Flea Market Finds!- Page 2

[E.Davis]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 9:49pm

I am not really a big collector so I just go to see what I can find, see if anything catches my eye. I did get this really cool cookbook from The Public Theatre table. It is called "Shakespeare's Kitchen" Its quite stunning and was only a buck. I went back to work and showed people and they loved it so much I came back and cleaned out the remaining 8 of them for people at work. A girl working at one of the tables down by the Shubert saw the book and liked it, told her since she was stuck at the table working I would go down and get it for her. I laughed because she was like "trusting strangers with money". It was a nice moment.

I don't know why The Public had so many of this one cookbook, but I was happy.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 10:02pm

dave1606 said: "certain things i thought were ridiculous (Hamilton off-broadway poster for $50???!!! I know its for charity and that's wonderful, but considering I paid $57 to see the show, I can't wrap my head around it.)"

 

Heh, be happy, I paid $75 for it earlier! They never sold a poster at the show (aside from a signed BC?EFA version during the campaign), so there was never a option to buy that poster before, and they said they barely had any left.

 

I also got a Tits of Clay T-shirt, A Telly Leung fan, and a signed Significant Other poster. But I was there earlier, so no deals.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 10:07pm

Agree that there seemed to be a lot of random stuff versus theater related. I usually pick it up a few cases, but only did 1 this year. The other thing, a lot of tables seemed to have the same cds. I also didn't like that you could buy the window card frames from Triton, but had to go by their store to pick them up. I don't live in NYC, so they lost some money because of that. Unless I didn't realize I could have gone today.

 

Biggest purchases were my Side Show window card signed by Emily Padgett and Erin Davie and a pair of ballet shoes signed by some of the cast of An American in Paris. I found cups to add to my collection, Dream Girls Obcr, and a few playbills and dvds. 

 

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 11:38pm

Did TKTS have the raffle tickets to win free show tix again? If so did anyone win anything especially exciting?!?

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 11:41pm

Being from Iowa, this was my first Broadway Flea!!! I was so excited! My best finds include a Peter and the Starcatcher magnet ($5) and 2 shirts ($1@ when I came back later). I recently saw a local production in Chicago and wanted a magnet. The shirts were just a bonus.

I also found the Allegiance mini cast albums and got 4 to give to friends to prep for the show when we watch in Jan 2016! I already got my digital version.

[Anakela]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 11:50pm

I also didn't like that you could buy the w.indow card frames from Triton, but had to go by their store to pick them up. I don't live in NYC, so they lost some money because of that. Unless I didn't realize I could have gone today

 

You were supposed to/you could have gone today, to their office on 9th Ave/45th. I did it, and have to give a plug for their amazing service! 

I was curious how many people would make it over there today for frames, but I guess rather than schlepping all of the frames over to the flea market, and then back again, it was probably easier for them to do it this way.

 

dave1606 said: "certain things i thought were ridiculous (Hamilton off-broadway poster for $50???!!! I know its for charity and that's wonderful, but considering I paid $57 to see the show, I can't wrap my head around it.)"

Heh, be happy, I paid $75 for it earlier!  They never sold a poster at the show (aside from a signed BC?EFA version during the campaign), so there was never a option to buy that poster before, and they said they barely had any left.

 

They actually RAISED the prices of some Ham stuff during the day, first time I've seen that. (I'm not saying that in a complaining way, just that I feel we're so used to watching the prices go down during the day so it was interesting to watch them go up.) I bought my windowcard sometime between 9:30am - 10am and the windowcards were $50, and those flyers were $2. Then at some point later in the morning the windowcards became $75, and the flyers $10. Then when I was making a round right before closing they were selling the remaining windowcards for $10, limiting to one per person, and the flyers for $5. 

Did any of you watch any of the auctions for the Ham mixes that Lin created? I read on Twitter I think that one of them went for $600, curious if they were all in that price range. 

Among my more hilarious experience of the day today was watching a woman talk a guy into buying the "last" of an opening night gift, (eta: to clarify, not Ham, this was at another table)  and then after he did listening to her tell the guy she was working with that that makes three that she's gotten rid of, and there's one left, but she's not putting it out until the guy who thinks he bought the last one leaves. He did, and she did. I am onto this trick for next year. :)

Updated On: 9/27/15 at 11:50 PM

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 11:53pm

I ended up with far less than I have in years past. I got a Hedwig guitar string bracelet signed by JCM, Lena Hall, and the band, a Secret Garden Playbill signed by Rebecca Luker, a Destiny of Me Playbill with an understudy slip for Anthony Rapp going on for JCM, and a Last Ship "No Time For Sailors" shirt. I went in the morning at first but it was so crowded I literally couldn't even get to a lot of the tables. I came back in the afternoon and it was much more manageable. 

