30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Flea Market Finds #125: Too Good To Pass Up

Now that I have established a hobby budget... trips to the flea market are more about getting out of the house and walking around, than anything else.  Do I still look for baseball cards and sports memorabilia?  Sure.  However the deal would need to be literally too good to pass up.

A typical trip to the De Anza Flea Market, might result in one... maybe two... of these deals.  This past Saturday I was stumbling across deals left and right.


Purchase #1:  Archie Bunker's Card Game  $1


It's been almost forty years since I've watched an episode of All in the Family, but I can still sing the first part of the iconic theme song.  It seems like only yesterday my family was gathering around in the living room to see which line Archie would cross that week.  Those were the days.

Anyways... a guy had a bunch of vintage puzzles and board games, but this is the one that caught my eye.


I remember seeing it somewhere (possibly on one of your blogs), so I grabbed it and asked him "how much?".  I couldn't pass this up for a buck.


I'm not 100% sure... but it looks like it's complete.  For a dollar, I won't complain if it isn't.


Purchase #2:  Winnie the Pooh Lunch Box  $3


As I was rounding out the second row of vendors, I noticed a huge crowd digging through boxes.  There was a guy grabbing a bunch of vintage metal lunch pails.  I've wanted to find the Star Wars one from my childhood, so I walked over.  Unfortunately there were only a bunch of old Disney lunch pails.  I wasn't going to grab any, but when I heard that the guy before me had purchased 5 for $15... I figured it was too good of a deal to pass up.

I decided to grab the Winnie the Pooh, because I know a huge Pooh fan.  If she doesn't want it, I'll probably flip it to recover some of the money I spent on Saturday.


Purchase #3: Kenner SLU Collector's Stand  $4


I'm probably the only middle aged guy in the world who has been actively looking for one of these collector's stands, but I was pretty stoked to stumble across it.  They don't sell for a lot of money on eBay, but when you factor in shipping... they end up selling for around $20.  Too rich for my blood.  However I was happy to finally find one for four dollars.


Purchase #4:  Five Autographs  $5



I love on-card autographs.  I love on-card autographs of hall of famers (and potential hall of famers).  I love on-card autographs of hall of famers (and potential hall of famers) for a buck a piece.


Purchase #5:  1992 Classic 4-Sport Gold Set  $20


If there's one purchase I mildly regret, it's this one.  It has nothing to do with value.  $20 for a hard signed Shaquille O'Neal autograph is a no-brainer.


It's the fact that I spent more money on this single purchase than all of the other purchases combined. I'm not gonna dwell on it though.  I've been really good about saving my money the past two months and even my penny pinching father has told me that it's important to reward yourself from time to time.

So there you have it.  Five flea market finds that were a little too good for me to pass up.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

15 comments:

Collecting Cutch said...

Who are the other signature on the Classic 4 sport card?

Fuji said...

Phil Nevin (baseball), Roman Hamrlik (hockey), and Desmond Howard (football)

Jon said...

Man would I have loved to see what other games and puzzles were available from the Archie Bunker card game guy! Never seen that SLU stand before, and now that I have, I kind of want one.

mr haverkamp said...

Wow, that AITF board game is awesome! Definitely would have picked that up in my youth.....that show led to more important discussions between me and my parents than any other possibly could have...a true ground-breaker.

Mark Hoyle said...

Gotta love All in the Family memorabilia

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

Love the Archie Bunker game. Remember Meathead?

defgav said...

Awesome Phil Nevin auto! :)

night owl said...

Ah, the old metal lunch box. It's a wonder they let us kids walk around carrying those things. We used to wack other kids in the head with those.

Corky said...

The Shaw autograph for $20 was a wonderful find

GCA said...

It always amazes me that you can't find an autograph of any random rookie prospect who hasn't busted a grape in the majors for less than two crooked numbers, but then any established all-star caliber player's autograph is only a buck. That's just wrong.

Hackenbush said...

Funny how so many of us love your AITF buy. What a lineup CBS had on Saturday night in 1973: All in the Family followed by M*A*S*H , The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and the Carol Burnett Show. It's like a Murderers Row of comedy. BTW I've been over budget lately myself.

Man said...

The All in the Family game is a freaking hoot! At my parents I have the Happy Days, and Emergency board games-I think Charley's Angels too

SumoMenkoMan said...

Nice haul and a great on-card auto piece you got there. Nice reward for sure!

Chris P said...

Man I love that quad sig!!!!

Fuji said...

jon - i think i saw Parcheesi. but that's about all i can remember. if i see him next month, i'll take a picture of his stuff.

mr haverkamp - totally! they covered so many controversial topics. i think that's why my parents had me watch the show with them.

mark hoyle - i remember seeing those cards and wanted an archie bunker card. stoked to have a full set.

john miller - can't hear the word "meathead" without thinking of All in the Family

cardboard jones - haven't really looked into playing it... but i didn't really see anything politically incorrect at first glance. out of all of my purchases, the classic set was the only one i kinda had regrets about. two weeks later... i'm glad i made the purchase

defgav - huge addition to my padres pc

night owl - oh man. don't think i ever hit anyone in the head with mine. or maybe i was hit so many times, i just forgot.

corky - thanks!

gca - the guy had a box with probably 200 autographs (mainly hockey... but a handful of other sports). there were definitely some decent names, but these 5 were the biggest (in my opinion)

hackenbush - i was trying to think about what other shows were on that night (and even was wondering what night the show aired). thanks for the history lesson. i totally remember watching all of those shows with the family

brady - my family had the Emergency board game when i was a kid

sumomenkoman - thanks! made up for a slow summer at the flea market

chris p - if you're in the market for a cheap shaq autograph, this card is a good option.