Flea Market Finds #165: Two Months & Four Trips Pt. 1

Just like my stacks of unsorted cards and care packages sitting on my desk in the office... my flea market posts have begun to pile up.  Considering they're usually the most popular posts on this blog... I hate the idea of combining them.  However I'm at the point where I don't see any other option.

This is a partial recap of my past four trips.  Two of them were at the De Anza Flea Market on 9/7 and 10/5.  The other two were quick trips to the nearby Branham Flea Market on 9/21 and 10/19.

Since recapping multiple trips isn't the norm, I figured I'd do something differently and utilize a countdown format where I rank them based on my excitement and overall value of each purchase.  Without spoiling too much, the #1 item is easily my favorite purchase of the year.  Unfortunately... I won't be revealing that purchase today.

In an effort to keep posts at a reasonable length, I'm going to break these four trips down into three posts:

Part #1:  #22 to #14

Part #2:  #13 to #6

Part #3:  #5 to #1

Let's get the ball rolling...

#22:  A Cringy Cassingle  25¢

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

Informer by Snow (1992)

This vendor had a box of cassette singles for a quarter each.  I was hoping to find at least one song I really liked, but came up short.  However for the price, I grabbed this single from the early 90's, because it a memorable.

One day I'm going to buy one of those Ikea display cases and fill it up with nostalgic pieces from my youth.  This one can go on the 90's shelf next to some pogs, Pokemon cards, Kenner SLUs, and one of my mom's Beanie Babies.

#21:  PS4 Video Game  $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

Injustice2 (2018)

Although I don't regret this purchase... I'm not excited about it either.  It's a fighting game (like Street Fighter) which is a genre I have little interest in.  That being said... I do enjoy collecting video games... especially if they are brand new and the price is right.

#20:  Oakland Raiders Binder $10

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

Picked up this binder for a few of my 4th period students who are diehard Raiders fans.

The only card I pulled out was this kicker:

2009 Score Inscriptions #217

One of my friends is a Raiders fan.  She named her son after this guy, so whenever I get Janikowski cards... they go to him.

#19:  Another Cassette Single $1

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

This Used To Be My Playground by Madonna (1992)

Two weeks after I purchased my first cassette single in decades... I added another one.  At least this one is related to baseball.

#18:  A Banned Book  $2

Flea Market:  De Anza on October 5th

And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss

I'm a sucker for controversy.  That's why I enjoy collecting cards featuring the middle finger or the F-word written on the end of the bat.

It's also why I picked up this book which was pulled from publication back in 2021 for this image:

As an Asian male who has spent his entire life dealing with Asian stereotypes... I am not offended by this picture at all.  But it's not my place to tell others how they should or shouldn't feel when they see an image like this.

#17:  An Informers Autograph  $20

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

I'm sure some of you were wondering if there were going to be any baseball card purchases.  Well here you go:

2024 Topps Archives Signature Series

1999 Topps Traded #T83

Not much to get excited about... considering it's Jose Canseco.  But the fact that he's with the Rays is what caught my eye.  I don't have a lot of his cards from his Tampa Bay days and I actually like the well-cropped action shot used on this card.

Canseco signs a lot at local card shows, so there's no shortage of his autographs around here.  But this purchase was about half the price he normally charges... plus I didn't have to wait in line.

#16:  A Premature Purchase  $5

Flea Market:  De Anza on September 7th

The guy who sold me the Canseco, also had these two Shota Imanaga rookie cards:

2024 Topps Chrome #121

2024 Finest #45 (Common)

Worst deal of the post?  Probably.  I'm pretty sure both of these cards are sitting in dollar boxes (possibly quarter bins) at card shows all over the country.  If not, they're definitely cheaper on COMC.

I should have been patient... but in the moment I was stoked to add my first cards of the 31 year old MLB rookie.

#15:  A Small Card Collection  $30

Flea Market:  Branham on September 21st

This purchase delayed this Flea Market Find post.

It took me over a week to sit down, sort, and figure out what I had actually purchased.  I'm not exactly an expert on either sport, but here are some of the cards that stood out to me:

UFC Cards

Soccer Cards

I love shiny cards... and that's really what attracted me to these boxes.  Plus I have been looking to add some singles of Messi to the collection.

