Favorite ebay, flea market, or antique mall find
 

What was your favorite ebay, flea market, or antique mall find?
For me, it is whenever I find an early Pre-1940 Pro Basketball item. On ebay this has included a New York Celtics game used pair of shorts, programs of the New York Celtics, Philadelphia Sphas, Troy Trojans, and Kingston Colonials, numerous sports broadsides and postcards, among other things.
How about you?
Thanks, Andy Sandler alwysyakn@aol.com

I never found any "huge hits", but Id say, a vintage Braves and Red Sox celluloid schedule for 18.00, that I got 165 for at an antique group shop. Also, a 1973 season complete stratomatc baseball game. Ten bucks, turned into 152.00 or something.

Never really found anything great that I ended up keeping , but I LOVE going to the shops/Flea markets. ;)

I've had several big hits on ebay. Mine included Ralph Kiners All-star bat for $600, Mickey Mantle game used bat for $100, Nap, LaJoie for $700, local auction Larry Berra bat for $45, Wade Boggs minor league for $600.

In the very early days of ebay it was amazing what you could find -- I was able to purchase game bats that included Ty Cobb, Tony Lazzeri and Jackie Robinson.
One of my favorite stories: I won two bats at auction from the same dealer -- there were no photos, but the bats were described as 1950s coaches model bats of Heinie Manush and Luke Appling. The bats arrived and the Manush was indeed a 50s model, but the Appling was a brand new show model bat. I contacted the seller and he said he couldn't really afford to refund my money, but did mention he had some other bats and I could have my choice in an exchange -- the only other HOFer he had was a Walter Johnson, so he sent me that and it turned out to be what is the earliest known signature model Johnson gamer.
Good deals still pop up on ebay now and then, but there is much more competition -- I did find manage to buy in the last couple of years game bats of Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, Miller Huggins and Paul Waner -- all but the Huggins were incrrectly listed as store models.
I know there are others who spend much more time scouring ebay and flea markets, so I'm looking forward to hearing their treasure hunting stories -- I'm sure Carlton has some amazing stories that he has yet to share about flea amerket finds!

Greg

,my coolest find on ebay was Hal Greer's high school diploma from Douglas. Not only a NBA HOFer, but also the first African American to play for a "white" school in WV. If I ever run into him, I'll ask him if he wants it back. As we are both MU alums, I figure it will happen at some point. He went bankrupt in the early 80s and a lot of his stuff got scattered to the wind when his home was sold at auction...figure this is the residue of that event.

Hey Greg,

Let's see a picture of that Walter Johnson earliest model signature game bat.
Awesome story!!

Favorite antique store find was a 1930's friction stripe football jersey, nearly perfect condition, for $40.
Favorite ebay find was a players c.1911 scorebook and equipment, including a 1910-14 Louisville slugger used in games against professional black teams.

Found an ungraded 1916 Sporting news Buck Weaver on an ebay auction and won it for only $66.00 and it ended up grading PSA 4. That was a great day for me, about 8 years ago.

Favorite all time finds
 

My favorite all-time antique mall finds would include:

1) HOF Ted Lyon's 1926 no-hitter ticket and scorebook that I was able to find earlier this year. This came from an antique shop in Caimbridge, MA.
2) A scored program from HOF Sandy Koufax's incredible 382K game in 1965. This record would be broken by Nolan Ryan's NL standard of 383 K's in 1973 (note that this was the first year of the designated hitter). What was really neat about the Koufax program is that I found it in an antique mall right up the street from my house when I lived in So Cal. I think I paid $10 for the program back in the early 1990's.

My all-time favorite eBay find was also ironically a pickup from earlier this year. An actual game used ball with vintage fountain pen inscription from HB "Dutch" Leonard's no-hitter in 1916 at Fenway Park.

Here are a few photos. Sorry for the crappy quality of the shots; I didn't take them. I need to take the time to upgrade these photos to do them justice.

Two of my favorite Ebay finds. First a 1907 picture of the Victor Mill team with Joe Jackson. Second the pool table that was originally in the Vernor's mansion and was featured in the movie The American President. The seller had the pool table listed for $150,000 on a major billiard website for several years and actually turned down an offer of 100K. For whatever reason he wanted to sell it fast and put it on Ebay with no reserve. I bid 40K right at the end and got it for $3600. Attachment 46807

Attachment 46808

Georgeous pool table! What a deal!! :eek:

I want that pool table. Awesome!!!!!!

Cool Thread
 

I have been going to Antique Shows, Flea Markets, Paper Shows, etc. since the mid 1980's. I have had many great finds but the 2 below stand out.

