Flea Market Finds #115: Dollar Deals

With frost on the grass, ice on my windshield, flip flops on my feet, and a cup of coffee in my hand... I ventured out to the Branham Flea Market on Saturday.  When I drove up, I was disappointed to find that it was only partially full of vendors.  My guess is the freezing temperatures or the holiday break had something to do with it.

The good news is that two of the vendors were guys that I know... and both of them had sports cards.


Purchase #1:  Ty Cobb Medallion Card $2

2015 Topps First Home Run Medallion #FHRM-TC

There were only two people set up in the first row I walked down... and one of them happened to be a sports memorabilia vendor.  Remember the guy with the box bottoms?  Well he was back... and he had a nice dollar table and several boxes of cards.

This card was the only deal that was too good to pass up in terms of singles, but I did manage to grab a pair of items off of his dollar table.


Purchase #2:  Dollar Table Stuff  $2

Back in the early 90's, Fleer produced two oddball sets called Stars 'N Stripes.  Their niche was they included candy canes and candy sticks with their cards.  It'll be interesting to see if the candy has damaged the 140 card set.  I also grabbed this Seattle Seahawks frosted cup that appears to be a Mobil Gas promotional item.  There isn't a date on the glass, but I'm guessing it's from the 80's, because that's when handing out free cups was the cool thing to do.


Purchase #3:  Pidgin Books $1

If you've ever lived or hung out with anyone who has lived in Hawaii, then you've probably heard of Hawaiian Pidgin.  Simply put... it's a language used among locals that's truly beautiful to listen to.  Outside of the food and my relatives, it's one of my favorite things about traveling to the islands.


Purchase #4:  Star Wars Rebels DVD's $13

Amazing show for a solid price.  The only downside is that they're DVD's and I'm slowly transitioning to Blu-rays.

Purchase #5:  More Dollar Deals $6

Getting back to cards... the other I bought from is my buddy Tony.  I've picked up stuff from him numerous times over the years... and on Saturday I dropped $20 at his table.

Keeping with today's flea market theme... I'll start off with my dollar deals.  I grabbed six cards... one of which wasn't scanned, because it has already been shipped off to another collector.

Purchase #6:  Five for a Dollar Bin $4

Tony didn't really have any dime boxes, but I was able to find twenty cards out of his 3 for $1 box.  Since I'm a regular, he told me I could have them for 20¢ each.  There weren't any hidden treasures, but I was able to add some new cards to my insert/parallel collection.


Purchase #7:  Jose Canseco Auto $10

2016 Topps Gold Label Framed Auto #GLFA-JC

My big ticket item was this on-card autograph of Canseco.  It's a nice looking card that is heavy enough to be a paperweight... thanks to the metal frame that wraps around it.  I'll see Tony again in a few weeks at the De Anza Flea Market.  If I'm lucky, he'll bust more of these Gold Label boxes.

Speaking of De Anza... I went there two weeks earlier.  Like Branham, it was only partially filled.  Unlike Branham, I didn't find any sports cards.  I did manage to add this really cool DEVO bobblehead to my collection for five bucks:

The box is a little damaged, but the bobble itself is in great condition.  I'll wrap things up with one of my favorite DEVO songs...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

I'm Declaring Shenanigans!

I like Topps Archives.  I liked the Bull Durham inserts they included in this year's product.  And I like the concept of "buybacks" when done properly.

However... Topps recently combined these three things into one card when they inserted this card into their 2016 Topps Archives 65th Anniversary Edition boxes:

For those of you who aren't familiar with this card, it's a Bull Durham insert out of 2016 Topps Archives that happened to be released only six months ago.  

Anyone else find it weird that Topps is now inserting "buybacks" of current issues?

I mean... did Topps really go out, bug collectors for their Bull Durham duplicates, and buy them?  And isn't the point of a "buyback" to give collectors a chance to pull a card from the past?

Don't get me wrong... I'm not hating on "buybacks".

In fact, I've collected my fair share over the years and I'll continue to pick up affordable copies in the future.  However... if I was running Topps, I'd change things up and require all future "buybacks" be a minimum of twenty-five years old.  But that's just me.

What are your thoughts on Topps issuing 2016 cards as "buybacks" into 2016 products?  Thumbs up?  Thumbs down?