#14:  A Deck of Cards $1

Flea Market:  Branham on October 19th

1999 U.S. Playing Cards Major League All-Stars

One vendor's deck of cards is another man's set of cards.

This deck wasn't new, but I needed that McGwire/Canseco card for the collection.  I ended up adding seven other cards into my collection as well.  The rest will be tossed into care packages eventually. 

Most of the people who read this blog are baseball fans... so this is a good spot to stop.  Stay tuned for Part 2.  It should be published in two days.

Until then... feel free to share your thoughts or opinions on any of these purchases... or this "countdown" format down below in the comments.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Box Busting Bonanza

When it rains, it pours.  That's the best way to describe my recent box busting experience.  Earlier in the season, I picked up three 2024 Topps super boxes.  You know... the ones that have a bunch of packs and an oversized box topper.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's what they look like:

2024 Topps Super Box Series 1 ($39.99 @ Fanatics)

2024 Topps Super Box Series 2 ($37.74 @ Target)

2024 Topps The Flagship Collection ($33.99 @ Costco)

I've been sitting on these (along with two from 2023) for months.  Just waiting for the right time to open them.  Well... my buddy gave me a 660ct. box filled with 2024 Topps Series 1 and 2 duplicates, so I decided to pop these open and build myself a flagship set.

Collation must suck this year, because I still fell sixty-two cards short:

Update:  Dennis has offered to help and has over half of the cards I need.  Johnny came in after him and crossed off eleven more set needs.  Here's what I still need:

1, 13, 27, 30, 44, 82, 138, 202, 229, 278, 298, 309, 327, 360, 440, 472, 571, and 642.

Part of the issue is there are two or three inserts or parallels in every pack.  I love inserts and parallels, but I miss the days when you pulled two or three in the entire box.

Anyways, here's a look at five cool pulls from my boxes:

#1:  A Short Printed Rookie

2024 Topps #700

The only reason I caught this card was because the set build required me to sort the cards.  And when I did... I noticed two #700's and two different players:  Wyatt Langford & Jose Altuve.

Outside of a handful of guys, I haven't really keep tabs on rookies this season.  Had I heard of Langford?  Yeah.  But I couldn't tell you if he was having a solid year or not.  Overall... it seems like he had a decent year, but not good enough to earn AL ROY considerations.

I've already handed this card over to my buddy who hooked me up with his 2024 Topps duplicates in hopes of putting it towards the Jackson Merrill short printed rookie card.

#2:  My Very First Elly

2024 Topps Flagship Collection Box Topper #OTCSP-1

This was a really nice surprise.  This is the first Elly De La Cruz card I have ever owned and it's a short print.

These box toppers are a pain in the butt to store, but I ran out and bought a package of 6x9 top loaders just for this one.

#3:  The 1st Female Full-Time Coach in MLB History

2024 Topps Women in Baseball #WIB-4

I have wanted this Alyssa Nakken card since the first time I saw it on one of your blogs.  Now that I have this card out of the way, I'm planning on picking up the other four cards in the set.

#4:  Obligatory Oakland Athletic

2024 Topps Black Foil #599

Nick Allen may or may not be in the MLB two years from now, but regardless he can tell his grandchildren he had a nice looking 2024 Topps flagship card.

#5:  Needle in a Haystack

2024 Topps Chrome Stars of the MLB #CSMLB-20

Holy cow.  Topps flooded the hobby and my boxes with these inserts.  However, I actually really like the look of this Soto.  The Padres City Connect colors are perfectly paired with this design.  This particular one is of the (rarer, but not really rare) "Chrome" variety... so the refractor technology takes this card to the next level.

Well that's it for today.  Sorry I haven't been publishing posts the past two weeks.  It's been a little hectic around here.  Obviously... I had a chance to open up some boxes.  Just didn't have enough time to write about them until now.

That being said... I will be publishing several Flea Market Finds posts over the next two weeks... using a slightly different format in an effort to help me catch up with those posts as well.  Please stay tuned.

