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Cardboard Road Trip
Last Friday night, my buddy and I decided to embark on a spur-of-the-moment road trip down to Southern California to check out a few flea markets, thrift stores, a card shop, an antique store, and of course the Frank & Son Collectible Show.
We set out on our journey a little after 4am (Saturday) and arrived at the Frank & Son Collectible Show a few minutes before 10am. There were tons of people already there and parking was insane. If you're not familiar with the show, it's been around since 1988 and is currently in a large warehouse where vendors purchase booths. The majority of the vendors sell either toys or CCG cards, but there are a handful of guys with sports memorabilia.
Unfortunately, I didn't purchase any sports cards while I was there. However... I was excited to add these two bobbleheads to my collection:
2002 SGA Hideo Nomo
2011 SGA Fernando Valenzuela
I've been wanting to add a Nomobobble to my collection for awhile now and being in Southern California, there were plenty to choose from. I ended up going back to the vendor who seemed the most flexible on his prices. After a few minutes of wheelin' and dealin'... I walked away with both of these bobbles for $30.
After the show, we headed to the Mission Tiki Swap Meet in Montclair, California. Most of the vendors carried cheap, new items and there was very little sports memorabilia available. We ended up walking away empty handed.
That afternoon we checked into our hotel and started searching for something to do. We ended up going to three different thrift stores, A & N Sports Cards(in San Dimas), and an antique store. We completely struck out at the thrift stores and the card shop's prices were insane! They wanted $135 for a box of 2014 Stadium Club baseball. That's nearly 3x higher than online prices.
On our way back to the hotel we stumbled across the Coin Depot in Old Town La Verne. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend dropping by this place. The guy who helped me was very nice and he seemed to know his stuff. Their inventory mainly consisted of coins (hence the name), but it also had antique toys, war memorabilia, and of course sports cards.
I ended up grabbing these seven cards for $20:
1975 Topps Mini #335
1970 Topps #370
1967 Topps #475
1960 Topps #23
1959 Topps #1
1959 Topps #212
1959 Topps #260
The next morning, we woke up and drove over to the Foothill Swap Meet in Glendora. This flea market was a huge upgrade from the one we went to on Saturday. There were a handful of guys who had sports cards (including vintage stuff), but I didn't end up buying anything except an Aladdin DVD for my friend and a bag of pistachios.
We started to make our way back home and stopped of at the Saugus Swap Meet. This flea market was loaded with collectibles. Unfortunately most of the stuff was priced way too high. However, I was able to walk away with two purchases.
I picked up these three boxes for $20. When I skimmed through it I noticed a handful of 90's inserts and 80's rookie cards. I figured for the price, it was worth the $20 in entertainment value alone. As soon as I actually sift through them, I'll write up a post with some of the goodies.
The only other purchase I made came off of a guy's dollar table. If you bought five items, he threw in two for free. Here's what I ended up grabbing:
Overall, I was a little disappointed that I didn't come home with more treasures. But as with most road trips, it was a lot of fun.
From start to finish, we travelled 768 miles in a 39 hour window. Thanks to affordable gas prices, we spent less than $40 each on gas and even less for the hotel. Had we planned things out better, we would have gone to the San Jose Sharksvs.Los Angeles Kingsgame, but we're already planning our next road trip and next time it'll involve at least one sporting event.
Happy Monday and sayonara!
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We set out on our journey a little after 4am (Saturday) and arrived at the Frank & Son Collectible Show a few minutes before 10am. There were tons of people already there and parking was insane. If you're not familiar with the show, it's been around since 1988 and is currently in a large warehouse where vendors purchase booths. The majority of the vendors sell either toys or CCG cards, but there are a handful of guys with sports memorabilia.
Unfortunately, I didn't purchase any sports cards while I was there. However... I was excited to add these two bobbleheads to my collection:
2002 SGA Hideo Nomo
2011 SGA Fernando Valenzuela
I've been wanting to add a Nomobobble to my collection for awhile now and being in Southern California, there were plenty to choose from. I ended up going back to the vendor who seemed the most flexible on his prices. After a few minutes of wheelin' and dealin'... I walked away with both of these bobbles for $30.
After the show, we headed to the Mission Tiki Swap Meet in Montclair, California. Most of the vendors carried cheap, new items and there was very little sports memorabilia available. We ended up walking away empty handed.
That afternoon we checked into our hotel and started searching for something to do. We ended up going to three different thrift stores, A & N Sports Cards(in San Dimas), and an antique store. We completely struck out at the thrift stores and the card shop's prices were insane! They wanted $135 for a box of 2014 Stadium Club baseball. That's nearly 3x higher than online prices.
On our way back to the hotel we stumbled across the Coin Depot in Old Town La Verne. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend dropping by this place. The guy who helped me was very nice and he seemed to know his stuff. Their inventory mainly consisted of coins (hence the name), but it also had antique toys, war memorabilia, and of course sports cards.
I ended up grabbing these seven cards for $20:
1975 Topps Mini #335
1970 Topps #370
1967 Topps #475
1960 Topps #23
1959 Topps #1
1959 Topps #212
1959 Topps #260
The next morning, we woke up and drove over to the Foothill Swap Meet in Glendora. This flea market was a huge upgrade from the one we went to on Saturday. There were a handful of guys who had sports cards (including vintage stuff), but I didn't end up buying anything except an Aladdin DVD for my friend and a bag of pistachios.
We started to make our way back home and stopped of at the Saugus Swap Meet. This flea market was loaded with collectibles. Unfortunately most of the stuff was priced way too high. However, I was able to walk away with two purchases.
I picked up these three boxes for $20. When I skimmed through it I noticed a handful of 90's inserts and 80's rookie cards. I figured for the price, it was worth the $20 in entertainment value alone. As soon as I actually sift through them, I'll write up a post with some of the goodies.
The only other purchase I made came off of a guy's dollar table. If you bought five items, he threw in two for free. Here's what I ended up grabbing:
Overall, I was a little disappointed that I didn't come home with more treasures. But as with most road trips, it was a lot of fun.
From start to finish, we travelled 768 miles in a 39 hour window. Thanks to affordable gas prices, we spent less than $40 each on gas and even less for the hotel. Had we planned things out better, we would have gone to the San Jose Sharksvs.Los Angeles Kingsgame, but we're already planning our next road trip and next time it'll involve at least one sporting event.
When you go on trips, do you usually check out the local card shops, flea markets, and thrift stores? Do you try to attend sporting events?
Happy Monday and sayonara!
More...
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