At an antique show in PA. I purchased a bunch (maybe 50 to 75) of 1950's ticket stubs from the Yankees and Dodgers. I paid $250 for the group. In the lot was the Dodgers and Giants Bobby Thompson playoff hr stub and also the first game (P1 and P2). Sold the pair for $1,600.

My biggest find was many years ago when eBay had just begun (1997ish). I advertised in the newspaper pretty regularly for sports memorabilia wanted. I got a call from a strange guy who wanted me to meet him at a self storage place about 15 minutes from my house. I was pretty nervous, but what a find. He had a mint collection of 1930's - 1950's yearbooks, programs, magazines from the Dodgers, Yankees, Packers, etc. It was about 300 pieces and I paid $3,200. I didn't realize it but included was a Packers Redskins Championship Program from the 1930's. I sold that one item for $2,200 on eBay.

wow
 

On that pool table WOW...I litterally let out a laugh when I read that..bid 40K, got for $3600...man that's a story....you'd be buying the pizza that night!...a solid congratulations!

This is a good thread...I may have to get involved latter when get time

Antique Mall in Wisconsin
 

Found a 1969-72 Thurman Munson game bat in a barrel of bats last November for under $50.00. It still happens once in awhile...you just have to keep looking!

Got a Ruth game bat (possibly) for $500 buy it now!

I don't think I'll ever get tired of showing this one off. I purchased this Grover Cleveland Alexander signed baseball on Ebay only about a month or two ago. The auction had no photo and was described as being signed by GL Alexander. I took a risk and purchased the baseball sight unseen for $80.

A week goes by. I receive the baseball and soon after its being authenticated by JSA. Total cost to me on this beauty: $250.

The deals are still out there.

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m...LAlexander.jpg

Hi-
I am an avid flea market/antique shop goer and have been for a number of years. I found a group of Joe Dimaggio ca 1940s tattoos/transfers along with other characters (like Dick Tracy) at a flea market for 40.00. I sold them to a few different dealers for over 2000.00.
Over the summer I found a couple of really cool 19th century bats for less than 50.00 each at a flea market. Just this past weekend I found a Ruth 250 model bat (31 inches) for 3.00 and an OJ of Glasscock that was rebacked (but has a decent image) for 25.00.
I go to my favorite flea market nearly every Sunday. I try to get there as close to sunrise as possible and I ask every dealer that carries antiques if they have early baseball items. Several dealers save me any old baseball item as I have developed a strong rapport with them over the years. It makes the early morning efforts and hour drive each way worth it by knowing I will almost always come home with something.
More than 90% of my collection comes from flea market and antiquing finds. I really value finding items "in the rough" as opposed to trolling ebay or major auction houses. It definitely helps to live in the Northeast of course.
Alan

Wow some absolutely fantastic finds...I'm afraid my finds pale in comparison to others:o. I have to collect on a budget so I am naturally extremely thrifty when buying. That's what is great about this hobby...there are great finds to be had out there if you do the research and act quickly when those opportunities arise!

A couple of my recent finds:

The Melvin Ott signed '34 Cardinals Score Card (posted on here about it) paid: $50

A lot of 45 Different 1930's Wheaties Panels for $30. I sold about 20 of them but kept all the HOFers.

A Washington Redskins Real Face Bobblehead Paid $47

Scott,

Here is a photo of the Walter Johnson bat (from his days with the Indians), along with a bat of another pretty fair pitcher, Lefty Grove.

Greg
http://www.baseballbasement.com

Boy Greg, those are sweet! And since you're taking request :rolleyes: I'd love to see those Cooperstown signs again. :)

Thanks Greg! Great looking bats!! Wow!

Mine won't be a big deal to anyone else, but on Christmas night of 2005, I won an auction for a signed index card of former University of Dayton basketball coach Tom Blackburn. Blackburn is credited with bringing Dayton to a national power in the 1950's and 1960's, making the NIT finals six times and finally winning in it 1962. Blackburn passed away right before the final game of the 1964 season to cancer when he still was the active coach.

I purchased the index card for a WHOPPING $8 dollars and have not seen a Blackburn signature before that or ever again. I cover Dayton basketball as a beat reporter and know a lot of fans and alums. I've been offered $500 for the index card, but there's no way I am giving that up.

How is the Johnson a gamer if he was a manager at the time. It would be a post career bat....

Here you go Jimmy -- this is one of the signs posted on the road leading to Cooperstown for the 1939 induction ceremony (it has reflective paint that you don't see in person, but is picked up by the camera flash). Don't mean to hijack the thread by showing this, but Jimmy we're all so glad to have you back that I'm glad to answer a request!

Brock -- as I said, it's from his days with the Indians -- a game model bat that is known by bat collectors as a coaches bat (not to be confused by a bat that was made for a player after his career, but never saw a ball field).