And I know I'm several months late to the flagship set building party, but if you need singles, shoot me an email.  Maybe we can help each other out.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Hits A Little Differently

As a collector who entered the sports card collecting hobby in the early 80's... I'm getting to the age where guys I pulled out of packs of cards are starting to get up there in age.  Unfortunately... it means that every now and then I hear the sad news about an athlete from my childhood passing away.

Last week was a rough one as two guys I admire for the contributions they made on the field/court died on the same day.

Monday afternoon I saw the news about Pete Rose pop up on ESPN.  Although I really only got a chance to see him play towards the end of his playing career, it was when he was chasing and breaking Cobb's all-time hits record.

1986 Leaf #260

He wasn't only the MLB Hit King... he was also one of the most popular athletes in our hobby.  I didn't really have my fingers on the hobby pulse back then, but the card collecting kids in my neighborhood sought his cards.

When he broke the Cobb's record at the end of the 1985 season, I only owned a handful of his cards.  Most notably... this one:

1982 Fleer #640

This card has stood out to me since 1982.  Back then, I just thought it was a cool father-son photo.  Later on this card took on a different vibe as there was a chance that Pete Jr. might end up having an MLB career himself.

Here's another 80's card of Rose that I really like:

1986 Fleer Future Hall of Famer #1

I never pulled a copy myself from a pack, but I did eventually add the complete set of six cards to my collection.  Out of the six guys on the checklist, five of them were first ballot hall of famers.  Part of this card's allure is Fleer all but guaranteeing collectors that Rose would be inducted one day.

I'll wrap up the Charlie Hustle portion of this post with five cool cards of him sitting in the collection:

Let's start off with an oldie, but goodie...

1970 Kellogg's #2

Outside of the cards sitting in my Topps sets, I only own a handful of vintage Pete Rose cards.  This one is my favorite.  I absolutely love the 1970 Kellogg's design.

Pete Rose's signature will never be considered rare.  He's right up there with Bob Feller in regards to baseball players with the most autographs floating around out there.  But that's not a bad thing.  It means you add his signature to your collection without breaking the bank.

Five years ago, I added this card to my collection for $21 ($17.50 + $3.50 shipping):

1982 Donruss #1

A few months earlier, I added this autograph to my collection:

1969 Topps #424

This card has some sentimental value to me, because it was purchased right after my mom passed away.  

Not sure how deep I covered it, but I was devastated emotionally at the time.  She was one of my best friends and was the main person who got me into the hobby.  Ironically... the hobby helped me deal with her death.

I know most of you aren't fans of slabbed cards, so let's wrap things up and transition back to 80's oddballs...

1986 Meadow Gold Milk Carton

I don't remember seeing these back in the 80's, but I did find this milk carton at a card show a few years ago for two bucks:

I'm such a sucker for food issue cards.  By the way... does anyone else kinda see Tom Brady in the Rose caricature on that milk carton?

Rounding out the Roses is this color matched box bottom:

1986 Topps Box Bottom #N

It's not quite as cool as Night Owl's O-Pee-Chee version, but it's pretty darn cool.

Rest in peace Mr. Rose!  I'll always admire how you played the game.  You remind me of my father... who always believed in giving his employers his best effort.  And like my mother, you definitely played a role in me becoming a card collector.  Thank you for that.

Eight hours before I heard about Pete, I heard about Dikembe Mutombo.  This one hit me a little differently, because he's only six years older than me. 

1991-92 Upper Deck #3

When he was a twenty-five year old rookie for the Denver Nuggets, I was a nineteen year old college student opening packs of 1991-92 Upper Deck basketball in hopes of pulling his slick looking rookie card.  Not having any prior knowledge of his brain tumor, the news of him passing away wasn't only sad... it was shocking. 

Rest in peace Mr. Mutombo!  I'm so happy that you played during the peak of my NBA fandom.  You will forever be remembered for blocking shots... and wagging your finger.

That's it for today.  Gonna try and hammer out a post highlighting my past three trips to the flea market before following the Seahawks, Packers, and Padres a little later in the afternoon.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!