Flea Market Finds #168: Plates, Cups, and Cards

Last week was the first week of the second semester and things at work were a little busy which prevented me from writing this post in a more timely manner.  But now that things are settling down... I finally found some free time to sit down and write.

Back on Saturday, January 18th... I checked out the Branham Flea Market.  The chilly weather scared a few of the regular vendors away, but there were still forty to fifty vendors set up.

I had almost walked around the entire flea market before finding something I was interested in purchasing...

Purchase #1:  Bicycle License Plates  $10

There are a few regulars that set up at this flea market with some cool antique items.  One of them had a wooden box filled with old Wheaties license plates.  I wasn't too familiar with these, but the first two plates appear to be part of a promotion back in 1953 and 1954.  

1953 Wheaties #NNO

1954 Wheaties #NNO

The third license plate I purchased is much newer...

1980 Post #NNO

I'm not quite sure of the history behind these plates, but based on an eBay listing I found... it looks like people could purchase a complete set of these plate directly from Post.

Anyways... I thought these were pretty cool and the guy's asking price was fair... so I purchased them.

Purchase #2:  ALF Collectible Figure  $5

2023 Neca Alf Gordon Shumway w/Saxophone Figure

On the back row of the flea market, I came across a new vendor with a bunch of action figures.  He had purchased a huge collection and was trying to recoup some of his money.  One of my buddies is a huge ALF fan, so I picked this up for him.

Purchase #3:  Junk Wax Era Packs  $2

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #1

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk Set #2

This is one of my favorite oddball sets from the 80's... right up there with the early 80's Granny Goose and Kellogg's sets... and the mid 80's 7-11 Slurpee Coins.

I already own an entire set of 40 unopened packs, plus another compete set stored in four pocket pages.  However, I can't pass up packs of this stuff when they're a buck each.

If you're not familiar with this set, they're oversized cards that utilize the 1989 Topps baseball card design:

1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk #84

The backs feature a record:

Collectors who owned the special player could insert these cards and listen to interviews and highlights about each player.  If you're interested in listening to some of these cards you are in luck.  daclyde has recordings of all 164 cards in the set... including the Willie McGee.

Purchase #4:  1973 7-11 Slurpee Cups  $5

Let me preface this purchase by stating that I am not starting a collection of cups.  I'm just a sucker for older ones featuring players from my favorite teams.

1973 7-11 #NNO Catfish Hunter

1973 7-11 #NNO Bert Campaneris

1973 7-11 #NNO Nate Colbert

I purchased these from a regular vendor I have dealt with on a regular basis.  He had purchased a large collection of these cups and talked me into looking through them.  They're over fifty years old and pretty scratched up... but I couldn't turn down his $5 offer.

Purchase #5:  1981 Topps Scratch-Offs Set  $5

Just as I was about to leave the "cup" guy's booth, I noticed this set sitting in a box with some magazines.  Now if you're unfamiliar with the 1981 Topps Scratch-Offs there are two ways to define a complete set.

There are 144 different three-card panels that people can collect... and there are 108 different cards in the set.

A few years ago, Jim (cards as i see them) sold me a complete "panel" set for $25.  I knew right away that the above set wasn't big enough to contain every panel.

However for $5... I couldn't pass up the 108 card set.  As I started flipping through it, I found three panels containing two hall of famers each:

47.7 + 30.4 + 68.5 = 146.6

I decided to see which trio compiled the highest WAR.  Jim Rice, Mike Hargrove, and Jim Palmer had the lowest total.

88.6 + 46.2 + 70.6 = 205.4

George Brett and Alan Trammell's combined WAR was higher than Rice, Hargrove, and Palmer.  Willie Wilson was icing on the cake.

46.5 + 64.9 + 109.9 = 221.3

But in the end... Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, and Tom Seaver came out on top.  It would be fun to go through and compare all 144 panels... but I just don't have the time to research that right now..

I did look up one other panel of note though...

36.0 + 66.4 + 111.1 = 213.5

I knew Rickey would carry any trio he was partnered with... but was blown away by Buddy Bell's career WAR... which happens to be higher than Dawson or Rice.

Anyways... sorry I got off track.  Just thought this was an interesting way to look at these panels.

That wraps up another trip to the flea market.  I'm planning on hitting up the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday.  Hopefully the cold weather doesn't scare off more of the vendors.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!