Pac-Man Fever

TRISTAR held it's annual Bay Area show this past weekend, but I bit my lip and ended up running errands instead.

Although it was tempting, I talked to my buddy who set up as a vendor and decided it wasn't worth the $20 in gas and parking.

But that doesn't mean I didn't end up spending some money there.  One of the vendors had some amazing prices on autographed items, so my buddy grabbed me a Manny Pacquiao autographed 8x10.  It set me back $25, but I would have spent $15 on the photo and PSA/DNA fees alone.

Now I know he's lost some of his luster and his autographs don't command top dollar anymore.  It also doesn't help that he's flooded the market with his signature, but there's no denying the impact he has left on the sport.

Manny is the only boxer to ever win world titles in eight different weight divisions.  Plus he was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000's by the WBO, WBC, and the BWAA.

And now he's the first and only boxer to have an autographed 8x10 in my collection.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

A Night @ The Fights

On Saturday, I attended my first UFC event with my buddy and his daughter.  The tickets were free, courtesy of Dana White himself...

We had upper bowl seats, so I spent most of the night watching the fights on the big screen.

But, I'm not complaining.  The fight card was stacked and overall the fights were pretty exciting.  Well... except for the Cormier/Mir fight.  Cormier trains less than two miles away from my house at American Kickboxing Academy and I was hoping his UFC debut would be a little more entertaining.

Oh well... at least I had the opportunity to witness Benson Henderson propose to his girlfriend.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Spending 1,600 Hypothetical Dollars

Blog bat arounds are awesome.  I love the fact that a bunch of bloggers answer the same question(s).  It's probably the one thing I'll miss most about my annual summer contest.

Luckily... Drop The Gloves has started one up as part of a contest.  Click here if you're interested in checking it out.

His question is simple...

What cards would you buy if you had $1,600 to spend on eBay?

It didn't take me too long to figure out what I wanted.  I'd buy a few of my favorite sets from the 70's.

#1:  1972 Topps Baseball Set  BIN $716 ($884 Remaining)

#2:  1975 Topps Mini Baseball Set  BIN $800 ($84 Remaining)

#3:  1970 Topps Scratch Off Set  BIN $69 ($15 Remaining)

And with the final $15, I'd buy a...

#4:  1964 Topps #9 NL Home Run Leaders (Aaron, McCovey, Mays, and Cepeda) BIN $15

Okay... it's your turn.  Head over to Drop The Gloves and start responding to the latest Blog Bat Around.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #35: Comics & Cardboard

When:  Sunday, August 14th
Where:  Capitol Flea Market
What:  A Handful of Cardboard & A Bag Full of Comics
How Much?:  $22

This is a flea market fanatic's favorite time of the year, because plenty of people are wrapping up their spring cleaning and the weather (at least in the Bay Area) is perfect for both vendors and bargain hunters... sunny, yet cool.   In other words... there's plenty of new vendors and fresh goodies out and about.

In fact, last Sunday was the flea market's version of Opening Day.  There were at least 25% more vendors than usual and the place was packed with shoppers.  Usually there are two to four vendors with sports cards.  Last week, there were at least seven. Unfortunately, most of their stuff wasn't worth looking at and the one guy who had cool 90's inserts was still living off of 90's Beckett values.

But I didn't walk away empty handed.

Purchase #1:  Sports Cards $2

Fifteen minutes into my flea market hike, I came across a guy who had a ton of toys from the 80's and 90's, including SLU's, action figures, and Transformers.  I was interested in a bunch of his stuff, but his prices seemed high.

Hidden under some Beanie Babies, he had a small shoebox filled with sports cards in penny sleeves.

I ended up pulling out this 1969 Topps Joe Morgan and a 1993/94 Finest Joe Dumars Refractor.  He wanted $2 for the pair.  I told him it was a deal, if he threw in this pack of 1984 Mother's Cookies A's.

It's not a complete set, but it had the Rickey Henderson... and that's the card I really wanted.

Purchase #2:  Thirty-five Comic Books $25

Okay.  Let's go over this one more time.  I'm not really a comic book guy.  But this guy was dumping his collection and if there's one thing you should know about me by now... I can't walk away from a bargain.

He wanted a dollar per comic, but offered bulk discounts.  Since I often associate first issues with rookie cards, I grabbed a bunch of those... plus a few with cool covers.  

In the end, I had thirty-five different comics.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Super Pro #1

Spider-Man/Gen 13

Superman/Batman Annual #1

Web of Spider-Man #95

X-Men #1

Fantastic Four #375

The Savage Dragon #1

Stormwatch #1 (Autographed by Scott Clark)

Robin II #1

Well that wraps up another Sunday at the flea market.  If things go as planned, I'll be headed out to the 17th Annual Tristar Bay Area Classic Collectors Show this afternoon.  After that, I'm going to watch Henderson vs. Melendez at UFC on Fox 7 over at the San Jose Arena.  I've never been to a live MMA fight, so it should be pretty cool.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Capturing a Hand Cut Bird

I've been wanting to add a 1977 Hostess Mark Fidrych to my collection for several years.  And when Hostess closed down their doors earlier in the year, I took my search to another level.

Well my search is officially over.  The above card popped up on my eBay search a while back with  a $11.99 BIN price tag, so I snatched it up.

The Bird left us four years ago, but thankfully his pieces of cardboard and the memories he provided his fans will keep him in our minds forever.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!