Flea Market Finds #135: Haul of the Year?

Everyone enjoys finding a good bargain, right?  Over the past eight years, I've been sharing my card show hauls, eBay purchases, and flea market finds here on this blog.  Sadly there hasn't really been anything too special on the flea market front in a few years.  The days of purchasing collections for pennies on the dollar or finding $400 Tiger Woods cards for a few bucks are long gone and I've completely accepted it.

Well two Saturdays ago was like a blast from the past, when I stumbled across a vendor who had three giant tubs filled with sports cards at the De Anza Flea Market in Cupertino.  Inside was a collection from the mid 90's and believe it or not... I wouldn't exactly classify the stuff as junk.

However... I'll go ahead and let you be the judge.


#1:  1997 Topps Screen Plays Box $15

This unopened box was the first thing that caught my attention, because it's so big.  It was also the litmus test to see whether or not the dealer's prices were reasonable.  I immediately asked him for a price, he mentioned $25.  I countered with $15.  He accepted and the digging for bargains began.


#2:  1995 Topps Archives Brooklyn Dodgers Factory Set $5

Right under the box of Topps Screenplays were a bunch of different sets.  The guy definitely based his prices on size.  That sucked because there was an 800ct. box filled with 1995 Flair baseball that I really wanted.  Unfortunately he wouldn't let it go for less than $15.

The good news is this set of Archives Dodgers is about the same size as one of those 80's Topps Traded sets, so his asking price was only five bucks.  Considering completed sales range from $20 to $50 on eBay, I consider this a solid find.

If you're unfamiliar with this set... it contains 165 cards that feature 1952 Topps, 1953 Topps, 1954 Topps, 1955 Topps, 1955 Bowman, and 1956 Topps Brooklyn Dodgers reprints... as well as a bunch of cards that were never made back in the 50's.

I was obviously pretty excited to add five new Jackie Robinson cards to my collection, but the card that stood out the most was this Robert Clemente card.  Clemente was signed by the Dodgers?  How did this escape my knowledge?


#3:  1996 Stadium Club Member's Only Set $30

Binder Contents: 450 Card Parallel Set, 19 Card Mickey Mantle Set, 9 Card Metalists Set, 10 Card Midsummer Matchup Set, 9 Card Prime Cuts Set, 10 Card Mega Heroes Set, 15 Card Power Packed Set, 10 Card Bash and Burn Set, 10 Card Metalists Set, and 15 Card Power Streak Set

This set along with the 1997 Stadium Club Member's Only set were the two biggest purchases of the day.  Each of these binders include a complete Member's Only parallel version of the base set and most of the insert sets produced that year.

I've gotta admit the Member's Only stamp makes the cards less attractive, but for the price I can live with it.

#4:  1997 Stadium Club Member's Only Set $30

Binder Contents: 390 Card Parallel Set, 12 Card Firebrand Set, 22 Card Instavision Set, 40 Card Millenium Set, 20 Card Pure Gold Set, and 13 Card Patent Leather Set.

Topps did a much better job with the 1997 set.  They omitted the Member's Only stamp on the front and used sort of a watermark thing on the card backs to differentiate this set from the regular base set.  And in regards to the insert sets, they replaced quantity with quality.

The Instavision and Patent Leather inserts are amazing!  They also limited the print run of this set to only 750 copies.  That might sound like a lot, but back in 1997 that was still considered pretty rare.

One of these days, I'll take a closer look at some of these insert sets.

Let me know down below if there are any insert sets in particular you'd like me to write about.

There were still plenty of cool things sitting in these tubs like unopened wax boxes, various sets, and around 10 more binders.  After purchasing these four items, I realized that I need to drop all of this stuff off at the car before purchasing more.

Unfortunately... by the time I got back someone had picked through the bins.


#5:  Wilson Official NFL Game Ball $10

While walking down another row, I saw that a family had some 80's CorningWare.  My friend had told me to keep an eye out for that stuff, so I took some pictures and sent it her way.  Sitting next to the blue cornflower casserole dishes was this Wilson official football.  It's not the current model, but considering that these once sold for $80 in stores, I couldn't pass it up for $10.

The next time my buddy does a signing with Jerry Rice or Joe Montana, I'll probably have him get it signed.


#6:  Baseball Cards Price Guide (April 1990) $1

My final purchase of the day isn't going to win any Haul of the Year awards, but it only set me back a buck.  On the second to last row, I ran across a guy who was selling off his brother's Bay Area sports collection.  He had a bunch of newspapers, magazines, sports figures, and some trading cards.  Unfortunately he said a few early birds had picked through most of his cards.

This 1990 Baseball Cards magazine was the only thing that really caught my eye.  I offered him a dollar and he accepted.  The cover has what appears to be a fake Will Clark signature, but that's not why I bought it.

It was all about these 2 three-card sheets:

What can I say?  I'm a sucker for magazine oddballs.

Well there you have it.  This year's flea market finds haven't been that great, but I was pretty excited to find these two Stadium Club Member's Only sets.  I'd say they're a strong candidate for my flea market haul of the year.  Hopefully I'll find something this upcoming Saturday at the Branham High School Flea Market that'll be in the same league.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

2002 FilmCardz Spider-Man Autograph

Rest in peace Mr. Lee.