Getting Back Into My Flea Market Groove

A few years back, I had been in a nice rhythm.  We were stopping at local flea markets pretty much every weekend, which was a great way to bolster the collection.  But since buying the house and moving closer to the city, weekends have been eaten up by yard work, house projects, and seeing friends.  I think we went to two flea markets last year, which was a total that we would occasionally match in a weekend in previous years. 

But as I've hopped back into collecting, I realized I'm woefully behind on 2016 and 2017 releases.  And there's no better place to fill in team sets than an indoor flea market about 25 minutes away.  It's an movie theater that opened in the early 2000's that closed a few years later and then was turned into a flea market.  In the summer, they have vendors set up in the back parking lot.  But year round, there are permanent stands in the atrium, hallways, and what used to be the theaters.  And there's a card guy there that can always be relied on to have some Pirates, Steelers, and Penguin dime boxes that have cards from recent releases.

 

And this trip was no exception.  McCutchen cards have always been hard to come by, so it's always a plus to knock some of those off my list.

 

I posted a custom rendition of these 1989 Very Fine Juice cards earlier in the month.  But I found a couple of the real deals in the boxes, which I'll hopefully be able to get signed at some point.

 While the dime boxes are mostly base cards, I occasionally come across some low end inserts and parallels.  Nothing earth shattering, but a nice surprise.  As Bowman has cranked up the print run and checklist, refractors have gone from cards I absolutely love to a real pain.  They're tough to find at shows in this area, but too darn common to justify spending $.50-.60 per card on COMC.

In past years, the flea market was where I would go to find the cards I didn't pull in a group break or fill in team sets.  This time, it was where I went to figure out what the heck was released over the last year.  I'm always a fan of Archives, but it's nice to see the '92 design getting some love.  It's an underrated design in that middle era where production was still relatively high but inserts and parallels were starting to gain the hobby's focus.

I was able to figure out what set most of the cards were from pretty easily, since Topps isn't known for their creativity in the design or naming department these days.  But this one threw me for a loop.  I at first figures it might be from Leaf or a similar offshoot.  I was a little surprised to see a Panini logo on the back when I got home.  I've been a big fan of Panini's releases since they jumped back into baseball a few years back.  But this design just looks amateur and uninspired to me.  I found the three common base cards as well as a blue parallel of Gerrit Cole, but it looks like there are some serial numbered rookies I still need to track down.

I was a little pressed for time, but I couldn't resist grabbing a few Steelers and Pens cards as well.

My haul wasn't as large as I might have expected, but I was still about to find about 80 new cards.  I buy from the dealer pretty regularly, and I'm probably the only customer his dime box gets so he always knocks a few bucks off.  So I could have been out the door at a cool $4.  

...but what fun would that be?

 

I was browsing some of his other stuff.  He usually has a decent collection of bobbleheads and other SGA's.  Most of them I have, but every once in a while I find a gem.  Or in this case...a bear.

You can't see it in the photo, but underneath the arm tag is a Jack Wilson signature.  And that was enough for me to make what might be one of my oddest purchases to date.  To I'd like to introduce you to Jack, who is apparently a Build a Bear that was put together in 2005 for what was probably a lot more than the $10 I paid for it.  The bear was still in its carrying box, and didn't look like it had been loved, displayed, or any of the other things you would expect to do with a really freaking expensive teddy bear since 2005.

I have a hunch that the bear might have been signed because Jack Wilson was signing autographs at the Build a Bear store, but I couldn't find any news articles online to back that up.  Either way, I now need to figure out what to do with a large stuffed bear wearing a Pirates uniform.  The struggles of being a player collector, I suppose.

It was a lot of fun getting back to uncovering some hidden gems at the flea market.  I'm excited for the weather to start to warm up and to make it a more regular outing again this summer.

Group Break Goodies

(completely free and clear of Miley Cyrus references)

With what I posted earlier today, I would have been perfectly content if I walked away with just those hits for the $30 I spent on the break.  After all, group breaks are often a losing proposition.  To come away with not one but two autos?  Not a bad day.

But the cardboard gods smiled favorably upon me.  Things were just getting started.

This was card actually hit in the last box, but it's by far my favorite from the break.  I've had a bit of a cardboard crush on the wood minis since they were introduced in 2006 A&G.  Thing is that I've never been willing to shell out what the 1/1 would cost.  The Wood minis in Gypsy Queen are /5, so not quite the same pizazz as a 1/1.  But I'll gladly take it.  Russell Martin was by far one of my favorite Pirates this past season, so I couldn't ask for much more.

I already had the plain mini and black, so I may need to track down the green mini /50 to complete the mini rainbow.

Oddly enough while the break was very top heavy for me, there wasn't much in the way of lower end hits.  

I only added about a dozen new base cards, since I already had complete team sets from Gypsy Queen and only needed one common from Archives.  And aside from the Martin above, I was totally shut out on minis.  

Archives has quite a few Pirate inserts I'm missing.  I hit a pair of cards I needed, but they weren't any of the tougher ones.  Still, they're welcomed additions.


Really Topps?  You guys couldn't spend an extra 5 minutes in the archives to find a second photo of Parker to use?  Just.  Stay.  Positive.

The two boxes of Bowman Chrome we broke were largely disappointing.  With the insane number of refractor levels they've added to the product, I would have expected more hits.  But our boxes held just a couple of base refractors, a rookie reprint card, and one or two Cream of the Crop minis.  No fun and exciting color, leading me to assume Topps has cranked up the presses yet again this year.

Oh, but there was sooooome color to the box.

Boom.

I've long professed my love of gold refractor Pirate cards on this blog.  But gold refractor autos always fall above what I'm willing to pay, with even some of the most flamed out ex-prospects selling in the $10-15 range.

But Glasnow is no flamed out prospect.  He won the Pirates Minor League Pitcher of the Year award this past year, dropping an astounding 2.18 era with a 13.1 k/9 ration in low A at the tender age of 19.

It's tempting to sell, with completed auctions in the $100+ range.  But this card is just so nice.  I've always shied away from prospects (until they hit the bargain bin, that is), but Gladnow looks like he may be the real deal.  A 5th round pick, his 6'7 frame has the makings of a power pitcher.  Obviously he's still a long way from ever pitching an inning in a non-airbrushed black and gold uni.  But that is one niiiiice piece of cardboard.

Maybe I should keep on this group break kick.  Or buy a lottery ticket.  Luck seems to have turned in my favor lately.