Flea Market Finds

I am jealous of the bloggers who seem to score great cards and memorabilia for reasonable prices.  When I was younger and living in Northern CA there was a flea market in Roseville that I attended quite a few times.  There was an actual card dealer that set up there that had some reasonable prices and I always picked up a few odds and ends.

When I was young, I think around 10-12, I went to a flea market in Oakhurst CA with my grandparents and I remember stumbling across a box of vintage goodness.  I believe it was a box with 3 rows of cards if memory serves me correctly.  I remember picking up a handful of cards and thumbing through them and being amazed.  I believe there was a 1961 Roger Maris and a second year Johnny Bench in that stack. I asked how much the cards were and the seller indicated the entire box had to go together for $100.  I begged my grandparents and said it could count for the next 2 Christmases and Birthdays but they were not prepared to spend that much on my hobby.  I just wonder what goodies I would have found if I had gotten that entire box.

Today the family and I decided to attend the Ventura Flea Market at the fairgrounds in Ventura, CA.  It is a great location, right along the beach.  The weather was sunny and windy today and I was hopefully I would find some stuff for my collection.  While my wife found a few antique decorating things for the house and my kids each got a few little things to play around with, I departed with only 1 item:

This my friends is a factory set of 1991 Ultra baseball.  I picked it up for $10. It isn't my favorite set but it is one that I did not have.  I figured it would be tough to beat this price on line if only due to the shipping costs. Looking in Beckett, I am not sure Fleer produced factory sets so I will probably crack this and see if all the cards are in it.

I saw a few other things as I wandered around - mostly packs from the late 80s and early 90s for a buck a piece.  I almost picked up 2 football traded sets from 1989 and 1990 Topps for $5 each but I really wasn't too excited about them.  The craziest thing I saw was a guy selling packs of 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes for $15/pack. He indicated that they had autograph cards in them. Well that set did but the odds were not good.

Nothing epic for sure but it was nice being out in the sun and ocean air digging for treasures. Next stop might have to be the Rose Bowl flea market to see if I can get luckier.