Greg

Great stories everyone and some cool items/deals.

I mainly prowl ebay and one of my favorite finds a number of years ago was a person selling off stuff from the estate of minor league player Bob Thurman and one of the items was a photo of the PR Santurce with him, Roberto Clemente and another player. It was being sold in a terrible metal frame with weak photos. There was no pics of the back of the photo so I sent the seller a message asking if I could get a scan of the back. He said he could not take any pics as the frame would fall apart if he tried, I emailed him again that it made a big difference on value if he could. He refused and let the auction run, I took a chance not sure if it was a reprint or such and won it for a bit over $200. I got the package and quickly removed it from the cheap $5 frame and now had a 1954 pre major league Clemente photo. Now one of my most prized Clemente items!

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...ntePRPhoto.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...RPhotoBack.jpg

Scott, that Clemente photo probably came out of Wichita. Thurman lived here. I believe his wife sold some of his estate. The card shop I go to still has a few of these photos including the ugly frames your talking about. Nothing with Clemente in it though.

Greg, awesome Johnson bat and that Grove bat is sweet too.

Here's one I picked up off ebay. Not much of a story I got it as a bin. I must have seen it immediately after it was listed. I think she got some offers after I had already won it as she was kind of rude during the transaction. Luckily for me she went through with it. I think it was around $100-150.

I don't really do much prospecting but I have scored some nice hits on miscategorized items on Ebay:

I got this Benny Hill autographed PC at a postcard show where the seller not only sold it for a pittance but showed me that it was signed when I was checking out. Whatever...

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...0Autograph.jpg

Same seller had no idea what this was and let it go for 10% of value:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...20Jennings.jpg

Best of all is when I know something and hope like heck that the rest of the world misses it--and they do. When I saw this John C. Heenan CDV I knew it was something special because I'd seen an Abner Doubleday with the same kind of copyright notice on it. I did some research and discovered that the copyright notice is pre-1870 and that the card is in fact the earliest known commercially-issued boxing card, made and sold commercially before 1870:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...enan%20CDV.jpg

That is a spectacular piece Clint! Just a gorgeous illustration. Joe never looked so good.

Great great stories. Unfortunately I don't have any stories myself but I love the 1939 Hall of Fame Induction sign. Incredible stuff!!:D

SO DO I..I would LOVE that sign

Scott --

Since a couple of these were great ebay finds ( I don't want to derail the thread too much), I thought I'd share with you bats of some other no-hitter pitchers.

Greg

Wow Greg!! Thanks for the post. That's a lot of vintage no-hit pitcher lumber. Neat!! :D

Pool Table
 

Now that is an Ebay find! That's a great piece!

This is easily my favorite Ebay find ever. Especially because I get to wear and enjoy it on a regular basis. I found it a few years ago poorly listed as a "Tops" baseball watch. I have never seen nor heard of another out there as of yet. I believe that this was a presentation piece for a Topps Banquet.

It's a 10K gold Hamilton Automatic, and she may run a wee bit fast but I don't care. The watch face is emblazoned with "TOPPS AWARD" with the trophy dead center. It's very intricately done by the factory and beautiful. The back is engraved with "TOPPS FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICA 1969".

I would love if anyone actually knew anything about this. I would love to know the provenance of who this was actually given to. I'm really not even sure of the sport honestly. It seems like Topps used the phrase all-america more for football, but I am grasping at straws. I have thought it may be even an award for the best college player. I just don't know, maybe one of you does? I just know I love it and lots of people ask about it, it makes a good story.

Well Done Justin. That is a fantastic find! I love stuff like that.

First Team All America sounds like college football.

That's what I have thought also. However, the trophy is that of baseball player. It seems they would have some football reference, but maybe they presented these across a field of sports at the time and the baseball trophy was the default. Really, "first team all-america" can be any college sport, from Soccer to Lacrosse. I am sure it has to be from the big three sports and they couldn't have handed out enough watches for every First team all-american in even one sport because it would have been numerous watches, some would have surfaced here and there. It was probably at a Topps Banquet trying to impress some notable college players coming up. Which at Topps the emphasis was mostly in Baseball during the late 60's. I wish it had a name on it.

It's about a foot and a half square, and cost me 1000 yen (about $8 at the time) at a flea market in Japan...

My favorite ebay item has to do with synchronicity (no, not the Police album). It had been about six months of burning my retnas looking at local library microfiche about the elusive career of Jimmy Claxton, when there it was on ebay; a "Scott Motors of Reno v. Round Mountain baseball ticket, August 4, 1935". Claxton was the pitcher for Scott Motors from 1933-35 (Scott Motors won 33 straight 1932-33), and his son Ed Claxton Sr. was a catcher for the Scott Motors Juniors in 1935. The ticket was $25.

