Flea Market Finds #90: A Flea Market Trifecta

Life is good.  How good?  It's so good, I was fortunate enough to attend three flea markets in a span of four days.

This post documents my flea market adventures.

My journey started last Thursday.  It was the first day of my summer break and I had been looking forward to walking around the Capitol Flea Market for weeks.  For some unknown reason, it gets packed on Thursdays and if you ask locals, they'll tell you that this is the best day to walk around.

Unfortunately, I didn't find any baseball cards worth purchasing.  However... I did find a few new items for my collection.

Purchase #1:  2013 Hideo Nomo SGA Bobblehead $10

Normally, I try to keep all bobblehead purchases to $5 and under, but I've been wanting this particular one since I saw it two years ago.

Purchase #2:  A Pair of LP's $2

I recently rekindled my love for vinyl and couldn't walk away from picking up these two great albums for a buck a piece.  Suicidal Tendencies reminds me of my middle school years hanging out in my buddy's backyard with our skateboards and his half pipe... listening to: 

Back in 1984, I went through a huge Van Halen phase when they released their album 1984.  That's when I discovered their debut album, Van Halen.  At the time, I was more into "Jump" and "Panama", but over time this album has become my personal favorite.

There are three local flea markets that are open on Fridays (Capitol, Berryessa, and Santa Cruz), but I decided to take the day off since none of them are really worth going to.

On Saturday, I woke up... picked up my friend... and headed into Cupertino for the De Anza Flea Market.  We got plenty of exercise, but walked away with hardly anything.  My buddy purchased two churros, while I purchased another action figure for my collection.

Purchase #3:  2001 Art Asylum Bruce Lee Action Figure $4

I've written about my Bruce Lee fandom in the past, so when I saw this I knew I wanted it assuming the price was right.  It was.

These sell for a pretty penny on eBay, but this package was damaged so I got it for a good price.  It will sit right beneath my student's painting of The Dragon in my classroom.

The highlight of the weekend was stumbling upon this...

It's the Tomy Big Loader Construction Set.  Did any of you guys own this playset?  I had one when I was a kid and it was awesome.  The little dump truck moved around the track carrying these little black balls.  It's easily one of my favorite toys from my childhood outside of my Star Wars action figures.

On Sunday, I headed back to the Capitol Flea Market to wrap up the final leg of my flea market trifecta.  There wasn't much to look at.  A high percentage of dealers were out there on Thursday and didn't have anything new.

I did manage to spend a few bucks though...

Purchase #4:  Jim "Catfish" Hunter Autographed Photo $5

I saw one of my friends out there and he was selling some of his personal collection.  He had a lot of Oakland Raiders stuff, but he also had a small stack of Oakland A's autographs.  I didn't really need autographed photos of Lance Blankenship or Steve McCatty, but I have no probably adding another Catfish to my collection.

Who knows if it's real or not.  The signature looks like others I've seen, but you can never know for sure.  I trust the guy and for five bucks, it was worth the risk.

Purchase #5:  Grapes of Wrath DVD $1

You can always... and I mean ALWAYS.. count on seeing DVD's at the flea market.  I know that a lot of you have leapt into the digital age, but I'm old school and enjoy owning the hard copy.  And I've been wanting a copy of Grapes of Wrath since my freshman English teacher made us read the book.  Plus... how often do you find new DVD's of classic movies for a dollar?

Purchase #6:  Star Wars Pocket Model Packs $4

Before looking these up on YouTube, I had no idea what these were.  But they were in some guy's dollar bin and if you bought four items, you got two items free.  I won't bother showing off the two plush toys I chose as freebies, because I don't intend to keep them.  I'll be giving them away to a pair of lucky students in the fall.

As for the packs... I'll open up them up in the near future when I'm bored and have some free time.

Well that's it for now.  Tomorrow the cycle starts all over again as I'll be headed out to Capitol in search of hidden treasures.  Stay tuned to see what booty I can find.

Happy Hump Day!

