Flea Market Finds #79: The King, Rapid Robert, and a Dime Box

Someone needs to contact Mother Nature and let her know that there's still over a week until winter ends and spring officially arrives.  I'm not sure if she knows this... but we're suffering from a drought and could use a few more days of rainfall.

Oh well... I guess it's best to make the best out of a bad situation.  So this weekend I took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked around two local flea markets.

When: Saturday and Sunday, March 7th/8th
Where: De Anza and Capitol Flea Market
What: Baseball, Elvis, and Star Wars Memorabilia
How Much?: $33

Purchase #1: Two Bob Feller Signed Baseballs $10

When it comes to signing memorabilia, there are few athletes who can say they signed more than the great Bob Feller.  I own at least seven of autographs and normally I wouldn't go out of my way to look for more.  However on Saturday I stumbled across a vendor with these:

Yeah... official Rawlings American League baseballs signed by the Heater from Van Meter for insane price of $5 each.  I ended up grabbing two, since they were so cheap:

Purchase #2: 1977 Star Wars Jigsaw Puzzle $3

When I was a kid, me and about fifteen other kids in my kindergarten class had Star Wars lunch boxes.  On one side there was a picture of Luke, Ben and the Droids in Mos Eisley Spaceport.  And on the other was this amazing photograph of a TIE fighter shooting at an X-wing.  Since 1977 it's been one of my favorite Star Wars images and when I saw this puzzle sitting on this guy's table, I knew I had to own it.

Purchase #3: Dime Box Cards $4

I honestly didn't think I was going to find anyone with sports cards at the flea market, since there were two collectible shows within a twenty mile radius.  But thanks to non-collectors who are cleaning out there garages, I discovered two different vendors selling cards for 10¢ each.  I ended up buying 30 cards from one guy and 10 from another.  There aren't any Ben Sheets autographs, but I did manage to find some cards for my binders:

The majority of these dime cards are from the 1995 JSW All-Stars set, which were probably unlicensed and considered to be Broders.  That doesn't bother me though, because they're really nice looking cards.  I just wished the artist added statistics on the backs.

Well... that sums up my De Anza Flea Market purchases.  Here's a look at yesterday's Capitol Flea Market purchases...


Purchase #4: 1977 McCormick Decanter $6

I understand that he's The King of Rock and Roll, but honestly I've never been a fan of his music.  However that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a cool item like this.  What you're looking at is a very cool decanter that doubles as a music box.  Here's a video I found on YouTube:

Anyways... I picked this up because it's nearly forty years old and the price was right.  I considered putting it up on eBay, but it's still sealed and has vodka in it.  So for now, it'll be a conversation piece in my liquor cabinet.

Purchase #5: 1993 Star Wars Galaxy Wax Box $10

By now you know that I'm a sucker for cheap wax boxes.  As soon as I saw the box, I knew my magic number was $10 and that was his exact asking price.  If you're not familiar with this set, it features some amazing art and was one of the first Star Wars sets released since Topps produced Return of the Jedi cards in 1983.

Unfortunately back in 1993... Topps wasn't inserting sketch cards, memorabilia cards, or autographs into their packs.  But it should be a fun break and hopefully I'll be able to at least build one set.

I'll wrap up this post with a nice collection of POGs I found at Capitol:

Much like the Star Wars puzzle, these brought back some memories too.  But since I never really got into collecting them, they're just not at the same level as the puzzle sentimentally.  That's why I walked away and let someone else have the opportunity to buy this large collection of POGs and slammers.

Well that's it for today.  Have a wonderful week everyone.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

P.S.  Wanna win some on-card autographs and sweet magnet cards?  Check out Baseball Card Breakdown's contest.  Click here.