Flea markets, antique stores, Goodwill, etc..

[jchcollins]

In NC, the antique malls and flea markets are scant compared to the northeast, but they exist. My general experience is few vintage baseball cards, and when they do appear most are horribly overpriced. Beat up 1953 Topps commons for $50 a pop. I do have one down the road from me that had some fairly priced vintage graded, but it was a very small selection. I picked up nice PSA 7's of Clemente and Willie Stargell. In another section of the same store, there is a single dusty pack of 1994 Topps that they want $15 for.

[CobbSpikedMe]

I love going to antique malls and flea markets (but haven't been to them nearly as often as before my wife and I had kids) and the only cool baseball item I found was this Pedro Ramos cigar box. It didn't fit my collection so I offered it on the BST for the asking price plus shipping and found a collector who wanted it. Then I got messages from others that were pissed that I let it go so cheap and that they would've paid much more for it. I don't know what I could have gotten for it or what it's actually worth. I just wanted to help out a collector, not make a profit.


.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by CobbSpikedMe

I love going to antique malls and flea markets (but haven't been to them nearly as often as before my wife and I had kids) and the only cool baseball item I found was this Pedro Ramos cigar box. It didn't fit my collection so I offered it on the BST for the asking price plus shipping and found a collector who wanted it. Then I got messages from others that were pissed that I let it go so cheap and that they would've paid much more for it. I don't know what I could have gotten for it or what it's actually worth. I just wanted to help out a collector, not make a profit.


.

Now that is a cool oddball item.

I have found a lot of cool oddball stuff but nothing baseball. The only sports item any good was a Dr J autographed picture.

[ValKehl]

Back in the 1990's before eBay, my wife and I would regularly set up at the monthly Civitan Flea Market at Arlington, VA, to sell stuff we picked up at yard sales, garage sales, church sales, etc. In the afternoon when things slowed down, we would take turns checking out what the other flea market dealers had for sale. One time, a dealer had a few 1950's baseball cards on his table, including a very scarce 1953-54 Briggs Meats Mickey Mantle card that he did not realize was a baseball card - his price sticker read "$50.00 As Is, Not a Card" (see card below on right). He was most happy to quickly accept my $20 offer for it. Some years later, I got it slabbed by SGC and traded it for about $2,000 in cards I needed. Subsequently, in May 2011, Mile High sold it for $1,549, and in December 2011, Goodwin sold it for $2,160.

[dwr11]

I have had numerous great finds through the years as I grew up going to auction sales, garage sales, flea markets and antique shows. I picked up this Clemente button which is extremely tough to locate a couple of years ago for $20.00 at a show and sold it on eBay to a member of this forum for $700.00 - $800.00. I can't remember for sure. I also picked up at a small show a massive hoard of original snapshot photos. There are a couple thousand at least. I have sold off a small amount but still have many left. An example of some I still have. This happened a number of years ago but I was at an Antique show in Superior, WI. A dealer had some rusty 1964 Topps coins and he wanted way to much for them. I saw one 1955 Armour coin in the bag and it turned out to be a 1955 Armour Mickey Mantle (correct spelling) coin. I asked how much and the dealer said "for the plastic one" 50 cents. I ended up selling it to Mr. Mint at one of the old State Fairgrounds shows in the cities for $200.00 if I remember correctly.

[1966CUDA]

Picked up a Nolan Ryan rookie at a flea market for $125..it graded out PSA 8.. That's my best antique/flea market find I think. I did buy a misc. lot on Ebay that had a Jerry Rice rookie that graded PSA 10... That was the best Ebay find.

Total Items: 43
Date Received: 5/7/2013
Date Shipped: 5/22/2013

Line # Item # Cert # Grade Description Type

36 1 21467184 GEM MINT 10 1986 Topps 161 Jerry Rice Card

Got these this past June during the Rt 301 Yard Sale In NC paid $5.00 for each

[wdwfan]

I travel quite a bit around my area (probably about 200 miles each day), and I try and stop whenever I see a flea market/antique store. But most of the time I see old dishes and 1990 Donruss baseball. Found one just this week that had an 800 count box of 1990 Donruss. Guy was asking $30 for it. I simply told him I'd pass.

No such luck for finding rare hits like you guys.

[Jayjones82]

Maybe 15 or so years ago, I won a small lot of old baseball-related books in a local auction (I don't remember the books having any real value at the time; they were just cool). They sat untouched in a closet for several months before I decided to thumb through them. Found a 1908 Cubs/Tigers (I think that was the year) World Series ticket stub in one. Had it graded by PSA and sold it for something like $1,800 on the bay. I paid $25 for the lot.

[Directly]

I once owned a sports card shop directly across the street from an Antique Mall. One day I went to the Mall and began my browsing, the first booth located to the very right when one walked inside, sat an old antique wood dresser with its very top drawer opened. I peeked inside and saw a small stack of say ten old Cabinet photos. One happened to be a baseball team photo of nine players, the Cabinet photo wasn't priced so I walk over to the proprietor, and left as the new owner.

A year later or so I'm looking through the old version THE OFFICIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA of BASEBALL page 392 there it shows Ted Sullivan organizing the Northwestern League consisting of his baseball team in Dubuque Iowa. Thinking back I thought the Cabinet photo I purchased earlier was stamped DUBUQUE.

It took me a couple months or so to find the photo. After searching awhile I thought may be it got thrown away or something? When I did finally find it, yes it's stamped DUBUQUE, hence started my quest and research. The St Louis Antique dealer had already left the Mall---I am compiling my revised evidence for SABR (wish I had bought all the other family photos in the stack, some may have belonged to the baseball photo history?)---- until cheers!

[71buc]

Originally Posted by dwr11

I have had numerous great finds through the years as I grew up going to auction sales, garage sales, flea markets and antique shows. I picked up this Clemente button which is extremely tough to locate a couple of years ago for $20.00 at a show and sold it on eBay to a member of this forum for $700.00 - $800.00. I can't remember for sure. I also picked up at a small show a massive hoard of original snapshot photos. There are a couple thousand at least. I have sold off a small amount but still have many left. An example of some I still have. This happened a number of years ago but I was at an Antique show in Superior, WI. A dealer had some rusty 1964 Topps coins and he wanted way to much for them. I saw one 1955 Armour coin in the bag and it turned out to be a 1955 Armour Mickey Mantle (correct spelling) coin. I asked how much and the dealer said "for the plastic one" 50 cents. I ended up selling it to Mr. Mint at one of the old State Fairgrounds shows in the cities for $200.00 if I remember correctly.

I believe I actually paid you only 30X your original investment for that pin and would do so again. I have only two such finds. One was a large group of autographs that included Koufax, Drysdale, Maris, Paige and many others. I paid $10 for each autograph. The other was six boxes of unopened 1976 Topps Basketball cards. I paid $20 a box and sold them quite a bit more. That was an awesome experience.

[62corvette]

My wife went into a used book store while I sat in the car with the sleeping baby. She came out 10 minutes later with a gift for me: “Head, Hands, and Heart” by Knute Rockne. It wasn’t until months later that I noticed the flyleaf was autographed by him. We did okay on that one.
Also, at an automotive swap meet last year, I saw a vintage Rawlings box with an unused softball in it. Got it for $3, and then realized it was autographed by the old Packer’s coach Lisle Blackbourn.