Mixed Emotions

Another year has come and gone and the 36th Annual The National Sports Collectors Convention is officially over... and I'm totally envious of the thousands who were fortunate enough to attend.  I have never been to THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.  And although it's on my bucket list, I'd say that there's maybe a 50/50 chance that I'll actually go during my lifetime.

The fact is... it's way too expensive for this particular collector.  I considered flying out to Chicago this year, since my summer school session ended earlier than normal.

But here's a breakdown of my expenses if I had left Thursday morning and flew back after the show on Saturday:

Flight:  $600 (Roundtrip from San Jose to Chicago)

Hotel:  $140 ($70/night @ Motel 6)

Show Admission:  $54 ($18/day Prepaid Admission)

Food:  $100 (Fast Food Diet Plan)

Travel:  $40 (Taxi Cab Fare)

These prices were based on the most cost effective prices out there when I started researching this trip back in June.  Remember... I live on a teacher's salary and I pride myself on being a bargain hunter who enjoys digging through dime boxes and wandering around flea markets on weekends.  With that being said, the little journey projected to cost a little over $900 and thad didn't include any spending money.

Now depending on the individual... that could be a considered a bargain, a fair price, outside of a person's budget, or somewhere in between.  For me... it's somewhere between a fair price and outside of my budget.

Could I afford to go?  Yeah.  Back in June (or was it May?), I set up at the flea market and brought home $1,350.  That's not a typo.  $1,050 of that came from two sales.  A road bike I sold for $900 and a stroller that fetched me $150.  Both of these items were given to me by a friend, who was planning on donating them to Goodwill, so I offered to take them off her hands.

Anyways... the point is, I had the extra money.

But to be honest... attending The National wouldn't exactly have been the best use of my money, which is why I decided to forgo the cardboard camaraderie and cool memories.  Instead... I chose to live vicariously through the YouTubers and bloggers who attended.

It was the cheaper and wiser alternative.  And with the extra money I was able to purchase a few nice additions to my collection:

1995 Upper Deck Autograph #AC2

I have always wanted an autographed card of Willie Mays and this is one of the most affordable options out there.  It's the fourth card I've acquired from this five card set.  I also have the Reggie Jackson, Frank Robinson, and Roger Clemens:

One of these days, I'll complete the set with the Raul Mondesi.  Unfortunately I haven't found a reasonably priced copy... yet.

Next up is another Bay Area fan favorite...

2013 Five Star Autographs #BP

It's not what you think.  I haven't suddenly jumped on the bandwagon and become a San Francisco Giants fan.  I just happen to really love this autograph set and Posey is one of the short printed autographs in the set.

2007 UD Masterpieces Box Topper Autograph #MP2

It's big.  It's beautiful.  It's on-card.  And it's finally mine.  UD Masterpieces is arguably one the greatest sets in the past decade and I've wanted one of these box topper autographs for a while now.

Don't worry, I happened to have an extra 5x7 toploader laying around so storage isn't too big of a concern.

And finally, The Great One...

1996-97 SPx #GS1

This is one of those cards, I never thought I'd actually own.  When this card was released, I was making less than $10/hour working at a preschool and these cards were commanding top dollar.  Two decades later... it's one of the most affordable, hard-signed, pack pulled autographs you'll find of Wayne Gretzky.

Well that's it for now.  I hope all of you who attended had a lot of fun.  Like I mentioned earlier... I'm very jealous.  Maybe one of these days I'll end up fulfilling my dream of attending.  On the other hand... maybe I won't.  We'll just have to see which path the Cardboard Gods lead me down.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

Oh... one more thing.  Congratulations JediJeff... you won the 1987 Leaf Special Olympics set.  I'll add it to your care package that I'll be shipping out in the near future.

The First Time

My memory sucks.  You'd think that I'd be able to remember key moments in my life.  You know... like the first time I ripped open a pack of cards.  Or the first time I drove a car.  Heck... I can't even remember the first time I kissed a girl.  Those are all things I should remember... but I can't.

Thankfully... I have this blog to help me remember things down the road.