I've been going to the flea market for the past 8 or 9 years and I find that my patience has waned for certain things. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and have less desire for random things I won't ever use or look at again, or if it's because the whole thing has gotten more insane and crowded. 

(Side note: my friend grabbed the Destiny of Me Playbill for me and then found another one but with an understudy slip for JCM going on for Anthony Rapp. Does anyone know what the story is with that? The cover of the Playbills was also different but they were both at the Lortel.) 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 9/27/15 at 11:59pm

I'm glad that I went but I agree that it would have been nice to see fewer random general yard sale items (non-Broadway CD's, DVD's, and books) if only because it would have made it easier to find things. I spent a lot of time sorting through non-Broadway stuff. Even though I didn't get anything, I appreciate the booths that make crafts (Wicked, Matilda, Broadway Green Alliance) and baked goods. If you don't have great show-specific merchandise you can still do something special.

 

Not that there was a ton of stuff, but I was a little surprised at how much Wolf Hall stuff I saw.

 

I'm curious if I missed some better finds leaving early around 1 or 2. But I don't know how you could possibly keep track of that.

[HSky]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 12:00am

The overall selection did seem a little lighter but I'm pretty happy with the stuff I found from some of my favorite shows. Some of my favorites were the Something Rotten Toby Belch headsketch signed by Christian Borle, Dear Evan Hansen notepad,  a Once fleece blanket, Side Show opening night frame with a pic of the real Hilton sisters and also a Squigs mini print from Side Show, and various The Last Ship items including t-shirts I had missed on my first few passes but got when they dropped to 3 for $10. Various pins and CDs rounded out what I picked up.

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 12:30am

Anakela said: "They actually RAISED the prices of some Ham stuff during the day, first time I've seen that. (I'm not saying that in a complaining way, just that I feel we're so used to watching the prices go down during the day so it was interesting to watch them go up.) I bought my windowcard sometime between 9:30am - 10am and the windowcards were $50, and those flyers were $2. Then at some point later in the morning the windowcards became $75, and the flyers $10. Then when I was making a round right before closing they were selling the remaining windowcards for $10, limiting to one per person, and the flyers for $5."

 

They're getting a bit obsessed with their dynamic pricing there. So, basically, by raising the price, they ended up with extra at the end that they had to give at deep discounts, but had they left it at $50 all day, it would have probably just sold out?

 

They must have really been playing games all day then, since there were only 3 of them on the table when I was there, so I guess they kept reloading the table to make them look limited?

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 1:16am

This was my 5th Flea Market by far spent the least this year then in past but still some cool finds

Up Here! beach towel $5
Avenue Q fuzzy book $10
Hamilton Shot Glass $20
Martin Short signed Autobiography $10
This Is Our Youth Toaster $15
Bottom Brothers Troope Omelete "cast shirt" $10
Angry itch drum sticks $10
Hand To God script $3
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Squigs sketch $10
Hand To God squigs trading card $5
On the 20th Century "My Cup Runneth Over" mug $3
Orphans opening night Mayo Jar coin bank $20
Newsies 2015 Opening Night Tour long sleeve shirt $5
Natasha Pierre T-Shirt $5 

total $131

For a friend: The Visit ceramic hand opening night gift $50

(and bonus won the Spring Awakening opening night lotto)

[mikem]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 1:23am

I agree that this year's Flea Market didn't seem to have as much creativity as prior years.  I think the main problem is that the new productions in general didn't have as much interesting stuff (although hats off to An American in Paris and Something Rotten for their creative ideas.  Finding Neverland tried hard, too.  Hamilton stuff was just too expensive even to think about.) But neither of the two plays from last season still running, Curious Incident and Hand to God, had booths or much of a presence at the tables.  I don't think The King and I had a table, either.  

 

Fun Home only had Playbills and posters when I went by.  Did Fun Home have other things earlier in the day?  

 

My most expensive purchase was a Anne Hathaway-signed Playbill from Grounded for $20; she didn't sign when I went to see the show.  I think I got one big bargain:  a book for which Carol Channing wrote the foreword, and which she signed -- it was only $3 (I don't think anyone noticed her signature -- it was mixed in with a lot of other books).  I also got a signed Playbill from the original cast of Six Degrees of Separation for $10.

