So goes the flea market

The flea market was once a cardboard haven for me, a place I could go week after week to see all my favorite vendors hock all their fantastic cards.

Sadly, I haven't felt as close to the flea market in recent years. The pandemic obviously has a lot to do with that, but even in the before times, the flea market seemed to be becoming more of a rare treat than a consistent pleasure. I don't have the time I once did. I don't have the energy I once did. I work Sundays now, and though I could conceivably get up early enough to squeeze in a couple hours at the flea market before my shift, I have a hard time sacrificing such precious hours of sleep. I've had to live with being an outsider looking into that beloved community of tables and vendors.

But I still find it just as difficult to imagine a time where the flea market is pushed out of my life all together, because when I lucked into having a Sunday off a few weeks ago, my first thought was, of course - hey, I can go to the flea market! 

Though my flea market trips have dwindled into rarities, the cards I find remain stellar, and the fun I have is still unmatched.

One vendor pretty much made my year with the stuff I found from his 50-cent binders last summer. Still, despite telling me a few times he had more supply at home, he never restocked them, and even here almost a year later, I still saw a lot of those same gaps from the cards I'd already picked through many months ago now. (You can't tempt me with the prospect of good cheap cards and not deliver!)

But there were just enough new additions slipped in to rekindle the fun I'd had last year, and anyways I can't complain much because even the "scraps" I'd previously left behind were still pretty darn good. 

Better yet, he marked everything down to 3/$1 for me - the difference between buying a card for 50 cents and 33 cents doesn't seem like much, but it sure made the decision to pull the trigger on these a whole lot easier.

These four Reggies actually completed this five-card insert set for me since, coincidentally, I already had the one that was missing from the guy's 3/$1 binders.

I found a few vendors with cards who obviously weren't collectors, and depending on your luck, this can be either a very good or a very bad thing.

Sometimes it results in people trying to sell a 1990 Topps Roger Clemens for $20, which I indeed saw during this trip. But other times you get a vendor with a whole bunch of random stuff for a quarter each who doesn't quite know what they have. One guy I stumbled upon had a couple binders of early-2000s stuff for 25 cents each, as well as a few small stacks of miscellany.

I'm sure the selections would've seemed ordinary to some people, but my eyes widened when I saw excellent Todd Pratts and minor-league Antonio Alfonsecas I needed!

I also grabbed this box-bottom for a dollar from that vendor even though I only needed the Murphy & Saberhagen - either way the weird joy I got out of cutting these up was easily worth a buck (and if anyone needs the Rose and/or Fernando, please let me know!).

One other new vendor I found was quite obviously a longtime collector, and the first thing I saw at his table was a few dime boxes(!) packed with legends.

Color Conlon inserts for a dime are a godsend (much less a Babe Ruth!), and I don't own nearly as much early Finest as I should.

A few dime-box greats from more incognito '90s releases like Select and Pacific Online.

This guy also had a couple boxes with slightly higher-priced cards that he eagerly informed me were half-off the sticker price.

I always get a kick out of pre-fame stuff of future stars, which made these easy buys for a buck each - the Sandy Alomar Jr. minor league card is especially fantastic.

A couple other dollar finds from that vendor included another majestic Babe Ruth and a numbered Dodger Paul Konerko (which will never look right to me).

Also grabbed a set of these Cubs playing cards from this vendor for $3 - still not sure whether or not I truly consider playing cards as baseball cards, but how often am I gonna find a deck of cards with Jose Cardenal in it?

The last vendor of the afternoon was a familiar face - some of you readers might remember him as the Penny Box Guy.

The good news was that the penny boxes were back (hooray!), bad news was that they were more your standard overproduction-era '88 Donruss fare (sigh). And while I usually don't love chatting with vendors during my digs, this guy's cool & we quizzed each other on baseball trivia as I scoured the penny cards for a few salvageable gems. It was a reminder of why the flea market remains such a joyous place for me.

Didn't find much in terms of quantity, but White Sox stadium giveaways for a penny are a dream - especially a John Kruk Sox card I didn't even know existed!

He also had a separate dime box of HOFers that featured a lot of nifty oddball fare - still have a hard time believing Duracell ever made baseball cards.

From there, I moved on to this vendor's vintage dollar box, which featured a raggedy '56 Gil McDougald I needed for my double dip collection & card #1 from the hallowed '72 Topps checklist.

And finally, it was time for the glass case material, where I plucked this impeccable Pie Traynor Fleer Greats for a raggedy $5 bill - mostly because I don't get the chance to buy very many Pie Traynor cards these days.

So went my day at the flea market. I often wish I could go back to years ago when I'd attend Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. But a part of me realizes that maybe the rarities of my flea market trips make them glitter now more than they ever did before - after all, I don't know how special card shows would be if I went to one every week.

Leave it to me to take such solace in a place with diabetic socks and '80s electronics in every aisle.