Flea Market Finds #188: A Classic Set & A Fidrych Food Issue

Spring Break has come and gone.  I already wrote about my road trip.  Now it's time to recap my trip to the De Anza Flea Market that took place two days earlier.

The flea market itself was a little less crowded than usual.  I'm guessing some people were traveling or spending time with their families over Easter weekend.  Luckily there were still plenty of vendors with collectibles.

Here's my haul...

Purchase #1:  Bin of Star Wars  $30

1977 Topps Star Wars

I've documented the significance of this set to my hobby history on numerous occasions.  I've also mentioned that I own a complete set with stickers.  Normally I wouldn't waste my time grabbing a box of duplicates, but sentimentality trumped frugality.

Haven't had time to decide if I'll start a second set build, but even if I do... there are plenty of duplicates to help others who are trying to complete this set.

Purchase #2:  Piece of Art  $5

2008 Rittenhouse Batman Archives Sketch Card #NNO

Not sure if this is Catwoman or Batgirl, but for five bucks I don't care.

I found this card a few vendors down from the couple with the Star Wars cards.  A gentleman was selling two 3,500ct. boxes worth of cards.  He had some pretty cool stuff like Barry Bonds and Buster Posey rookie cards, but his prices seemed a little high.  On the other hand, his asking price for this piece of original art was more than fair.

Purchase #3:  Odball Birdie  $1

1977 Hostess #46

The vendor had a binder of 80's and Junk Wax Era singles that I flipped through quickly.

Towards the middle was this random Hostess card of Mark Fidrych.  I was very surprised to find this card staring back at me.  He said I could have the whole binder for $20, but I was really only interested in this card.  I think we both walked away happy with the dollar sale.

Purchase #4:  Dollar Box Magazine  $1

Mad Magazine March 1959

Found another new vendor.  This guy had a magazine box filled with dollar vintage magazines from the 50's, 60's, and 70's.  There were probably fifteen to twenty different Mad Magazine issues sitting in the box, but this was the only one that really caught my eye.  It's pretty beat up, but it's also sixty-seven years old.

Purchase #5a:  A Classic Board Game  $30

Before I show off my favorite purchase of the day, I want to explain some details behind the purchase.  Some of you might remember a lady who was selling off her deceased husband's collection.  Last summer she sold me a 1990 Leaf Series 1 set and some San Francisco 49er oddball issues.  I have also purchased some cheap sets and an unopened box of 1989 Bowman from her on separate occasions.

Anyways, she was back and she brought her sons.  There were a few items I was interested on their table, so I gathered them up and worked out a package deal (so ignore the price tags).

Here's the main thing I wanted:

1987 Classic Baseball Board Game

When these board games were originally released, I was too busy opening boxes of 1987 Topps Baseball purchased from Costco.  I could buy three of them for the price of one of these board games:

Unfortunately, I completely missed the boat on ever owning the iconic Bo Jackson card featuring him wearing his Auburn football gear while holding a baseball bat.  By the time I realized how cool and popular this card was, card shops were jacking up the prices for the single and toy stores had sold out of the actual board games.

Well after almost four decades, I'm happy to finally add this board game to my collection.  It's still sealed with the original Toys R Us price tag, so I'm not going to open it up.  That means I'll still be hunting down a set of these cards.

Purchase #5b:  An 80's Box Set  $8

1988 Score Rookie & Traded Set

Plenty of us collected during the Junk Wax Era, so we remember when this set was a pretty hot commodity.

It's cooled off over the years, but it still contains some cool rookie cards.

I already have graded copies of three of the key rookie cards, so I'll just keep this set housed in the factory box.

Purchase #5c:  A Stained Set  $2

1986 McDonald's All Star Team Set

I added this set to the stack for pure nostalgic reasons.  Back in 1986, I remember going to McDonalds with my friends and receiving an Oakland Raiders or San Francisco 49ers card with each purchase.  The idea that I could get a complete set of 30 cards for less than the price of a Happy Meal was too hard to pass up.

Unfortunately this set seems to have been sitting in a box with some french fries, because they feature some staining.  Phil Simms took the brunt of the oil, but if you look closely to at the backs of the Montana and Payton, you can see some discoloration along the bottom edge:

I had offered the sons $35 for the three sets, but they countered with $40.  That seemed fair.