 

Last year, there were a ton of old Tonys Playbills; this year, there were very few, but lots of hardback play scripts.  Got a lot of old classics for a buck or two:  Pacific Overtures, Flower Drum Song, Fences, Glengarry Glen Ross, Kismet, Brigadoon, Biloxi Blues, Fifth of July, and That Championship Season.  Lots of good stuff to read!

 

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 1:34am

This was a very odd flea market year to me. The crowds were just insane. I did hear a lot of people speaking French, so I guess that festival would account for that. I was proud of myself for sticking to my budget and I think part of that can be credited to my desire to not have any of those little bullsh*t items I usually feel the compulsary need to spend a dollar here and a dollar there on. 

I walked in there at about 8:45 this morning and found some things right away. The stuff I like to get each year are the scripts for the past seasons shows, but this year the only one I found was FUN HOME. Every table with books just had what looked like the aftermath of a "Friends of the Library" sale with hardly any theater related books at all. 

I did two autograph lines this year and got very lucky with them. I did the 1pm and the 2pm and even though I got in line at around 11:45 for the 1pm, I barely got in before they left. Groff & Chita were at the photo booth basically the entire hour (again - I'll never understand why BC/EFA runs these two things so damn poorly) but right when we got up to the table, they both came back and sat down for a few minutes. 

Other than that, I found a number of windowcards, a few books, 8 CD's from new/newish shows for $2 each and a few random items that I thought were just fun to have. I think though, that my prize of the day was a framed photograph of the SIDE MAN marquee at the Golden Theatre, the day the show closed. Seeing as how it's the best production of anything I've ever seen, that means a lot to me.

[mikem]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 1:51am

Jordan, you did one better than me, because I didn't see any of this year's scripts, and I was looking for them, too.  Although others said they got one for Hand to God and The Visit, so there were some around.

 

I didn't know the Flea Market was selling stuff at 8:45.  Is it usually open that early?

[gleek4114]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 2:15am

They don't officially open until 10, but a lot of tables will sell stuff as they are setting up if you pay with cash (credit card area isn't operational until 10).

[haterobics]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 2:28am

Jordan, I thought about you when I saw two cast-signed Hardbody Playbills, but not sure if that is still something you wanted... no windowcards, though.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:07am

So funny you say that. I was getting texts from people all day about those playbills lol. 

 

Also so if anyone has a VISIT script they'd be willing to sell, please PM me!

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:19am

I think yesterday was my 8th flea market and I definitely got much less than I usually do. I snagged some Last Ship merch from the Creative Goods table but that was really all I saw (besides overpriced full signed posters & playbills). I didn't even stick around and wait for prices to drop. bwayboy, where did you get the Last Ship hat? Just curious as I didn't see those.

Also, I realize it's all for charity but the Public Theater windowcard of Hamilton was $50 at 10 and later in the day was $75. That's not how flea markets work!

[DivaBrigader]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:24am

I had some amazing "bucket list" finds - I think it really depends on each person's specific interests. My one big disappointment was the lack of "Fun Home" merchandise. They just had some posters and CDs. I was there by 9:30am so if they had anything else, I am not sure how I missed it. I would have loved the script or a discounted shirt. Also, unlike in some other recent years, the weather was great, and I think that attracted more crowds.

 

My wallet-thinning for the day:

 

"Annie" original production show jacket - $20 (I am giving it such a good home, you guys)

"The Secret Garden" OBC poster - $12 (thanks Jordan Catalano!)

"Bombshell" baseball caps, tshirt, and magnet - $31

Judy Kuhn solo album - $5

"On the 20th Century" mini-tumblers - $1

"Rent" at the Hollywood Bowl "This diva needs her stage" tshirt - $10

"Annie" coffee mug - $5

Photo ops with the Lucas siblings and Judy Kuhn - $40

"Jerry's Girls" national tour poster - $5

"I Love Lucy: Live Onstage" potholders - $2

Updated On: 9/28/15 at 09:24 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:38am

You, my dear, are welcome!

 

Also, another thing that pissed me off this year was that so few of the tables would come down on prices at the end of the day. I always buy those plastic cups from shows and at the end of the day get around 10 or so for $2-3. This year I couldn't find them, even at closing, for less than $2 each. Same with the understudy slip notepads. The only tabels that seemed to offer real deals at that time were the tables with garage sale junk nobody wanted for the previous 8 hours.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:50am

I guess it's good that I didn't come back to look for deals, then!

