Standardized testing is over... one end of the year field trip down... and only three and a half weeks left of the regular school year. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining bright. Let's show off the other half of my May 3rd De Anza Flea Market finds...
Purchase #5: Autographed Baseball $10
Tom Seaver Autographed Baseball
Normally I avoid buying signed baseballs from strangers, but for $10... I figured this was worth the risk.
The ball came with this card which is actually what convinced me the signature is legit:
Back in the early 90's, Tony LaRussa and his wife started ARF, because there weren't a lot of no-kill animal shelters in the Bay Area. The foundation has utilized autograph sessions with former baseball players to help raise money for their cause. I couldn't find a specific year, but it looks like Tom Seaver was an autograph guest at some point.
The only complaint I have is that he signed an official American League baseball. I know he played for the White Sox and Red Sox, but not during Gene Budig's tenure as AL President.
Purchase #6: Another Baseball $5
What does Rawlings do with a bunch of baseballs after MLB cancels the World Series? I guess they hand them out to flea market vendors to sell to baseball fans who like collecting weird stuff like this.
I already have one of these balls in my collection, but for five bucks... I grabbed another.
Purchase #7: A New Project $40
One of the most interesting vendors had a bunch of mid 2000's baseball boxes laid out on a tarp. The thing is... the boxes weren't sealed and the packs were already opened.
These two boxes of 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter caught my eye, because I was out of the hobby when this set was released. After some negotiation that involved me walking away... we settled on the $40 price tag.
When the dust settled... I had 62.8% (220 out of 350) of the set. In other words... I'll be looking for cheap starter lots on eBay.
Purchase #8: Two Factory Sets $40
Another project I've thought about is picking up Topps factory sets from 1986 to present. I've picked up a handful of them over the past decade or so when the price is right.
A vendor on the last row had these two sitting at the bottom of a storage tub:
2007 Topps Factory Set
2008 Topps Factory Set
I'm not a big fan of the 2007 Topps design, but 2008 is one of my favorites from the past two decades. This was a great way to end my trip to the flea market.
Sorry... haven't had time to scan those bags of vintage from Part 1, but I'll try to do it as soon as possible. Plus I have one more flea market post from last weekend which I hope to document and publish before De Anza rolls around again.
Until then...
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
13 comments:
1) Our schools last day is next Thursday.
2) I'd love to find one of the defunct WS balls for $5.00 around here.
3) e-mail a list of the Topps Factory sets you already have. I see them all the time.
4) great grab on the Seaver ball.
5) the 2006 A&G was a steal even if the packs were opened. That is the first year and by far the most expensive out there. Those boxes sell for a few hundred each around here. (not that I think they are worth that).
OMG I've got the rest of the dozen of those '94 World Series balls still in the box. Was wondering how I was going to sell them off. They're hard to ship one at a time.
Email me your list for 2006 A&G! I've got a couple hundred extras or so.
My kids last day of school is tomorrow.
I think I have some 2006 A&G let me know which ones you need. Iff you got an extra 154 Manny, 277 Yaz, or 301 Mike Tyson in that box I need it. I also need 8 Red Sox Minis.
Ooh, I would've grabbed the 2007 factory set. 2008 has a good design but that stupid bump ruins a bunch of the photos.
Nice pickups with the complete sets. If you see another one of those ‘94 World Series balls, let me know and I’ll trade you something for it. That is a neat piece of random baseball history.
The '94 World Series ball wins it.
Nice find on Seaver. And that 1994 WS ball is all kinds of amazing.
Ah 1994, what could have been! Very cool keepsake to find.
Great pickups! Especially that Seaver auto! I need to track down that 2008 Topps set.
Nice grab on the allen and ginter
Terrific Seaver ball! See what I did there?! I wish there were flea markets to peruse around here.
johnnys trading spot -
a. the kids in your area are lucky
b. i'll try and take inventory of my topps factory sets this summer when i do my annual/bi-annual collection organization project
c. i'm stoked to build that 2006 a&g set. gonna put it into a binder as soon as its built.
gca - looks like a few bloggers would be interested in your extra '94 world series balls. thanks for offering to help me out with that ginter set
adame - you're in luck. i do have an extra copy of yaz. there was also an extra tyson, but it went into my sports card smorgasbord binder. that was actually the key to me purchasing the boxes.
night owl - i was more stoked to add the 2008 set. now that i have two, i can open one and put it into binder for easy viewing (since i don't mind the bump that much)
jeremya1um - the 94 world series ball is yours.
elliptical man - it's definitely cool, but it's a duplicate.
nick vossbrink - was very stoked to add the seaver for such a reasonable price.
the lost collector - i wonder what rawlings actually did with all of those 1994 world series balls. seems like a bunch have leaked into the hobby
matt - i'm stoked to add the 2008 factory set to my collection. now i just need to land the update :D
matt - thanks. i'm very excited to build that set
gcrl - hopefully your next trip to the west coast allows us to meet up on a saturday morning for a trip around one of my local flea markets
Nice pickups!
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