Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Bags Full of Fleas!


Rain and even the threat of a shut down couldn't keep the 23rd Annual BCEFA Broadway Flea Market from happening. This news is old - the rain forced organizers to move everything into the Roseland Ballroom. Huge as it is, it is much smaller than Shubert Alley and 44th Street. And the rain did not deter throngs from showing up. At one point it was so crowded, the fire department had to step in and evacuate the building, then apparently made arrangements for more orderly counting of patrons and limiting access. That limited access didn't stop the shopping as the event made well over $400K! Congrats to all involved.


All the show tables had great stuff for sale... lots of signed production photos and posters and the like. And some has some REAL bargains. The Little Mermaid table had high quality T-shirts, opening night Playbills in mint condition and stacks of autographed stuff - everything for $1.00! Added the Playbill to my collection... Avenue Q had a great deal for $20.00: your choice of a signed poster (Kate Monster, Trekkie, etc.) + a huge button, a Playbill and another souvenir of your choice! I think Wicked and Billy Elliot, the new reigning champ at the B.O. were vying for classiest booths with some amazing memorabilia for real fans of each show.



The best non-show booths to me were the Playbill booth, which at the time I was there, had everything for $1.00. So I got a Wicked 5th Anniversary Playbill, a closing night RENT Playbill, and the newest window card featuring every Playbill of the past season. On their own website, each of those Playbills are $15.00 and the poster is $20.00! I saved $47.00, not including shipping and handling. And I took my purchases right to the next best booth - Triton Gallery, and got the poster framed for $20.00! Plus I got a Doubt poster for my collection - it looks to be i mint condition for $1.00! If I got these from their own website, it would have cost me $60.00, plus shipping and handling! I ended up with over $110.00 worth of collectibles for $24.00. AND it is all for charity!


HINT FOR NEXT YEAR: Go later! The deals are even better!



Did you go? Tell us about it!

Jeff

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