Like watching my first Ronda Rousey fight last night.  Well... let me clarify.  It's the first time I've seen her fight live and thank goodness I didn't have to pay for the event, because she beat down Bethe Correia and knocked her out thirty-four seconds into the fight.  It's like watching Mike Tyson in his prime.

Anyways... last Christmas I received a few Barnes & Nobles gift cards from my students and discovered that they sell signed copies of books.  I was pumped to see that Rousey was going to release her new book this year, so I used the money and ordered a copy for my collection.

Her book titled My Fight/Your Fight came out in May and arrived a few weeks later.  She signed the book in red Sharpie and it looks amazing.

While I'm on the topic of firsts... back in June I sat down at a restaurant and ate by myself for the first time.  Now I'm sure I ate at the cafeteria at De Anza or SJSU by myself... and there's even a chance I've gone to McDonalds and grabbed a Big Mac by myself.  But I think I've always been self-conscious and never wanted to sit in a restaurant alone.

However that all changed when I went to a Hawaiian restaurant called Hukilau in San Jose's Japantown.  I was going to meet a fellow sports card collector about some supplies he had offered me and I arrived about forty-five minutes early, so I sat down at the bar and ordered a bowl of saimin:

I guess I wasn't completely alone... since Tony was there to witness me scarfing down those delicious noodles.  After dinner, I drove over to the nearby grocery store and met Peter, who's collects a lot of vintage stuff.  He found me on my blog and offered to donate a ton of extra supplies he had sitting around:

In addition to the nine shoeboxes filled with toploaders and screwdowns, he also gave me some Corinthian Headliners and comic trading card sets from the 90's:

It's the first time I've seen four of the sets shown above.  The only one I've actually opened packs of is the Spider-man set on the right.

Thank you so much Peter!  I'm sorry it took me so long to write up this post.  I hope you and your friend had fun at The National.  Don't forget that I still owe you dinner for this generous donation.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Do You Remember?

In terms of sports, the past 12 months have left a pretty sour taste in my mouth.  I watched my Oakland A's go from being the best team in baseball... into one of the worst.  My beloved Padres made huge moves in the offseason, but haven't lived up to expectations.  My Green Bay Packers choked big time to my other favorite team... the Seattle Seahawks.  And they turned around and made the worst decision in Super Bowl history.  Then there's my San Jose Sharks... who proceeded to miss the playoffs for the first time in eleven years.

Thankfully we have the ability to look back and reminisce over positive sports memories to help wash that sour taste in our mouths.

Do you remember the time when Jeff Friesen and Owen Nolan both scored hat tricks against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2nd game of the 1999-00 season?

1994-95 Upper Deck #237

Do you remember when Dan Boyle was traded to the Sharks right before the 2008-09 season and went on to lead the Sharks' defensemen four straight seasons in points?

2013-14 Panini Prizm Refractor #176

Do you remember the time when I took my nephew to a game and we witnessed Devin Setoguchi (one of my all-time favorite players) score two goals?

2010-11 Upper Deck #37

Do you remember when Logan Couture scored 32 goals in his first full season with the Sharks and was a Calder Trophy candidate?

2013-14 Panini Prizm Pivotal Players

Do you remember when Teemu Selanne became a San Jose Shark and led the team in goals scored during his two full seasons in San Jose?

2002-03 Pacific Quest for the Cup Chasing the Cup #15

Do you remember the time when Coco Crisp robbed Prince Fielder of a home run in the 3rd game of the 2012 American League Division Series?

2013 Topps Gypsy Queen Glove Stories #GS-CC

If you don't remember... then here's your chance to relive it:

Do you remember the time when Chase Headley led the National League in RBI's and was unanimously voted the San Diego Padres Player of the Year back in 2012?

2015 Panini Donruss Jersey Kings #12

Damn those were good times.  There's nothing like looking back on positive events to brighten up those darker times in our lives.

Thank you JediJeff (author of 2x3 Heroes) for all of the amazing cards featured in this post.  I honestly hadn't given the San Jose Sharks much thought these past few months, but your two PWE's have motivated me to look forward to the upcoming season.  Go Sharks!

Happy Saturday and sayonara!  Now take it away, Michael: