Flea Market Finds #189: Fill A Bag

In regards to views and comments, Flea Market Finds are the bread and butter posts on this blog.  Unfortunately it's been nearly three months since I've written one of these posts.  A busy end of the school year schedule along with prioritizing care packages from fellow bloggers essentially pushed these posts the back burner.

Now these posts are starting to pile up in my draft folder, so it's time to start recapping some spring trips to the local flea market.

Today's post covers a trip to the Branham High School Flea Market back on Saturday, April 18th.

Although I took notes on purchases, I completely forgot to write anything down about the weather, the crowds, or the vendors.  Not sure if that's important to anyone, but I usually like to include that info to help keep my memory fresh.  Oh well.  Let's get to what I found...

Purchase #1:  Cheap Cards  $4

The first vendor on the first row is a regular I have purchased stuff from on multiple trips.  While I was flipping through his card boxes, he was telling me about his mom who is battling cancer.  Normally, I would have walked away without making a purchase.  However I wanted to leave the interaction on a positive note by purchasing something.  

2024 Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-5

1992 Leaf Gold #57

The first two cards were 50¢ each, while the final three were dollar cards:

2020 Bowman Prospects #BP-108 (x2)

1994 Topps Black Gold Redemption Winner A #NNO

Expired redemption cards are one of those collections I don't really talk about... but I truly enjoy finding in the wild.

Purchase #2:  Start of a New Collection  $2

Maybe it's because there weren't a ton of vendors with cards.  Maybe it's because I have a sickness when it comes to stuff I treasured as a kid.  Whatever it was, I was drawn to this table of cassette tapes.  There were a few I owned when I was a kid, but something in my brain told me rebuilding this collection could be a slippery slope.

So I grabbed the one that stood out the most:

Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat (1981)

This was the Go-Go's debut album which was #1 for six straight weeks on the Billboard 200 in March and April of 1982.

Purchase #3:  Cards & Cassettes  $22

That slippery slope I just mentioned... just go real.  I owned a copy of this cassette tape as a kid:

The Police Synchronicity (1983)

Honestly there's a good chance my childhood copy is sitting in a box somewhere in my garage.  But after purchasing the Go-Go's tape, I figured I'd add this to my cassette tape collection rebuild.

The vendor also had a bunch of cards and other knickknacks scattered on a table.  That's where I found these two Junk Wax Era hall of famers:

1987 Fleer Update #U-68

1996-97 Collector's Choice A Cut Above: The Jordan Years #CA5

And this 22 card lot of vintage cowboy cards:

1951 Post Hopalong Cassidy

Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero that was popular in films in the 1930's and 40's.  There was also a television show based on him that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1952.

The Google app on my phone helped me identify this set on the spot.  These cards were inserted into boxes of Post cereal back in 1951.

He packaged them up with the two cards and cassette tape for $22, which seemed like a solid deal.

Purchase #4:  Bag of Stuff  $10

The couple with this set up had a two tables filled with a variety of items you'd find at someone's garage sale.  Their deal was fill a Target bag with as many items as you wanted for $10.

The two Topps factory sets immediately stood out:

1991 Topps Baseball Set

1992 Topps Baseball Set

Both of these sets had already been opened, but at this price I couldn't pass them up.  I also grabbed these five items and tossed them into the bag:

At the left are two souvenir photo books which I thought were interesting.  They remind me of going to San Francisco with my parents when I was little.  These are the kind of items I'd bug them to buy me when we'd stop into souvenir stores.

The black thing is a Nintendo Switch case that I ended up giving away to one of my 8th graders.  Under that is a Mickey's Steamboats souvenir baseball.  And the final item I tossed into the bag was a package of Christmas cards that I'll use for future care packages.

As for the two factory sets, they weren't complete.  Both sets were missing a handful of Giants.  But I did end up pulling out the A's and Padres team sets.  Also pulled out some key stars (in case I end up building more Topps base card runs) and a few rookies like these:

1991 Topps #333

1992 Topps #156

I'm going to use the base cards for an annual art project I do with my students where they create trading cards of their favorite civil rights leaders.

Well that wraps up my first Flea Market Finds post in nearly three months.  I still have a few more trips I need to recap as well as a yard sale yield and a card show haul.  With only four weeks left in my summer break, I need to start hammering these out hopefully at a rate of one per week.  We'll see how things play out.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Back in Time

This post is a few months late.  I originally wanted to publish this back in early March when some of us shifted our clocks one hour forward for Daylight Saving Time.  

1989 Topps #70

The contents of this post feature two oddball Oakland A's items from the Junk Wax Era that have one thing in common.  They both keep track of time.

Let's flashback to 2016.  A local sports fan reached out to me and donated a few boxes of newspapers, books, media guides, pins, ticket stubs, cards, and other oddball items.  One of those oddball items was this San Francisco Examiner Dot Racing wristwatch:

According to the paperwork included with this watch, it was part of a special giveaway sponsored by the San Francisco Examiner and the Oakland Athletics:

He even tossed in the newspaper clipping that featured his name in the list of recent winners:

This watch is one of the most unique memorabilia items sitting in my Oakland A's collection.  I couldn't find another one on the internet.  But it's uniqueness isn't the thing that makes it special.  Dot Racing was part of every A's home game at the Coliseum for as long as I can remember and this watch will forever keep those memories fresh in my mind.

Back in December, I added another wristwatch to my Oakland A's collection:

1989 Nelsonic MLB Card Watch

Ryan (@ SumoMenkoMan) sent me this watch in his 2025 Holiday Haiku Advent Calendar.  Here's the haiku clue he wrote for it:

I couldn't find a lot of information on this watch, but I did find a checklist and other interesting facts in a Sport Card Info blog post.

Nelsonic used a similar image from McGwire's 1989 Topps card.  When compared side by side, it's easier to see the the differences:

At first glance, it looked like this was the same at-bat, but McGwire is wearing a black wristband in the watch photo... plus not all of the fans in the background match perfectly.  If I had better detective skills and more time, maybe I could narrow down when and where these pictures were taken.  But I don't.

Regardless... both of these items are fantastic additions to my Oakland A's collection.  Thank you Bruce and Ryan!  And sorry it took so long for me to sit down and hammer out this thank you post.  Time sure flies by.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #186: Win Some, Lose Some

Spring doesn't officially start until Friday, but two Saturdays ago it was warm enough to wear flip flops, but not quite warm enough to make you sweat.  That's the perfect weather for a walk around the local flea market.

Unfortunately there was also a card show in the area, so I didn't see any of my friends who usually set up.  But I did find stuff from other vendors.

Let's check out my De Anza Flea Market haul...

Purchase #1:  Cheap Comic Books  $4

1985 Comico Robotech Masters #1

1992 Celebrity Comics Metallica #2

Comic books aren't really popular among my readers, but that doesn't stop me from flipping through bargain boxes in search of titles I enjoy.  Robotech was one of my favorite cartoons back in the 80's... and Metallica is one of my favorite bands of all-time.

Purchase #2:  A Rare 90's Hologram  $5

1991 Pro Set Winston Cup Hologram #NNO

Once upon a time, this card would have commanded triple digits to some collectors.  Today you can find them for a fraction of the price.

There was a gentleman with a small collection of Junk Wax Era cards scattered on his table.  This one immediately caught my eye.  The top loader had a $20 price tag, but before I could say a word, he asked me if five dollars was fair.  That's a price I could live with.

Purchase #3:  A Sweet Ticket Stub  $5

1963 Orange Bowl Ticket Stub

I found this ticket stub sitting on a five dollar table with a bunch of movies, McDonald's toys, and other knickknacks.  I decided to Google the game to see who participated.

It featured #5 Alabama and #8 Oklahoma.  When I dug a little deeper, I saw that Joe Namath was the starting quarterback.  No way I was going to pass this up for five bucks.

Purchase #4:  Pair of Hall of Fame Autos  $40

A gentleman bought a storage unit filled with football and hockey cards.  He had a bunch of top loaded cards sitting in two row shoe boxes.  My eyes lit up when I saw this:

1997 UD Legends Autograph #AL-15

I grew up listening to stories about the legendary Green Bay Packers of the 60's from my father.  Ray Nitschke was the anchor of Vince Lombardi's defense which won five NFL titles (including the first two Super Bowls) in a span of seven seasons.

Unfortunately he passed away in 1998, a year after Upper Deck included him in their iconic UD Legends set.  This is one of only a handful of certified, pack pulled signatures out there and for $20... it's a win. 

1997 UD Legends Autograph #AL-99

Eric Dickerson was the premiere running back in the NFL during the 80's and one of my favorite players.  In the moment, I figured $20 for an on-card signature of his was a steal... but that's about the going rate.  Win some, lose some.

Purchase #5:  Hockey Hits  $50

After going through his two football boxes, I dove into the hockey.  By this time there were several other people interested in his stuff, so I settled for sifting through one two-row shoebox.  Here's what I pulled out...

1999-00 ITG BAP All-Star Teammates Relic #TM-10

Back in the late 90's, Kariya and Forsberg were two of the hottest players in the hobby.  These swatches are from their 1996 NHL All-Star jerseys when they were teammates for the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, this card was stored in a screwdown holder made for thinner cards, so I damaged it (see chipping along edges) upon removal.  Win some, lose some.

2002-03 Stadium Club St. Patrick Dual Relics #SP-CAMCJ

Patrick Roy was even more popular than Forsberg and Kariya.  This card was part of a tribute set and inserted into packs during his final NHL season.  It features game worn swatches from Avalanche and Canadians jerseys.

2001-02 Pacific Titanium Double Sided Jersey #32

I was pretty stoked to find a Mario Lemieux jersey card sitting in the box and surprised to see another player on the back.  It's a shame Aleksey Morozov was the other player and not someone like Jaromir Jagr.  Win some, lose some.

1980-81 O-Pee-Chee #140

Ray Bourque is one of the greatest defensemen in NHL history and I have wanted his rookie card since the 90's.  I'm very happy to finally own a copy.  It's even cooler that it's the OPC version.

2001-02 UD Legends Milestones Jersey #M-WG

Finally... the key card in the lot.  It's not often you find Wayne Gretzky jersey cards sitting in boxes at the flea market.  As excited as I was to see this in the box, I was even more excited when he told me I could have all five cards for $50.

Sadly... this card was also squeezed into a screwdown too.  When I took it out little specks stuck to the holder.  Oh well... win some, lose some.

Purchase #6:   8-Track Tapes  $2

Johnny Cash Greatest Hits

The Partridge Family Up To Date

Can't say I'm a huge fan of either of these albums, but The Partridge Family was sealed and the price was right.  These go into my slowly growing 8-track collection.

Purchase #7:  Junk Wax Era Factory Set  $5

1993 Topps Toys R Us Factory Set

Back in 1993, I was out of the hobby and in the midst of college.  In other words, I wasn't hitting up Toys R Us regularly and never owned this set.  However for $5, I figured it was finally time to add it to my collection.

The plan is to open it up in the near future and write up a post.  I'm mostly excited to check out the complete set of Master Photos.  Stay tuned.

Purchase #8:  Bag of Legos  $3

2019 Legos #30624

In 2019 Lego celebrated the 20th anniversary of Lego Star Wars with a bunch of cool sets and special minifigures.  This Obi-wan Kenobi poly bag was originally a gift with purchase.  I missed out back then, but was pretty happy to find one in the wild at the flea market.

Purchase #9:  My Other Dream Car  $15

2026 Hot Wheels Car Culture Team Transport #86

Two weeks ago, I wrote about one of my dream cars.  In 2022, I bought my other one.

Since then, I've tried to collect as many diecast versions as I can find.  You'd think it'd be easy to find just about any mass produced Hot Wheel on pegs at Target, but I see less Toyota GR Supras than baseball card blasters.  In fact, I have never seen one in four years.  That's why I didn't even try to negotiate the fifteen dollar price tag.

Well that wraps up my latest trip to the De Anza Flea Market.  The Branham High School Flea Market is on Saturday, but I might be going to a card show in Danville with one of my buddies.  It'll probably be a last minute decision.

Thanks for hanging in there for another long winded post.  My goal is to produce shorter posts on a more frequent basis, but that plan seems to fly out the window whenever I start typing.

Until next time...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!