Flea Market Finds #155: Oddball and Outer Space Items

Woke up on Saturday and headed over to Branham High School for my first flea market trip of 2023... and the first one since the start of the school year.  As soon as I walked out the door, I kind of regretted it.  It was in the high 30's and knew there was a good chance the cold would scare away vendors.  I was right.

There were only thirty to forty vendors set up, but the good news is four of them had sports cards.  I was tempted to make a reasonably sized Junk Wax Era purchase that included a 1987 Fleer Update tin set and several hundred 1987 Fleer Star Stickers, but the guy wouldn't budge on his prices.

I did find a few things to buy from two of the other guys.  None of them were great bargains... but each were purchases I could live with...

Purchase #1:  Pete Rose Record Record  $3

There was a vendor I hadn't seen before with tubs of stuff ranging from old magazines to sports books.  He also had a display case filled with cards including a graded Tom Brady rookie card and some vintage hall of famers.  I tested out his prices by asking about his 1990 Score B&W Bo Jackson, but his $3 price tag was a little too high.

I moved on to his bin of books that also contained a cereal box.  There was a pretty cool Los Angeles Lakers Wheaties box from the 80's, but it was banged up.  I continued to dig through the bin, when I stumbled across this: 

1979 CMC Talking Baseball Cards #4

It looks like a CD cover or something, but it's actually a record.  If you were around in the 70's or early 80's, you might remember companies printing records inside of magazines.  They're much flimsier than a normal LP as they were printed on very thin paper/vinyl.  Anyways... this card kind of reminds me of one of those magazine records.

Based on what's printed on the back of the record, I'm assuming it talks about Pete's 44 game hitting streak back in 1978:

This record is still in its original packaging.  However it's missing the upper flap.  This is the kind of oddball stuff I enjoy adding to my collection.  The vendor said I could have it for $3... which I thought was reasonable and there you have my first flea market purchase of the year.

Purchase #2:  90's Baseball Cards Magazines  $5

I continued digging through the vendor's bin and I came across a stack of Baseball Cards magazines from the early 90's.  He also had issues of Beckett Baseball, Sports Illustrated, and Ring, but I focused in on these because they still had the uncut strips of baseball cards.

Did I mention I like oddball stuff?  Anyways... here are the three issues I purchased along with the cards (that I've already removed from the magazines):

Baseball Cards February 1990

BC7 - BC9

BC10 - BC12

This issue's cards featured the best National League players from the West.  Obviously, I would have rather seen Gwynn replace Alomar or one of the Astros.  At least they gave the Padres a card.  The Dodgers were shutout.

As always... I'll eventually sit down and read this issue from cover to cover.  Maybe I'll find something interesting.  If I do, maybe I'll write a post about it.

Baseball Cards June 1990

The next issue featured the hot rookie of 1990: Ben McDonald, so it's not too much of a surprise that this issue's cards focused around the top rookies:

#31 - #33

Like the Rickey Henderson issue, this one once again utilizes the 1969 Topps design.  They Cardinals and Expos cards are error cards... with the incorrect teams printed on the backs.

#34 - 36

I remember hoarding Todd Zeile and Marquis Grissom cards back in the early 90's.  I wish I would have focused on Larry Walker a little more.  He's the only guy featured that went on to have a hall of fame career.

Baseball Cards April 1991

I'm pretty excited to read the Bo Jackson interview as well as see which cards won the Stale Bubble Gum Awards.  It'll also be interesting to see how many of their 100 top rookies panned out.

This issue is from 1991, so they switched up designs and used the 1966 Topps baseball card design.

#19 - #21

Todd Zeile makes his second appearance.  I'm sure back in 1991, I would have been stoked to add that card to my collection.  The San Francisco Giants Rookie Stars card stands out the most thirty-two years later.  I actually remember watching Decker and Leonard play in San Jose in the late 80's.

#22 - #24

The Santiago is pretty cool.  He was an all-star for the Padres for several years.  But the Eddie Murray is definitely the coolest card in this issue.  The back of his card mentions he hit .330 in 1990.  I knew he could hit home runs, but didn't realize he competed for batting titles too.

Okay... I've spent way too much time talking about these magazines.  Let's move along to my third and final purchase...


Purchase #3:  Poster w/Postal Cachet  $3

1969 #C76 10¢ Moon Landing First Day Cover

After spending almost thirty minutes looking through the collection that contained the 80's Fleer cards and walking away empty handed... I started walking back to my car.  One of the regular vendors with cards was on my way out.  I had looked at his stuff earlier and didn't see anything worth purchasing.  But this time around, I saw this cool postal cachet commemorating the 1969 Apollo 11 mission where Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the Moon.

I wasn't born yet, but since I was little... I've been interested in things related to NASA.  This poster was originally housed in a wooden frame, but it was coming apart.  I picked up a new one for a little over $20 on Amazon, so technically I'm into this poster for more than $3.  When it arrives, I'd love to hang it up in my office... but it'll probably end up in my classroom.

Well that wraps up my first trip to the flea market in 2023.  I only walked around for about an hour... which is way longer than I originally anticipated.  I would have been in and out in 15 minutes if it weren't for the guy with the bins and the guy with the 1987 Fleer Update tin set.

I actually have one more post related to this past Saturday... but I'll have to share it another day.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!