Flea Market Finds

Saturday me and the girlfriend voyaged out to Dundalk for the weekly North Point flea market. I'd never been before, but rumor had it there were lots of card dealers. If you're not from the area, you may not know about Dundalk, but it's pretty notorious around these here parts. It sits right on the Chesapeake Bay, which in theory sounds nice. However, there is a massive sewage treatment plant right off the highway (and on the water) that makes the whole area reek... of POO! Dundalk is also pretty well known for it's "interesting characters", which were aplenty at the flea market this weekend. Just to give you an example, I saw 3 old bearded men with no teeth who looked like sailors, and 2 teenage girls, who were quite preggers, wearing daisy dukes and halter tops. No one wants to see that.

I did manage to find a few cards. I would have spent longer looking around at the card tables (there were 4 or 5), but I could feel my girlfriends glare burning holes in the back of my head while I was bent over, thumbing through card boxes. It was probably for the best, as I could have spent a small fortune, given the time to look through everything.

Here's what I got:

'56 Topps #206 Erv Palica. Originally, I went looking for the last few '59 Topps cards needed for my O's team set. No luck there, but I did find this beat up Erv Palica for the '56 set I'm working on. It set me back $1

'06 Bowman Sterling #BS-NM Nick Markakis "Rookie". Not his rookie at all, but try telling that to eBay sellers. This is the first Bowman Sterling card I've ever owned, and it's pretty nice. This one also set me back $1

'08 Topps #TCH59 Trading Card History Nick Markakis. '61 Topps.... nice! Why the long face Nick? This was also a buck.

'07 Topps Triple Threads #137 "Emerald" Nick Markakis. This was my big purchase. I feel pretty good about the price, it was $15. The guy wanted $20, but I haggled to the best of my modest abilities. This card routinely goes for more on eBay, and I didn't have to pay shipping, so all in all, I am happy with this purchase, and get to add another Markakis auto to my collection. It's a sticker auto, but for some reason I like the shiny silver stickers more than the clear ones. To me the clear ones look cheap.

If you're a Baltimore are blogger, and there are quite a few of us, I recommend checking out the North Point flea market. They have at least 4 or huge 5 tables, and a nice selection of vintage, modern, high-end, and low-end cards to add to your collection. I saw plenty of "1 of 1" cards, and got to hold a DiMaggio cut sig, which was pretty cool. The best part is that the dealers realize this is a flea market, and people are looking for good deals.

I think the Baltimore card blog community should take a little group field trip down there one weekend. There is strength in numbers you know.