Looking forward to reading your responses.  Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Direct Ties to My Childhood

A huge part of my collection has direct ties to my childhood... which is why a quick glance into it would instantly reveal its diversity.  My entire adult life, I have slowly accumulated things from my childhood.  Skateboards.  Movies.  Record albums.  Video games.  Toys.  Comic books.  And of course trading cards.

Thirty-nine years ago, my mother purchased my first pack of trading cards and it didn't contain any pitchers or infielders.  There were no quarterbacks, point guards, or goalies either.  However there were a few stormtroopers, Jedis, droids, and Wookies.  Yup.  It was a pack of 1977 Topps Star Wars that kicked of this severe addiction to cardboard.

Although I'm not quite the avid Star Wars card collector I once was.  I still love the entire saga... and that includes the ones featuring Jar Jar Binks.  Earlier in the year while walking around the Serramonte Mall Sports Card, Toys, and Collectibles Show, I stumbled across the first issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic book from the original release.

I didn't know much about the comic, so I decided to hold off on purchasing one.  But I went home, did a little research about the different variations and current values, and then started targeting copies on eBay.

At the end of October, I found one that fulfilled my condition requirements as well as my budget:

It's not in perfect condition, but it looks good for being thirty-nine years old and it looks even better after I framed it up:

The comic book was $32 (+ free shipping) and the frame was under $6 with a coupon from Michaels.   Overall... I was excited to make room on my wall for this piece.

This wasn't my only recent Star Wars purchase.

I've slowly been picking up signed baseballs to my collection.  One of them was of Jeremy Bullock who played Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi:

The seller had done a private signing with Bullock a month earlier.  I only paid $28.50 (+ $6.50 shipping) for it, which is a pretty good deal considering I paid $50 for this a few days earlier:

I heavily overpaid on the photo, but it was part of the same private signing (as the baseball) and the cost factored in the JSA certification and the custom photo.  Oh well... win some, lose some.

I'll wrap things up with a bunch of 2015 Topps Tek Star Wars autographs that I've been picking up over the past year or so...

The Billy Dee Williams was by far the most expensive autograph in the lot.  I spent $50.99 (+ $3 shipping) back in January on the Colt 45 spokesperson.  I spent $20 to $25 on Wicket, Yoda, and George Takei.  The rest were in the $10 to $15 range... except for Captain Rex... I was able to pick him up for under eight bucks on COMC.

At this point... I'm going to call my Tek project complete.  I'd love to pick up the David Prowse, but his autograph is a little out of my price range.

Well that's it for now.

Anyone planning to see Rogue One in the theaters?

I've seen all seven theatrical releases... and although I'm no longer that guy who needs to see it on opening night, I'll definitely see it sometime next week.

Happy Thursday and may the force be with you!

Decisions... Decisions...

Have you ever walked into McDonald's and there's a guy in line who keeps letting people go in front of him, because he can't figure out what he wants?  That's me.  I'll go into McDonald's thinking I want a Filet-O-Fish and end up walking out with a Big Mac.  The same thing applies to sports cards, because that's who I am... Mr. Indecisive.

That's why if you ever check out my collection on my website... you'll see I collect a little bit of everything.  Vintage?  Yup.  Autographs?  I've got them too.  Sets?  You betcha.  I've got team PC's, player PC's, non-sport PC's, hometown PC's.  Heck... I even collect damaged cards.

Honestly... sometimes it's very challenging for me to decide which collection I want to spend my hard earned money on.  But last night, when P-town Tom asked us to write a post about our favorite 2016 card, it was one of the easier decisions I've had to make.

2016 Topps Strata Signature Patch cards are one of the coolest sets I've seen in recent years.  They're essentially Upper Deck Shadow Box knockoffs, which combine an on-card autograph and a swatch of game worn jersey encapsulated within multiple layers of acetate.  The end result gives off a three dimensional look that is truly gorgeous.

Back n August, I rolled the dice and purchased a redemption card off of eBay for the Rickey Henderson card.  I immediately turned around and redeemed it.  About a month later, I received this in the mail:

Isn't it awesome?  I was very happy with this purchase... even if it was pricier than 99% of my single card purchases.  In hindsight... I actually got a pretty good deal.  Recently collectors have had to pay over $125 for their copies.  However... I was fortunate enough to pick this card up for only $73.88 (+ $2.75 shipping).  But it's not really about the money... since this card won't be leaving my Rickey Henderson collection anytime soon.

