Thrift Store Vintage

There's a store in the East Bay called Urban Ore. It's a reuse store, filled mainly with old doors, toilets, sinks, windows, furniture, tools, and other household cast-offs. They get donations from regular houses as well as businesses and production companies (think: small theaters). I love to head over and take a stroll through the giant warehouse and yard. They have some awesome stuff and if I had my own place where I could put things, I could easily walk out each time with some fantastic finds. One little drawer I like to take a quick peek in usually has a handful of baseball cards.

For the past year or so, I've found nothing better than a small selection of poor-condition junk-era baseball and basketball cards. I finally had some luck with a rubberbanded stack of vintage!

This is all the football I grabbed. I didn't get them for any reason other than I didn't feel like sorting them out. I really like that Kermit Alexander card - it's like a little league (whatever football little league is called) posed shot that would end up on a big button your mom would wear to the games.

This is a small collection of the vintage baseball, but it gives you an idea what was there. The '68 is in really rough shape, and I think it was the only '68 in the lot. The Freehan 1970 Kelloggs card is one of three I bought, and they too are well-loved. None of the cards are in high condition, but when it comes to vintage, I'm not picky. All the cards I found will go to future set-building endeavors. Without trying, I'm doing a decent job of stacking up some '60s and '70s Topps!

So, what did I pay for a stack of roughly 50 vintage Topps baseball and football?

$1.90.

It pays to keep your eyes open, even if it takes a full year!