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:58am

I only bought two things, mostly because I'm not really a fanatic collector and didn't have the patience for sorting through some of the boxes of Playbills. I now work Sunday mornings teaching swim lessons, so I couldn't get to the Flea Market until 1pm anyway. But I did get a signed Indian Ink windowcard for $20 and a signed Gentleman's Guide to the 2013-14 Broadway Seasons windowcard for $25, down from $50.

 

 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 9:58am

Really? The understudy notepads were $1 when I walked by (in fact, they were in the process of changing the sign from $2). That must've been around 4 or so.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 12:12pm

I'm bummed to hear that you guys were disappointed with this year's selection. It's my favorite day of the year, so when I'm there, I always hope that the people around me are having as much fun as I am! I had a very different experience than most of you though. It was my eighth time at the Broadway Flea, so I've learned pretty well by now how to work it to find what I want. (I'm also a damn good haggler.) I unearthed a ton of neat and unique "treasures" ($3 for a beach towel from the Joe Papp Pirates of Penzance!), and even found one of the items that I'd set out to find at the beginning of the day (a first edition, hardcover 'The Flick' script signed by Annie Baker). That almost never happens! 

 

Some of my best finds were:

-An exquisite, framed 'Chicago' windowcard from the Philadelphia pre-Broadway tryout ($40)

-The book 'Tevye the Dairyman' signed by Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein ($50)

-Satin cast jacket from the OBC of 'Nine' ($40)

 

I snagged a ton of vintage show T-Shirts, which I LOVE. One booth in particular had a treasure trove of them. I bought beautiful vintage, 50/50 tees from:

 

-Jesus Christ Superstar (OBC)

-Mame (OBC)

-Shogun: The Musical (OBC)

-Dreamgirls (production crew shirt, OBC)

-The Rothschilds (Broadway Show League jersey from 1969)

-a vintage ringer tee from The Met Opera

... and my dearest apparel prize: a crew-neck sweatshirt from the OBC of 'Rags.' (!!!!!)

 

I'm a huge collector of Broadway windowcards, so that's where I usually do most of my damage on flea market day. This year didn't disappoint in that regard, and I managed to get most for only a few bucks! 

 

Got windowcards from: 

-Carrie (OBC, signed by Betty Buckley!! Water-damaged, but still, only $25!)

-Cabaret w/ Michelle Williams (full-cast-signed... $11)

-Virginia Woolf w/ Letts and Morton (full-cast-signed, $15) 

-Death of a Salesman w/ Philip Seymour Hoffman (not a repro! $5!!)

-The Heidi Chronicles (OBC)

-American Buffalo (OBC)

-Seascape (OBC)

-Big (OBC)

-Will Rogers Follies (OBC, signed by Keith Carradine, Dee Hoty, and Tommy Tune... $3!!)

-Penn and Teller's 1st off-Broadway show in 1985 ($3!!)

-Gypsy w/ Tyne Daly

-Streamers (Public Theatre, Paul Davis art)

-Talley's Folly (OBC)

-Seminar (signed by Alan Rickman, $2!!)

-Twlight: LA 1992

-The Last Ship (opening night mini-poster)

-All the Way (OBC)

-Rocky (OBC)

-After Midnight (OBC)

-Violet (OBC)

-Big Fish (OBC)

-Honeymoon in Vegas (OBC)

-Bonnie and Clyde (OBC)

-The River (OBC)

-Hedwig w/ JCM (one of the other items I desperately hoped to find yesterday!)

-Take Me Out (OBC)

-Murder Ballad (OBC)

-A Raisin in the Sun w/ Denzel

-The Normal Heart (OBC)

-Hurlyburly (OBC)

-Suburbia 

-Vanya + Sonya + Masha + Spike (LCT)

 

Definitely one of the best hauls I've ever had at the flea, and I stayed within the budget I set for myself at the beginning of the day.

 

Everyone keep posting! I LOVE hearing what people found! 

Updated On: 9/28/15 at 12:12 PM

[Xman8]

Posted: 9/28/15 at 12:34pm

This was my first Flea Market but I made some great pick-ups!

 

-"Big" window card signed by Susan Stroman

 

-Robe that was an opening night for "The Lion King" when it opened in Minneapolis before it headed to Broadway

 

-A costume that was used on stage in "Taboo"

 

-But the biggest pick-up and biggest mission to get home was a neon letter "N" that was used on the Broadway Marquee for "Finian's Rainbow"