Okay... it's your turn.

What's your favorite 2016 card?

If you're willing to write up a short post explaining your answer, you can enter a contest over on P-town Tom's blog.  Just leave a link in his comment section.

I look forward to reading everyone's responses.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Sports Card Karma

Yesterday... one of my leadership students and I were walking around the campus running errands when she slipped on an orange peel.  She sort of did the splits without actually hitting the ground and my immediate reaction was to laugh.  I know... I'm a terrible teacher.

Luckily... she has an excellent sense of humor and she started laughing too.  But after a few steps... I realized that I wasn't very compassionate, so I apologized and asked if she was okay.  She said she was... but that I couldn't get upset if she laughed at me for something in the future.  I told her we had a deal.

Fast forward twenty-four hours... and this afternoon I decided to bust the three boxes I purchased on Thursday.  In total, I spent $110 on the following boxes:  2013 Panini Hometown Heroes, 2014 Topps Pro Debut, and 2015 Topps Pro Debut.

The result was about thirty minutes of entertainment and a healthy reminder to stick to buying singles and avoid busting boxes.  I originally had planned on breaking down each of the boxes, but honestly I'd prefer to not be reminded of just how terrible these boxes were.

So I'll cut to the chase and show off my ten favorite cards from this break.

#1:  2015 Topps Pro Debut #1

Hands down... my favorite card out of the breaks.  It might not be a true rookie card, but it's still pretty cool and one of the few Bryants I own.


#2:  2014 Topps Debut Gold #90

There are only a handful of cards from these three boxes that ended up going into my personal collection.  This is one of them.  I have no idea who Almonte is... but it's serial numbered #50/50... so it has a place in my Prime #'s PC.


#3:  2013 Panini HH Curtain Call Gold #9

I will never complain about pulling an insert of Charlie Hustle and now that Selig is headed to Cooperstown... maybe Rose will soon follow.


#4:  2014 Topps Pro Debut #175 

I pulled three San Jose Giants out of the two Pro Debut boxes, but Derek Law is the one worth mentioning.  He was one of the few pitchers in the Giants' bullpen that shined during the season.


#5:  2013 Panini HH Hometown Signatures #HSMH

The on-card autographs are the main reason I picked up this box and I'm pretty happy to add The Human Rain Delay's signature to my collection.  If you're wondering how he got his nickname, watch this:

#6:  2015 Topps Pro Debut #100

Back to back solid postseasons for Schwarber.  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him play during the regular season next year.

#7:  2014 Topps Pro Debut Manufactured Hat Patch #MH-GP

I was really hoping to pull one of those mascot patches, but I can't complain too much.  At least I pulled a player I had heard of.

#8:  2015 Topps Pro Debut Pennant Patch #PP-JB

If I was a Altoona Curve fan, I would be one happy camper.  Two manufactured relics.  Two Altoona Curves.  Had to do a little research on Mr. Bell... but it looks like he hit a grand slam against the Cubs in his second MLB at bat.  Looking forward to seeing what this kid can do next season as well.

#9:  2014 Topps Debut #30

I think this might be my first Corey Seager card.  Another non-rookie card, but it's still a nice addition to my collection.

#10:  2013 Panini HH Hometown Signatures #HSTB/#HSOZ

Can't say I'm a huge fan of either of these guys... but I enjoy on-card autographs.  Pulled my second Panini expired redemption card this week.  Mr. Zakwin told me that they'll honor all redemption cards, so that's something to look forward to.  I'll keep you posted.

Well... there you have it.  These eleven cards were the cream of the crop from $110 worth of boxes.  Yeah... I know.  Kinda rough.  But that's karma for you.  If there's a lesson in today's post... it's don't laugh at someone when they slip the day before you're planning on busting boxes.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

A few weeks ago, Uncle Tiny reached out to me and asked if I could use this card.  Normally, I'd pass on it... since I'm not a huge fan of multiple player relic cards.  However... one look at Jarrod Parker's swatch changed my mind.

Thanks Uncle Tiny!  I'll ship out your holiday package next weekend when I'm finally on holiday break.