Flea Market Finds #183: Binders & Sets

Saturday's trip to Branham Flea Market was cancelled due to poor weather.  On the surface that kind of sucks, because I potentially missed out on some flea market finds.  However it was kind of a blessing, because I'm already two weeks behind in recapping my trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  

So let's get it started...

Purchase #1:  1990 Leaf Baseball Set  $20

I've had strong ties to the 1990 Leaf baseball set dating back to my early college years when I was working at the LCS.  While there, I built two complete sets that I still own thirty-plus years later.

Not sure what the deal is, but I've been stumbling across a significant amount of these cards in recent months.  Back in August, I picked up a Series 1 set, because it was super cheap.  Two weeks later, I found the Frank Thomas rookie card (from Series 2) sitting in a box I purchased. 

This time around I found a guy with a bunch of Junk Wax Era sets.  One of them was the 1990 Leaf set pictured above.  I obviously don't need another one, but for $20 the price was right.

Side note... this purchase is the perfect time to share my OCD issues.  Whenever I buy a set, I obviously go through it to make sure it's complete.  If I know I'll be holding onto it, I give it a brand new home with new semi-rigid holders like shown above.

By the way... if you're a fan of 1990 Leaf like myself... I encourage you to check out a recent post on Card Boredom that takes a deep dive into David's wallet card which is a 1990 Leaf Sammy Sosa.  It's very informative and super interesting.

Purchase #2:  Deadpool Comics  $5

Not many comic book fans among my readers, but I assure you there are more cards down below.  So just scroll down...

Deadpool #1 (2023)

Deadpool: Nerdy 30 (2021)

Deadpool #1 (2020)

Before I get into the final five purchases, I wanted to mention that there was a card show at a nearby mall the day of the De Anza Flea Market.  In other words, the regulars who usually set up at the flea market opted to set up at the show.  I also feel like a lot of the collectors I compete with out here were at the card show too.

I was pretty happy about that, because I came across a guy with a bunch of cards.  Normally fresh inventory like this would attract a ton of collectors and vendors.  But an hour into my walk, I was able to pick through this guy's boxes without any competition.  Here's my haul broken down into five parts...

Purchase #3a:  Football Relics  $30

The first box I flipped through was a box of $5 autographs, relics, and inserts.  

As soon as I saw the Favre jersey cards, I asked if he'd give me a discount if I purchased a stack.

After some haggling, we settled on $3 each if I purchased 10 or more cards.

Purchase #3b:  Dollar Box  $10

He also had a box of dollar rookie cards, autos, relics, and inserts.  I was stoked to find another Favre jersey card for my collection:

2003 Fleer Mystique Shining Stars Jerseys #SS-BF

I rounded out the stack with these nine cards:

I also found this really cool insert sitting in the box:

1999 Donruss Preferred QBC Passing Grade #10

If you're not familiar with this insert set, each card contains two parts.  There's a sleeve:

And a football that slides into the sleeve:

I asked if he'd take $10 for these eleven cards and he accepted.

He also had about twenty binders with basketball cards.  He told me they were $10 each except for the Warriors one.  He wanted $30 for that, because it contained a bunch of memorabilia cards and autographs.

Well I pulled that one out first.  Then I found another one full of Jordans, Kobes, and Lebrons.

I didn't have the time to scan everything, but here's a peek into each binder...

Purchase #3c:  Golden State Warriors Binder  $30

I didn't end up counting, but there were around seventy-five memorabilia cards and autographs.  Obviously there weren't any high-end Curry relics, but I did find a couple of cool cards:

2012-13 Elite Court Kings White Canvas Autographs #40 (#'d 01/99)

2013-14 Panini Innovation Foundations Ink #96

The Bogut went into my Prime # PC and the Sleepy Floyd was added to my Golden State Warriors PC.  There was also a nice stack of Curry base cards and low-end inserts.

Although I was excited about this binder, I was way more excited about this one...

Purchase #3d:  Jordan, Kobe, & Lebron Binder  $10

Back in the 90's, I was a huge Jordan collector.  I kept most of the nicer inserts from back then, but sold off his base cards when I left the hobby in the early 2000's.  Adding them back into my collection has been a challenge due to his popularity.

That's why I was super excited to buy several hundred Jordans for less than a nickel each.  Granted... the majority were part of the 2007-08 Fleer Michael Jordan box set:

But there were some base cards, subset cards, and low-end inserts as well:

Here are five of my favorites:

1991-92 Upper Deck #44

1991-92 Upper Deck Award Winners #AW1

1991-92 Upper Deck Award Winners #AW4

1992-93 Stadium Club #1

1992-93 Topps Archives #52

The second half of the binder contained Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and a ton of other 90's stars and rookie cards.

I was especially happy to add these three Kobe cards to his Topps base card run:

2004-05 Topps #8

2005-06 Topps #69

2006-07 Topps #8

I'm down to only needing four more to complete the run.  The good news is I have his rookie card and the overpriced 2008-09 card.  I just need four from the late 90's and early 2000's.  The bad news is his base cards can sometimes be hard to find in bargain bins, so I'll have to be patient with this project.

