It's officially flea market season. Last weekend... I hit up the De Anza Flea Market with my brother and his wife. The weather was nice (cool and sunny). In fact... it might have been too nice... because it lured the largest crowd in years. That's a good thing for vendors, but I wasn't a fan. Large crowds mean more people. More people mean less personal space. And less personal space means I'm trying to rush through things in an effort to get out of there.
Anyways... you're not here to listen to me complain. Let's show off my purchases...
Purchase #1: Baseball Card Binder $35
Walked up to a booth and noticed a guy flipping through a binder of cards. The vendor also had some action figures and video games, so I checked them out and waited to see if the guy was going to buy the binder. He didn't.
After he left, I walked over, picked it up, and opened it. Here's what I saw:
The first few pages were filled with Aaron Judge cards... followed by eight to ten pages of Derek Jeter cards. Here are some of the highlights:
As much as I dislike the New York Yankees... I love collecting Derek Jeter cards. I didn't take an official count, but I'd say I added at least sixty new ones to my collection.
The vendor mentioned that the binder belonged to a family member who is a New York Yankees fan. That makes sense, because the vast majority of the cards in the binder were Yankees.
Included in the pages was one of those World Series team sets that Topps produces:
2009 Topps New York Yankees World Series Set
The vendor marked the binder with a $50 price tag, but after flipping through about 15 pages, he told me to make an offer. Then I saw this page:
Overall the binder mostly contained inserts and base cards, but there were a few other rookie cards I didn't own:
Actually... I own a copy of that Freeman, but this is my first raw copy.
Okay... I spent enough time on this purchase. Moving along...
Purchase #2: March Graphic Novel Trilogy $10
These three books are about the life of Congressman John Lewis, who played a key role in the civil rights movement. I already own hardcover copies. But when I saw this set of paper back copies for $10, I grabbed it for my classroom.
Purchase #3: Puffy Stickers $1
Saw this sitting in a guy's dollar box. Don't normally seek out puffy stickers, but I thought the North Stars sticker was pretty cool. Worst case scenario, I pass this along to my buddy who is a Blackhawks fan.
At that point, I knew I wanted the binder. I have a pretty nice Ichiro collection, but I didn't own his Topps rookie card. So I tossed out a $30 offer. The seller countered with $35 and now I own this card:
2001 Topps #726
I love this card so much. I even took the extra time to scan the back:
1994 Bowman's Best #29
2007 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects #BDPP12
2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP25
The other cool thing included in this purchase was a complete run of Joe Torre Topps manager cards:
1978 Topps #109
Did you know that he's the only person in MLB history to have 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager?
Purchase #2: March Graphic Novel Trilogy $10
Purchase #3: Puffy Stickers $1
1983 Funmate Norris Division
Well that wraps up another trip to my local flea market. Thanks for coming along on the ride. I know I didn't buy a lot this time around, but there's always next time.
Happy Wednesday and sayonara!
25 comments:
Nice finds!
What Jeff said! I think you did quite well with that binder especially. Good for you going for it and getting the Ichiro you needed among some other cool cards.
Nice pickups especially on the Ichiro rookie. I have only one ichiro
That's my kind of binder! $35 for that is a great deal - nice work!
I probably wouldn't have made it past those first couple of Yankees pages. Kudos to you for sticking with it though. I don't know what the going rate for an Ichiro rookie is, but I'd have to think that you got your money's woth with that purchase.
Wow! You basically purchased the Ichiro and got everything else for free! Nice find Fuji. Congrats!
wax pack wonders - thanks jeff!
dennis - thanks dennis. it feels good to finally cross the ichiro off my list
matt - me too. i do have the 2001 topps limited edition ichiro too, but it has issues with chipping
the lost collector - it's a yankees binder for sure. i'll send some duplicates your way
jon - honestly had i not seen some jeter inserts, i probably wouldn't have made it past the first five pages either. raw copies of that ichiro seem to go for $15 to $20 with outliers
reds card collector - thanks. it made it worth dealing with the large crowds.
That Ichiro rookie was going to be my top pick of your haul, but then I saw the puffy hockey stickers, and that was that. And for a dollar? Amazing.
Good stuff!
Great pick up!
What Jon said. I would have walked away without buying as soon as I saw it was mostly Yankees. The Torre run is cool.
Holy cow, that stuff is legit! The binder is definitely a great find with the Ichiro rookie!
Jealous on the Ichiro. I need 4 cards for my 2001 set build the two Ichiro and 2 Pujols, and the two combos of the same. Very nice find!
correction. Topps traded Rickey, Ichiro/Pujols, Reyes, and Pujols are the 4 I'm missing.
Your post immediately sent me to BB Reference; looks like Dusty Baker came up 19 hits short of 2000 or he would be in the club with Torre!
Man, 35$ for a binder full of star cards including an Ichiro rookie? Its nice to know that its still possible to find deals out there!
I've purchased binders full of cards a few times and it's definitely an exciting experience, but can't say I've ever found an Ichiro rookie in any of the ones I've bought! Never seen that Yankees World Series set before, either.
gregory - i thought those stickers were pretty cool too. i discovered that the company made a complete set of player stickers too.
the angels in order & flyweels - thanks
night owl - for the price tag, had it been just base cards... i wouldn't have gotten very far either. 99% of the binders i encounter at the flea market are filled with junk wax era commons
sumomenkoman - it's one thing to find a cool deal. it's another thing to find a cool deal with a card that i really want.
johnnys trading spot - i need that topps traded ricky and the ichiro/pujols card too. i'd also eventually like to track down the pulols traded solo card too.
mr haverkamp - so close. it'll be interesting to see who eventually comes along and joins the club
sean - i'm really glad the guy looking at the binder before me didn't see that ichiro. i'm guessing he just thought it was a bunch of yankees and passed
nick - i don't think i've seen that world series set either, but i remember topps making sets like these. when the packers won the superbowl xlv, they made a special set using the 2011 topps design
I have a whole list of Jeets cards I need to finish sets & insert sets. It always amazes me that I can almost never find any of them even when I go through a binder or box like that with dozens of different ones.
Any Orlando Hernandez cards in that Binder? I'm interested in the Posada RC and Serial Numbered Pacific. I have another couple Stacks earmarked for your collection. Sweet Find, that Ichiro RC is iconic, wish I'd held on to the few I had.
gca - email me your list of needs. there were a handful of cards i already had. maybe i can help you out.
xavier higgins - no orlando hernandez. i'll get the pair of posadas out to you this week.
That's where it pays off to know your cards! Also like those puffy stickers, those have a real 70s and 80s vibe.
looks like a fun binder to go through. i spy the 2007 topps jeter sp with w and mickey mantle which was a huge deal back then.
i've bought similar star card binders at shows before for essentially the value of the ultra pro sheets. always a fun time going through them.
Those Norris Division puffy stickers are awesome!! Great find Fuji.
steve at 1975baseballcards.com - i agree. i come across tons of comics, pokemon, and magic the gathering collections, but have no idea if it's good stuff or junk.
gcrl - i'm building a topps base card run of jeter, so that 2007 came in handy
chris - hard to pass up for a buck. although the red wings, blackhawks, and leafs are popular teams with hockey fans... the northstars were the main reason i purchased them.
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