Flea Market Finds #162: Some Nice Surprises

Clear skies and fresh air have a way of drawing people out of their homes.  That's why the De Anza Flea Market was packed two weekends ago.  Not exactly a fan of large crowds but if it motivates more vendors to set up in the future... it's something I can live with.

Made a total of eight purchases... which is more than usual.  So let's get to it.

Purchase #1:  2019 Topps Clear Travel Packs  $Free

I'll be teaching summer school again for the first time in four years, so I was looking for some cheap packs for a math lesson involving statistics.  I found a vendor with a bunch of these packs which would totally work.

The purchase involved a storage tub filled with over 200 of these, but I ended up selling the bulk to a friend to help cover the cost of the thirty-six packs I kept.

I kind of regret selling the, because when I got home I discovered these weren't your ordinary 2019 Topps cards.  They're an oddball issue that was distributed at ballparks and airports.  I plan on writing another post about this nice surprise in the near future.

Purchase #2:  New VHS Movies  $1

Stumbled upon a lady with a box filled with brand new VHS tapes.  Believe it or not... I still watch movies on my VHS player.  But I won't be opening these.  Pretty much purchased these for nostalgic purposes and because the price was too good to pass up.

Purchase #3:  1992 Impel Star Trek TNG Master Set $5

The husband of the lady with the VHS tapes had a bunch of non-sports sets.  My cardboard addiction was drawn to the shiny holograms.  Back in the 90's, I was one of those collectors drawn to holograms... especially if they were inserts.

Included in the purchase was also the base set, some promo cards, and a foreign language insert set.

Purchase #4:  1989 World Series Program  $5

I wasn't sure if I had a copy of this program or not... so I picked it up.  With the news of the A's leaving for Sacramento next year... I guess I was feeling extra nostalgic.

Tucked between two pages was a white envelope containing a nice surprise:

You're looking at a 1989 phantom World Series ticket.  The Oakland A's swept the San Francisco Giants that year... so there wasn't a need for a Game 5.  

Purchase #5:  Early 90's Rap Packs  $16 

Discovered this set during the hobby boom... when people were grading anything and everything.  I'm a fan of late 80's and early 90's rap... so the idea of pulling cards of NWA, Naughty by Nature, and Too Short appeals to me.

The vendor had twenty packs left in this box for a buck each.  I bought one to see if they were "bricked" and they weren't.  So I offered up $15 for the remaining 19 packs and he accepted.

Purchase #6:  NSYNC Dolls  $15

Not all of my flea market finds are for me.  My friend is a huge fan of Justin Timberlake, so I asked her if she wanted it and she did.  Made a special trip to the car to drop this off, because I didn't want to be seen carrying it around the remainder of my time there.

Purchase #7:  Steve Carlton Bat Relic $3

2003 SP Legendary Cuts Historic Lumber #B-SC (#'d 005/350)

Ran into a guy who had some monster boxes sitting on his table containing mostly football and basketball cards.  He was one of those guys who looks up singles on eBay and gives you a price.  He couldn't find any listings for this card, so he told me he'd sell it for $10.  I politely passed, so he asked what I was willing to pay.  Three dollars later, the card was in my pocket.

Purchase #8:  Another Toyota Supra  $6.50

2024 Hot Wheels Gran Turismo

There's a regular vendor that specializes in diecast cars.  I'm always searching for MK5 Supras I don't own.  Sometimes he has some, most of the time he doesn't.  This time he did.

It's from the Gran Turismo series that was released about a month ago.  I'm pretty sure these are only a couple of bucks in the store, but like blasters... I never see these at my local Target.

Well that wraps ups another trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  I was pretty happy with the haul.  I'll be heading out to the Branham High School Flea Market on Saturday.  Looks like the weather will be nice again, so hopefully I'll find a few more nice surprises this weekend.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Saturday Night Five: Past & Present, Brown & Gold

I'm more of an early bird than a night owl... but right now a busy schedule dictates when I can blog.  And sometimes you gotta push through if you want to get things done.

That's why for the first time in the history of this blog... you're getting back to back evening posts.

I was hoping to join in on the current Blog Bat-Around that has been circling the blogosphere... but I need more time to get my list together.  I also have Flea Market Finds post sitting in my draft folder that's waiting to be completed, but I only have about an hour to hammer out this post and publish it.   Plus there's a partially written post ranking my all-time favorite Oakland Athletics that I'd like to work on too.  The list is almost ready to go... but I still need to scan cards for the post.  You gotta trust me when I say... that's more of an morning activity... than a right before bedtime thing.

So tonight's post is going to revolve around five cards I scanned this afternoon while tidying up my office.  It features five different San Diego Padres with three of them currently with the team, one who was traded during the off-season, and the final one being the greatest player in franchise history.

Let's start with the current guys...

2023 Topps Major League Material #MLM-FT

Let's kick things off with Fernando Tatis Jr., who currently leads the team in home runs and total bases.  He looks like he starting to regain that pre-suspension form.  This jersey card was part of a care package I received from Woody over at Sports Card Forum back in December and it represents only the second Tatis Jr. memorabilia card in my Padres PC.

Next up are a pair of hits from Reader X...

2022 Topps Commemorative Batting Helmet #BH-MM

This manufactured relic might just be the thickest card in my collection... and it has some weight to it as well.  So far... Machado has only been used as a DH this season... so the batting helmet fits his current contribution to the team.

The other hit Xavier sent my way is the Padres starting catcher's signature:

2022 Topps Gypsy Queen Autograph #GQA-LC

This is my first autograph of Campusano... and I love the fact that it's on-card.