I couldn't believe my luck, all that painstaking library research actually paid off. Had this ticket appeared on ebay a month earlier I would have had no idea about the connection to Claxton. It may not be a landfall find but damn, I EARNED that ticket.

Contrats
 

Way to go man...that's work'n it, I like the story...congrats. Let's see a photo. Newspaper microfilm is a strong research tool you can really pinpoint stuff with...all you need is time!

I was born 8/16/1961. So the Life Magazine of that date is Mantle and Maris. Found it in Long Beach Island, NJ, in 2010. For $1. As well as some nice John F. Kennedy covers. Antique store in NJ had a 1954 Topps wrapper for $1 in 1985.

Congrats! Timing can be everything in this thing of ours...

I've found so many incredible deals over the years I can't even remember them all so I'll just go through my photobucket and scroll down the photos.

Picked up this Walter Hagen advertising sign for $75 at the local antique show
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...d/antiq007.jpg

I rarely travel for auctions, but one that listed antique baseball equipment caught my eye so I got up early and made the 200 mile trip...I got everything pictured here for less than $50 total..including a Spalding Ring Bat
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...llfinds001.jpg

Antique show find - $50
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...igpacks001.jpg

Garage Sale Find -Stall And Dean Jim Delehanty Bat- $5
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...alldean003.jpg

Local Antique show find - HUGE Portland Beavers Cabinet Photo - $400
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...d-2/bay001.jpg

Local Auction buy - 1929 A's Panorama - $200
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...letics1929.jpg

All these bats came from the same garage sale I got the Delehanty bat at..they were $5 each...includes at TC40 Ty Cobb, Draper Maynard Major League Model, 19th Century Victor Sporting Goods Bat, and a Roberto Clemente store model bat.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ia/bats010.jpg

These three Cameo pins were a local antique show pickup and apparently I sold the Sullivan too cheaply..I didn't do my homework...I started getting emails from people like Rob Lifson telling me that it was a never before seen Cameo pin..ah well. I only paid $250 for the lot of three pins and sold them for over $2,000 total.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...lia/cameo1.jpg

TGI Friday's going out of business sale - $100
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...ay010Small.jpg

I got these 11 baseballs and the large framed composite photo at an antique shop in Fremont, Nebraska...all of the baseballs were team signed by the various minor league clubs that pitcher Vern Voegler played for in the 1930s...including a 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers ball that he must have gotten from a Spring Training invite...Can't recall what I paid for the lot...maybe $300?
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...lection001.jpg

I have a ton more items I could list, but I don't want to break Barry's computer so I'll leave it here. :D

Crosley Field seats...
 

It's usually tough to 'find' anything at most antique malls, but my Dad and I got lucky in Fort Myers, Florida in about 2005. I asked the guy working there if he had anything baseball related and he said, yes, but it's in the back room. He proceeded to bring out these seats from Crosley Field. They were in 2 sections for a total of 6 seats with figural ends on each end. The bad news was that someone apparently sandblasted the original paint off them at an earlier date, but there was some original orange paint hidden in crevices and cracks around the seat brackets (I've also seen the Crosley Field seats in green, but don't know at what time the paint color was changed?). Overall, the seats were solid. He said the original owner had lived in the Cincinnati area and had them shipped to Florida after retirement as evidenced by a moving company shipping tag attached. The price? $300. The cost to get them 20+ hours north to Michigan? The mall owner had a buddy driving the next week to northern Indiana who offered to bring them the extra hour north for only $100...........Matt

Dan, that's a great collection. I love the '29 A's panorama.

1892 Binghamton Bingos
 

I can't believe I forgot about this one. I saw this on ebay and offered the seller $100. He took it. I had no idea that Willie Keeler was in the picture, only that it was a cabinet of an 1800's minor league team, so at the time a price of $100 was about fair.

When I opened the mailing envelope, I immediately recognized Keeler. I practically ran home to google the Bingos, and sure enough - there was Keeler's name.

I did not even have to hire a facial recognition expert!!!

http://www.mfooz.com/bblog/wp-conten...ds/bingos1.jpg

I did not even have to hire a facial recognition expert!!!
lol

Keeler played a full season at Binghamton in 1892, his first in professional ball. Is that on the list as his first appearance on a baseball card/cabinet?

I hit an antique shop back home in Michigan a few years back when I was initially attracted by a photo of Dizzy Trout. It was signed at one point but the signature was so faded the only way you could tell was to hold it up to the light and you could see the indentation on the photo. As I recall it was priced at $120 so I passed. I then saw the Amos Alonzo Stagg photo which was priced at $18....SOLD! I'm not a big football collector but this was too cool to pass up.