As I was about to leave, I was looking at some knick-knacks on one of the brother's tables.  It started a conversation that eventually led to one more purchase.

Purchase #6:  Atari Stickers  $5

1982 Atari Lenticular Discs

The gentleman who sold these to me had no idea what these are or where they came from, but that didn't matter to me.

I grew up playing Pac-Man and Defender on my Atari 2600 and was immediately interested in them.


Purchase #7:  Another Damaged Set?  $20

1998 Champions of Golf The Masters Collection Factory Set

Much like the 1988 Score Rookies & Traded set, there was a time when this set was pretty popular.  I have always wanted one of the Tiger Woods cards found in this factory set.  Unfortunately this set has a history of bricking and sliding around in the box, so I'm not sure if I'll be opening it up anytime soon.

Well that wraps up another trip to the flea market.  There's another one coming up this Saturday.  Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates and I'll have the opportunity to walk around, get some fresh air, and walk away with a few new finds for the collection.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

A Quick Trip to the Islands

Over Veteran's Day weekend... I traveled 2,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean for Papa Fuji's celebration of life.

Ala Wai Canal

I've mentioned it a few times on the blog, but in case you missed it... both of my parents were born and raised on Oahu.  But they didn't meet there.  They met in Wisconsin while attending college... and spent the rest of their lives together on the mainland.  Earlier in the year, my father returned to Oahu and was laid to rest in our family's plot.

He didn't want to have a service, but thought it would be nice if we could get both sides of the family together for a small luncheon.  My siblings and I were blown away by the number of people interested in attending.  It ended up being a family reunion and an opportunity for many of us to reconnect and catch up.

One of the coolest things was seeing my mother's side of the family interact with my father's side.  It's such a small world.  One of my cousins (on my mom's side) discovered he lives just a block over from another cousin (on my dad's side).

I'm guessing that a lot of them could easily play the "six degrees" game considering the majority have lived their entire lives on the same island.

Personally... I hadn't been back in fifteen years.  It was a quick trip... but I made sure to eat saimin at Zippy's, malassadas from Leonard's, and shave ice from Shimazu's:

Here's a wallet card shot from my hotel room:

Ala Moana Hotel

Although most of the conversations at the party involved reminiscing and family related stuff... baseball made its way into a few of them.

One of my cousins asked me if I was going to continue supporting the A's after their move to Sacramento/Las Vegas.

1977 Hostess #52

I explained that I've been a fan since the 70's... so ultimately I would continue rooting for them wherever they played.

2020 Topps Chrome Refractor #160

I was also reminded that the Dodgers have a huge following in Hawaii.  I spoke with three cousins who were excited about their recent World Series win... and all three are big fans of this guy:

2024 Topps Now #1

All three of these cards were part of a PWE I received from Jim over at cards as i see them.  Thank you Jim!  Looking forward to getting together again for some burgers the next time you're in the Bay Area.

I'd also like to thank Nick over at njwv for inspiring me to purchase this card:

1893 Arbuckle's Coffee #27

Nick and I are both interested in collecting cards related to the Hawaiian Islands and the Bay Area.  Although his photography is much more artistic than mine.

Well that wraps up today's post.  The past few weeks have been really busy with this recent trip and parent/teacher conferences.  However this Saturday kicks off my Thanksgiving Break.  Although I'll be spending some time with family... the plan is to spend at least two or three quality days in the office catching up with care packages, two boxes from Sportlots, and my latest COMC shipment.

Until then... 

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #161: Dollar Deals

Walked around the Branham Flea Market last month and made three purchases from three  vendors.  For the sake of this post... I've decided to split up the first purchase into five one dollar purchases... since that's how it essentially played out.

The gentleman who sold me these items is a regular I've dealt with on numerous occasions.  He has a variety of stuff ranging from magazines to bobbleheads to 7-11 cups... with sports cards sprinkled in here and there.

Purchase #1a:  1990 Barry Colla Don Mattingly Box Set $1

This box set was the first item on his table that caught my eye.  Barry Colla is a local photographer who put out a bunch of player sets back in the late 80's and early 90's.   

