Today is the day I share my Top 5 flea market finds of September and October. Not gonna lie... there aren't any baseball cards featured (sorry Night Owl). But there are some pretty cool items from the 70's and 80's that have a direct link to my childhood.
If you haven't seen the first two parts of this series (which do contain baseball cards), you can click on the following links:
Part #3: #5 to #1
Before we get into the goodies... I just wanted to remind you that the twenty-two flea market purchases I made in September and October took place over the course of four days at two different flea markets.
Normally I write about each trip individually, but things got a little backed up... so I decided to cover them all together. Unfortunately... I'm not a fan of super long posts, so I chopped up the purchases into three tiers.
And I have saved the best for last. Let's get into it...
#5: Rare Pack of Cards $1
Flea Market: De Anza on September 7th
Remember the guy with the skateboarding cards from Part 2? He also had this opened pack of 1987 Astroboyz Surf Cardz. Back in the 80's, I was really into surfing. Not actually surfing, but watching surfing competitions and reading surfer magazines. Yup. I was one of those posers.
Anyways... I would have totally been into these cards had I known about them back then. But I never saw them back in the day. And based on eBay listings, they're pretty rare and some of these singles sell for a decent dime.
When I flipped through the pack I immediately recognized this guy who happened to be one of my favorite surfers:
Tom Curren won three World Titles back in the mid 80's to the early 90's.
Here are the cards in the pack:
In 2011 he was named The Most Influential Skateboarder of All-Time by Transworld Skateboarding magazine ahead of legends like Christian Hosoi, Tony Hawk, and Rodney Mullen.
#4: Some Sentimental Singles $3
Flea Market: De Anza on October 5th
Flea Market: De Anza on October 5th
I'm sure most of you already know this... but in case you don't... I'll write it again. 1977 Topps Star Wars were the first packs of trading cards that I remember opening and collecting. That's why I just can't walk away from adding more to my collection if the price is right.
Considering the condition, I was excited to pay 50¢ each for these:
1977 Topps Star Wars Singles
My focus were the character cards... but I was just as excited to add these two George Lucas cards to my collection. If this guy is set up again this weekend, I will go through this box again.
#3: Pee-Chee Folders $10
Flea Market: Branham on October 19th
How often do you see these featured on a card blog? It's gonna sound crazy... but I was more excited to see these folders than any baseball card I saw that day at the flea market.
I was one of those Trapper Keeper kids... but sometime around 5th or 6th grade... I switched over to those flimsy plastic binders and Pee-Chee folders. Year in and year out... I'd decorate them in the same way. I'd draw a microphone in the lead runner's hand, a mouse under the batter's foot, and extra hairy armpits on the guy shooting the basketball. There were a few other things I'd draw/write... but they aren't very school appropriate.
#2: BART Button $5
Flea Market: De Anza on October 5th
I honestly had no idea that their first day of operation was so close to the day I was born. That was a very cool bonus.
I've thought about buying one of these on eBay for years... but was always afraid of excessive rust.
#1: 1977 Star Wars Lunch Box $55
Flea Market: Branham on October 19th
I've purchased a lot of cool stuff over the years while wandering around my local flea markets. This one will be up there among my favorites for years to come.
Just like 1977 Topps Star Wars were the first packs I ever opened as a kid... this lunch box is just like the first one I carried my lunch in when I was in kindergarten.
This one is far from being mint, but it's pretty clean. I might do is buy another Thermos, because the one it came with is faded:
But that's not high on my priority list... since I have no plans to actually use it. Right now... it's the newest piece to my Star Wars display:
Well there you have it. My five favorite flea market finds of September and October. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post... as well as the other two.
De Anza is on Saturday. The plan is to make it out there and get back on track with my Flea Market Finds posts. But we'll see. If you see one next week, then you know I'm back on track. If not... another combination post might show up again.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
15 comments:
Oh man, what a list of goodies here.
1. Those metal lunchboxes will always be high on my nostalgia meter. I had a Dukes of Hazzard version way back when.
2. Very cool surfing cards. I'm not a water person and couldn't imagine riding a wave, even back when I was younger. Beautiful sport to watch, though.
3. I appreciate you sharing the goofy ways you'd decorate those folders. Good times, Fuji.
Voting for the Star Wars lunch box. "These aren't the droids you're looking for."
The Darth Vader card for 50 cents is good value.
Hey, yeah, the Star Wars cards are the stars of the show! I likely would've picked those up, though the blue and red ones are what I collected as a kid.
Those surfer cards are great,I assume he only had one pack,if he had any more I would have bought them all at a $1 a pack.
The Lunch box is king to me. Wishing I had an original.
Excellent stuff. The surfer cards are pretty gnarly!!
Definitely don't need baseball cards to be a fun post. I love all the Star Wars stuff and certainly appreciate the BART pin.
Wow, I just got that Luke Skywalker card at the Chantilly show two weekends ago. It was the last of the green series that I needed. Down to one orange - the first one (#265) for the whole run.
Kick ass SW display 💯
Pee-Chees! Pretty sure everyone drew on those. I never had them but they're definitely up there on the nostalgia hit.
The BART button is awesome! Fond memory of taking the train from our town's station (San Leandro) to Richmond (end of the line) and back that day with my dad. It didn't cross the bay into SF until a few years later.
gregory - i totally remember the dukes of hazzard one. i didn't own one, but i think a few of my friends had them.
elliptical man - i was pretty bummed that the guy with the 2 for $1 star wars cards wasn't out there this morning. was hoping to add a few more to my collection.
night owl - i had a lot of blues and greens when i was a kid. although i definitely had the red, yellow, and orange ones too. what i wouldn't do to have those stacks of star wars cards from my childhood... rubber bands and all.
sg488 - yeah... only one pack. and it was already opened. i would have definitely bought them all if he had more. in fact, there's one in particular i'd love to add to my collection.
johnnys trading spot - there are plenty out there. the problem about buying one online is you don't truly know how much rust it has unless you see it in person.
sumomenkoman - thanks buddy. they're totally tubular!
bo - glad someone else appreciate the bart pin. not sure if there are other collectibles out there featuring bart. if there are, i'd love to start a collection
gca - i was hoping the guy with the star wars cards was out there this morning, because i would have looked for #265 for you. sadly he didn't set up
big tone - thanks! I love it too. i've got another one in my office that features lego sets and an action figure display
nick vossbrink - yeah... everyone i knew drew on them too. i vaguely remember girls drawing the runner with a rose in his hand
mr haverkamp - wow that's awesome! i was less than two weeks old when bart ran for the first time, so it's highly unlikely that i was on one of the trains that day
Where to start... Star Wars lunch boxes - wow. The cards were also a nice pickup. I have the whole set - all cards I had were from when I was a kid. For some reason I never had many red or blue. Pee Chee... that's a blast from the past too. Never thought of getting some of those. Wish I kept those and my lunch box (can't even remember what it was now...) Nice pickups!
I've never been into surfing, but the set design on those cards sure is nifty. And I would imagine that most folks of a certain age had those folders when they were younger, as they were cheap, and extremely plentiful at the time. Congratulations on your lunchbox find. All of my lunchboxes were plastic, but I can still appreciate the awesomeness of the metal ones.
Very cool lunchbox and display!
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