Flea Market Finds #123: It's an Addiction

Have you ever been addicted to something, then tried to quit?  Then when you fall off the wagon, you try to blame it on someone else.

That's me.

About a month ago, I wrote a post announcing the end of my relationship with the Capitol Flea Market.  After a very uneventful visit, I had an epiphany and realized that it was no longer worth my time.

Fast forward a few weeks.

My buddy Mike was in town for the Serramonte Mall Show.  The mall doesn't open up until 10am on Sundays, so he asked me if I wanted to walk around Capitol to kill time.  I probably should have passed, but...

I couldn't resist the temptation.

The worst part is I enjoyed it and actually found stuff to buy.  The question is... will I go back?

Let's see if my purchases are worth future visitations...


Purchase #1:  Two LP's  $4

Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy (1973)

I'm not a diehard Zeppelin or Beatles fan, but I appreciate both bands and their contributions to music history.

The Beatles: Abbey Road (1969)

Both of these album sleeves are iconic in design... and at two bucks a piece (paid $5 for my other copy of Abbey Road).. it was a no brainer.

Purchase #2:  Two boxes of Cards  $10

I found a guy who had close to twenty thousand baseball cards ranging from the early 2000's to a 2015 Topps.  

After 30 minutes of digging through his stuff, I filled up two boxes (550ct/800ct) worth of baseball cards.

More than half of the cards were 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones (btw... I hate this product:

There was also a bunch of 2005 Donruss Leather and Lumber, some 2005 Topps Chrome, and a handful of 2005 Topps Finest commons.

The rest were hand picked inserts, parallels, a few base cards of players I collect, plus a small stack of autographs and memorabilia cards.

Honestly there weren't any high end cards in the lot, but I was able to add a few cards to my Prime Number PC:

Plus anyone who reads these posts knows that I lack the willpower to resist framed parallels and shiny refractors:

Purchase #3:  Six Card Lot  $10

There's a guy who buys storage units who always has cards at Capitol, but I'm so used to his inflated prices that I don't bother to look at his stuff anymore.

However this time around, Mike saw a 10 box case of 1996 Finest Star Wars boxes.  The guy wanted $100 for them and after a quick eBay search, he took him up on his offer.

Mike also spent another $400 with the guy on a collection that featured a Derek Jeter autograph, a Peyton Manning autograph, a PSA 10 Steph Curry rookie card, and an MLB authenticated Mike Trout signed ball.

He brought out more cards, which I was hesitant to dig through... but he kept insisting he'd give me a good deal.  So I pulled out these six cards:

 

After going back and forth, we settled on $10.  I was especially happy to pick up the 1960 Topps Don Larsen for my vintage binder.  The front looks amazing...

But the back has seen better days.


Purchase #4:  1996 Finest Star Wars Boxes  $20

Being a huge fan of Star Wars, I asked my buddy if he'd be willing to sell me two boxes from his case.. which he generously did.  One of these days, I'll get around to opening them up.

Until then... let's get back to the initial question... will I go back?

No and yes.  I don't have any immediate plans on returning.  My feelings on this flea market haven't changed and I'd rather catch up on sleep or grab breakfast with a friend.  However... I have a few friends who still enjoy this flea market, so if they were to go... I'd consider tagging along.

Well that's it for now.  I hope all of you enjoyed a safe 4th of July holiday.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!