Flea Market Finds #60: A Pair of Collections

This weekend I discovered that going to the flea market right after making an ATM withdrawal is not the wisest choice for someone like me.  As soon as I encountered vendors with sports memorabilia... I felt like my last name was Rockefeller and I was king of the world.  In short... I went on a shopping spree.

When:  Saturday, April 12th
Where:  Ohlone College Flea Market
What:  A Card Collection + Random Stuff
How Much?:  $40

Purchase #1:  A Sports Card Collection $20

Within five minutes of my arrival, I found a guy with a bunch of random sets.  In addition to the sets, he had two big boxes of sports cards.  One of them was an old toaster oven box with cards thrown into it.  The other was this 5000ct. box:

I sifted through the box and discovered a bunch of random baseball, basketball, football, and racing cards that included some cheap parallels and inserts.  But it was the several stacks of 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams that I mainly wanted.  I offered the guy $20 for the box and a set of 1986 Donruss Highlights, which he accepted without hesitation.

I'll give you a little more details on this box tomorrow or Saturday.

Purchase #2:  2012 Coco Crisp Chia Pet SGA $5

I've wanted one of these for awhile now and I'm stoked to finally own it.  Unfortunately, it didn't come with the seeds... but thanks to Amazon Prime, everything I needed to start growing Coco some hair arrived by Monday afternoon.  Stay tuned.  I'm going to start a little science project and will keep all of you in the loop.


Purchase #3:  Vintage Sport Magazines $10

Sport Magazine (September 1948)

Sport Magazine (October 1952)

I really love vintage magazines... especially when they feature hall of famers on the cover.  They're not in great condition, but they're over sixty years old and were reasonably priced.


Purchase #4:  Vintage Star Wars Action Figures $5

I was collecting Star Wars figures long before I started collecting cards.  I found this bag sitting on a table when a lady pointed out that they were all original from the 70's.  She also mentioned that each figure was complete with the exception of Obi-Wan's plastic cape.  Best of all... these figures are stiff and probably were only played with a handful of times.

With these five figures, I now have almost twenty vintage figures in my collection.

That wraps up day #1 at the flea market.  I almost skipped the flea market on Sunday because I was so tired.  But I forced myself to get out of bed, get some fresh air, and of course spend more money.

When:  Sunday, April 13th

Where:  Capitol Flea Market

What:  Another Collection

How Much?:  $60

Purchase #1:  Trading Card Collection  $13 + $80 + $7 - $40

It's that time of the year when people are cleaning out their closets and dumping their junk at the flea market.  In other words... it's a collector's dream.

I purchased all of these cards from one vendor who was dumping a bunch of collectibles that included hundreds of Kenner SLU's, sports magazines, unopened wax boxes, and boxes upon boxes of cards.  Actually this is a combination of three separate purchases and a sale that helped recoup some of my cash.

It started with me buying the green box above that included over 80 autographs and memorabilia cards. As I sifted through the box, a guy kept looking over my shoulder to see what I was looking at.  Eventually he moved on and started looking at other things the vendor had for sale.  After a few minutes of negotiations... I ended up grabbing the whole box for $80.

I also picked up a box of 1993 Flair Baseball and a 1993 Topps Traded Set for $13.

And last, but not least... I emptied my wallet and gave the guy my last $7 for a huge stack of comic card holograms from the early 90's.

In all... I spent $100 at the guy's booth.

I loaded up my backpack and started walking away when the weird guy who kept asking me about the cards approached me and asked if I was interested in selling him the box.  I told him that there were a bunch of cards that I wanted to keep, but offered to sell him everything else for a fair price.

Here's what I kept:

The guy ended up giving me $40 for a bunch of autographs and memorabilia cards, including a few multi-colored patches and an autographed printing plate of some basketball player.

I spent way over my budget this weekend, so I'm in the process of recouping more of my money from the comic cards... but I'll save that for another post.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!