the weather will be nice again, so hopefully I'll find a few more nice surprises this weekend.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!