Here's a look at the twelve card set that came in the box: 

A few well-cropped action shots... but overall these give off a Broder-like vibe.  Hard to complain though when each card costs less than a dime.

Purchase #1b:  1980 Dodgers Police Starter Set $1

Inside of his display case, he had some Dodgers Police cards in a Ziploc bag.  Half of them were cards from the 1980 set which features some really cool action shots: 

The cards are a little beat up, but the only player missing is the Pedro Guerrero.  I probably will just pull a few of the singles for my binders and pass the rest along to any Dodger collectors who need them.

Purchase #1c:  1982 Dodgers Police Starter Set $1

The other half of the Dodgers Police cards were from the 1982 set.  It contained all of the players, but the playoff highlight cards were missing.  The lot did come with a World Series trophy card... but it's pretty beat up... so I tossed it into the Damaged Card PC before I took the photos.

Here are my two cards that stood out from the lot:

Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela were two of my favorite pitchers from the 80's and pretty much the reason I purchased all of these Dodgers cards.

Purchase #1d:  1991 Marathon Chicago Cubs Lot $1

This stack of Cubs cards were also sitting inside of his display case.  I've never seen them before, but according to Beckett they're part of a twenty-eight card set that was handed out at a Cubs game in 1991.

Maddux was the key to me picking up this lot and was well worth the dollar.

Purchase #1e:  Cheap Vintage $1

The vendor had a small lot of vintage sitting in a box.  Each card was individually priced and I just couldn't pass up these three... 

1966 Topps #4

There's just something special about finding a miscut card like this in the wild.  Like a bruised banana at the grocery store, I'm guessing this card was passed up a few times.  Me?  I'm honored to own it for a quarter.

1971 Topps #544

This is one of those cards I remember wanting back in the 80's.  It's such a great photo of a Bay Area fan favorite.  Sure it has rounded corners and several creases... but the price (50¢) was right.

1976 Hostess #122

There probably won't be many shots of the Oakland Coliseum in the background after 2025, but luckily there are plenty of 70's quarter bin cards like this one to collect.

Purchase #2:  Billy Joel 52nd Street 8-Track $1

When I was a kid, my parents had an 8-Track player in one of their cars.  Not sure what happened to all of their tapes, but my eyes lit up when I saw a stack of them sitting on this lady's dollar table.

Billy Joel isn't my favorite artist... but he's had a fair share of hits.  This might not be considered one of his iconic albums, but it has one of my favorite songs of his:  Rosalinda's Eyes.  Thank you Freaks and Geeks.

 

Purchase #3:  Not A Dollar Deal $8

The final purchase of the day almost didn't happen.  This couple must have bought a storage unit or something, because they had several tables set up and covered with everything from old books to cups and saucers.

My eyes were drawn to some new Panini World Cup sticker albums and comic books sitting on the ground which required me to walk around their tables to get to.  They ended up being kind of pricey, but as I headed out I noticed a shoebox filled with cards in toploaders.

They were $3 each or 10 for $20.  I pulled out these four and he accepted my $8 offer:

2023 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relic #CCR-SP

This was the key card in the purchase and the first step towards my Perez sports card trifecta.  His 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospect card is pretty cheap... but an on-card autograph of his is going to set me back about $50.

In hindsight, I probably should have handed over the three bucks and passed on these other three cards:  

2019 Topps WWE Summer Slam Relics #MR-SN

But here are the latest additions to the Japanese Athlete PC.

2021 Goodwin Champions Autographs #A-KG

2021 Skybox Metal Universe Champions Autographs #19

I should have taken a few minutes to look up these autographs of Ken Gushi (auto racing)... since they only sell for around a buck on COMC.  Oh well.  Win some, lose some.

That wraps up my most recent trip to the flea market.  Not sure if I'll be able to make it to any flea markets in May.  Last weekend, I cancelled my trip because it rained.  There's another one in two weeks, but I have my nephew's graduation party.

Not too disappointed though.  I've got several Sportlots packages, a COMC package, and a few more blogger care packages waiting to be cracked open.

Until then... happy Thursday and sayonara!