My best friend describes me as a delicate flower that wilts with the heat. Although I don't appreciate her choice of words, she's not wrong. I hate hot weather and right now we're in the midst of an extended heat wave.
Luckily... it cools off at night and the temperatures are within my comfort zone until around 8am. So on Saturday, I hopped in my car and walked around the De Anza Flea Market.
I wasn't expecting large crowds due to the holiday weekend and the heat, but I was wrong. There were tons of people and vendors. The more the merrier, I guess. Right off the bat, I found people with cards.
Purchase #1: Three's Company Packs $10
Most of it was the usual overpriced Junk Wax Era stuff, but then I came across a guy with this small bag of packs:
He wanted $2 per pack, so I offered him $10 for the lot and he accepted. Unfortunately when I got home, I discovered the Jaws 2 and Mork & Mindy packs were already opened.
The three Three's Company packs appeared to be sealed... but they could have been opened and resealed. The good news is my buddy is building the 1978 Topps Mork & Mindy set, so hopefully I'll be able to help him out.
Purchase #2: Vintage Comic Books $2
Blondie #198 (May 1972)
Beetle Bailey #106 (July 1974)
Like dime boxes at card shows, I have a hard time walking away from dollar comic boxes at flea markets. This guy had three short boxes filled with stuff from the 90's, but there was a small section of older issues. These two were in really nice condition, so I grabbed them.
Purchase #3: 1982 Kellogg's Lot $6
About halfway into the flea market, I came across a vendor with this display case:
The best way to describe this photo is eye candy. I was super excited to see singles for my 1982 Kellogg's set build.
I found these nine cards in his dollar stack:
I'm too much of a bargain hunter to spend a buck on commons from this set, but he told me beforehand that he'd work with me on the price.
Now I'm down to only needing seven hall of famers and the MLB Hit King:
The vendor actually had a few of these hall of famers, but not ready to dish out $3 each for guys like Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, and Jim Palmer.
Purchase #4: Very Cool Jersey Card $10
Jersey cards are one of those things in the hobby where you either are into them or you're not. I used to love them, but over the years they've started to lose their luster.
1997 Press Pass Game-Used Jersey #JC-1
However... this one isn't your average memorabilia card. It's one of those old school ones. 1996 was the first year companies started slicing up jerseys and embedding the swatches into cards. So the concept was still fresh.
This was also from an era where memorabilia cards were still tough to pull. Beckett lists the odds of pulling one of these jersey cards at 1:612 packs. That's why I couldn't reach for my money any faster when the vendor told me it was ten bucks.
Purchase #5: Star Wars Stuff $17
The next purchase came from a vendor with bunch of Star Wars and Star Trek collectibles. She had a table with a 50% off sign. I was tempted to buy a bunch of things, but I settled on these two items.
First up was this opened box of 1993 Topps Star Wars Galaxy with a $15 price tag:
There weren't any inserts, but the box did contain a complete set... along with a solid starter set.
Next up was this box set of trade paper backs of the original trilogy:
1996 Dark Horse Classic Star Wars TPB Box Set
This was a brand new box set, but the cellophane was starting to tear, so I ripped it off. Here's a look at the covers of each of the comics inside of the box:
I've been wanting to read the Star Wars Marvel comics from the 70's and 80's. This doesn't contain every issue, but they do cover the stuff from the movies.
The box set had a $20 price tag, which meant she was only charging $10. She told me I could have the cards and the comics for $17, because she didn't want to deal with change.
Purchase #6: The Trader Speaks Lot $2
I came across a guy in the second row with a small stack of The Trader Speaks issues. If you're not familiar with them, they were a hobby publication printed from the late 60's to the early 80's.
The bulk of each issue are want ads, advertisements, and auction listings. Honestly, they don't pack the same level of high interest reading fodder as past issues of Beckett or Tuff Stuff. That's why I passed on them the first time around.
But later, I went back and pulled these two:
The Trader Speaks (December 1974)
The Trader Speaks (July 1978)
At a buck a piece, they're nice additions to my Oakland A's and San Diego Padres PC's.
Normally, I'd go and walk around one more time in case I missed something. However by the time I was done with the final purchase, it was already starting to heat up.
There's another flea market in two weeks. Hopefully the heat wave will have ended by then.
How's the weather in your neck of the woods?
My buddy in Atlanta says he's dealing with high temperatures and high humidity. That is not a good combination. My other friend in Oregon says it's been insanely hot up in the Pacific Northwest too.
Hope things are cooler wherever you are reading this post. Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