Next up is a former Padre and current Yankee:

2023 Stadium Club Box Topper #205

This card recently arrived in the mail from Rod (Padrographs).  You can't tell by this scan, but this is one of those oversized box toppers.  Outside of a handful of base cards and inserts, I don't have a ton of Soto's Padres cards... especially one as gorgeous and big as this one.

Speaking of big, he also sent this oddball issue:

1984 Lite Beer #NNO

Not sure how it was distributed back in 1984, but it's a great looking card.  This is actually my second copy.  The first one is sitting in one of my Gwynn binders.  I'll be adding this card to my San Diego Padres shelf in the office.

Thank you Woody, Xavier, and Rod for these additions to the San Diego Padres collection.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Time Playing Tricks On Me

Time has a way with messing with my head.  On this date back in 1994, baseball fans celebrated the 20th anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's MLB home run record.

At the time... two decades literally felt like a lifetime ago to this twenty-one year old collector.

My memory of this historic home run came from baseball highlight videos and baseball cards like his card #1 in the 1974 Topps baseball set or his home run records card in the 1979 Topps set.

Unfortunately... it's a school night and today was one of those long days where the hobby got pushed to the side.  So I don't have the time to dig out those cards and scan them.  What I do have is a card that I have had sitting in my scan folder since last summer:

1994 Topps Gold #715

I purchased this card on April 7th of last year for a dollar on COMC... and have been patiently waiting to use it in this anniversary post.  

Anyways... getting back to the "time" thing... it's been thirty years since this card was inserted into packs of 1994 Topps.  Obviously thirty years is much longer than twenty years... yet 1994 feels like yesterday to this fifty-one year old collector.

Like I said... time has a way with messing with my head.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Some of the Sweet Stuff

Happy Easter!  I know today is a very big religious holiday for many of my friends and family members.  When I was a kid... it was more about decorating eggs, baskets of candy, and spring break.

I know this year Topps released some Easter themed parallels in their flagship Series 1 boxes.  But since I haven't opened any... nor have I acquired any of those parallels... I decided to celebrate with some candy related collectibles in my collection.

As an added bonus, I will rate the candy and players featured on the cards/collectibles using a scale of 1 to 10... with 5 being average.

1987 M&M's #23

Candy Rating: 7/10

Player Rating:  10/10

Peanut Butter M&M's are my favorite, but I don't usually go out of my way to buy them.  On the other hand, I am always looking for new cards of my all-time favorite athlete.

1984 Nestle #300

Candy Rating:  6/10

Player Rating:  7.5/10

Not a fan of Nestle Crunch Bars... but I do enjoy 100 Grand... so I'll rank it slightly lower than M&M's.  As for Charlie Hustle... not a fan of the person, but a fan of the player.

1984 Nestle Dream Team #21

Candy Rating:  6/10

Player Rating:  9/10

Another Nestle card produced in 1984, but a different set.  I prefer the one that parallels the flagship design.  As for the player, Lefty was my favorite pitcher when I was a kid.

1993 Upper Deck Clark Bar Reggie #C2

Candy Rating:  ?/10

Player Rating:  7.5/10

Can't remember buying or trying a Clark Bar, but it sounds interesting.  Not sure I'll waste my money or the calories on trying it out though.  On the other hand, I will occasionally go out of my way to buy a new Reggie for the collection.

1992 Topps Triple Headers #NL9 Bonds/Van Slyke/Bonilla

Candy Rating:  ?/10

Player Ratings:  8/10 Bonds, 3/10 Van Slyke, & 4/10 Bonilla

You're probably wondering how is this candy related.  Well... according to the box it once contained candy:

I'm guessing it contained those Smarties-like tart candies... which I'm not really a fan of.  But since I don't know for sure, the jury is out.  The ball contains two players I don't really collect and one that I do.  Not sure if this ball was ever corrected, but Topps mixed up the facsimile signatures for the Killer B's.

1991 Topps Superstars Stand-Ups Candy #18

Candy Rating:  2/10

Player Rating:  10/10

This plastic box featuring Mr. Padre once contained candy too.  Unlike the ball... I've seen the candy that was originally inside of this container.  Yup.  It's those Smarties-like tart candies that I don't like.  It's not quite as bad as Circus Peanuts, but they're pretty bad.

1987 Leaf Candy City Team #H3

Candy Rating:  5/10

Player Rating:  6.5/10

This card was part of a collaboration between Leaf and the Special Olympics back in 1987.  Although these cards weren't packaged with candy, people could obtain a three card pack with the purchase of two Leaf candy or gum products.

I had to look up what types of candy Leaf produces.  The only one that I've tried before are the Astro Pops... which were rainbow colored, cone shaped suckers.  I remember buying these as a kid, but don't really have any interest in eating them as an adult.

Roy Campanella is a legend, so I'll add his cards to my collection from time to time.  But to say that I actively seek his cards would be a stretch.

1990 Pacific Chocolate Bar Promo #NNO

Candy Rating:  ?/10

Player Rating:  10/10

Can't have a candy related post without showing off this candy related card of Gwynn.  Unfortunately, I've never tried one of these.  But if it's equivalent to your standard Hersey's chocolate bar... than I'd rate it a 6/10.  

Well that's all the candy, cards, and collectibles I have for today.  I probably could have dug out a few more, but I'm heading over to my brother's house in less than an hour and don't have the time to dig anymore up.

Happy Easter and sayonara!