Purchase #3e:  Non-Sports Factory Set  $10

2004 Upper Deck History of the United States Set

The last thing I grabbed off this guy's table was this factory set filled with cards featuring U.S. Presidents, states, and historical events from our country's history.  There are a few cards from this set that I have been meaning to add to my collection, so I was happy to find a complete set for a decent price.

Well that wraps up my latest run to the flea market.  This may or may not have been the final one of 2025.  I'll leave that up to Mother Nature.  Regardless I've purchased some awesome stuff this year at the flea market.  In fact, it's arguably my best year.  I have always wanted to do a Top 10 list of favorite flea market finds and this might just be the year I do it.  We'll see.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Another Birthday, Another Memory

Back in 2018, Adrian Beltre passed Rod Carew to become the all-time leader in hits among Latin American born players.  Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have since passed him, but that's not really the point to this post.

2018 Topps Now #40

I just happened to be at the game with my buddy Mike when it happened.  Sadly he passed away two years ago on his 51st birthday, but there's a special place in my collection that honors him and our friendship.

This Topps Now card commemorates Beltre's accomplishment and is the newest addition to my Mike PC.

It's a reminder of that special day at the Oakland Coliseum:

Unfortunately I don't have any photos with Mike at the game, but here's me with my nachos and soft pretzel:

Happy birthday Mike!  Miss you buddy.

Everyone else...

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Don't Hate the Player

This year... Halloween was extra special, because it's the first time in as long as I can remember that I had the chance to sit down and watch a World Series game from start to finish.  I'm limited to a handful of streaming services and Fox isn't one of them.  However I helped pass out candy at my homegirl's house and she had the game on.  What an awesome game!

I figured Yamamoto and the Dodgers would win Game 6, but had no idea it would be that exciting.  I also predicted that the Blue Jays would win Game 7.  Oops.  Guess it's a good thing I'm not a betting man.  In fact, I had a Blue Jays celebration post in the works.  Unfortunately it'll be scraped and substituted with this post which will highlight my favorite Los Angeles Dodgers.

The key difference is I was going to list my all-time favorite Blue Jays.  However the Dodgers have so many current players I actually enjoy following and collecting, I decided to focus only on them.

Let's start with an honorable mention...

Honorable Mention:  Freddie Freeman

2023 Topps 1988 Topps #T88-59

I've been a fan of Freeman since he was with the Atlanta Braves.  He hits for average and has a likable personality, just like the guy in the #5 spot...

#5:  Mookie Betts

2021 Finest Flashbacks #119

Mookie sort of struggled at the plate against the Blue Jays, but that single on Friday in the top of the third drove in two runs and helped them win that game.  Honestly... as much as I dislike the Dodgers... the beauty of that team is that lineup is so deep and almost everyone contributed at one point or another.

#4:  Roki Sasaki

2024 Topps Now Off-Season #OS-13

Man... I was so bummed that Sasaki didn't sign with the Padres.  But from his point of view, I totally understand.  Less than a year after joining the Dodgers, he's a World Series Champion.  That's pretty cool.  A big piece of the credit has to go to this guy...

#3:  Yoshinobu Yamamoto

2025 Topps #231

This guy was so fun to follow in the series.  I was so torn, because I wanted the Blue Jays to score enough runs to win the game... but not necessarily off of Yamamoto.  The exception was when he relieved Snell in the bottom of the 9th in Game 7.  I was really hoping Kirk would single off of him, end the game, and give Snell the loss.

#2:  Clayton Kershaw

2023 Topps Chrome Titans #CT-1

Kershaw has been one of my favorite pitchers since the early 2010's.  Like Freeman and Betts, he seems like a good guy.  But I really started rooting for him, because he was such a dominating lefty.  I'm glad he stayed with the Dodgers his entire career.  Can't wait until he receives the call from Cooperstown in a few years.

#1:  Shohei Ohtani

2024 Topps Update 1989 Topps #89US-12

This guy is the most exciting baseball player in my lifetime... and that's saying a lot, because I've had the pleasure of watching guys like Rickey, Griffey, and Barry.  And it's not just that he's the greatest player in the game, it's also how he plays the game.  This guy is the classiest of the classy.

I might not be happy that the Dodgers won the World Series again... but I am happy for these six guys.  Congratulations to them, the rest of the Dodgers organization, and their fans... especially the ones in our card blogging community.

Speaking of Dodger bloggers, Greg over at Night Owl Cards sent me a care package a few weeks ago and targeted my two favorite teams:

I haven't been this excited about A's baseball in years, but their young core is super talented and fun to watch.  It's a shame that the owner sucks and has no interest in building a winning team like the Dodgers.

Luckily my other favorite team does:

The Padres had a great season and I was happy to see them make the playoffs again.  However it'll be interesting to see if Cease, Suarez, and/or Arraez are with them next season.  If none of them return, that's a lot of talent exiting the roster.  Whatever happens, I hope ownership continues to try to build a team that can compete with Ohtani and company.

If not, well at least Padres fans will always have this guy:

2000 Pacific Private Stock PS-2000 #48

Thank you Greg for the care package... and congratulations!

Happy Monday and sayonara!