Derek Baker with his valuable and rare Solano Swap Meet find of the Girls Tyme poster with Beyoncé’s autograph inside his space at Rivertown Treasure Chest in downtown Antioch. Photos courtesy of Derek Baker.
Local treasure hunter buys it at Concord drive-in swap meet, offers it for sale at $4 million
Oakley resident Derek Baker is a part time vintage treasure hunter who frequents garage sales, estate sales and flea markets looking for interesting items he can flip for profit. He sells on eBay, through his own personal network and at a vintage co-op store in downtown Antioch called the Rivertown Treasure Chest. Comic books are his focus, but he tries to keep his mind open to anything that comes his way.
One Sunday morning, Baker was at the West Wind Solano Swap Meet & Public Market at the drive-in in Concord, when he noticed a pile of concert posters on the ground. The vender was the type of person who cleaned out homes or storage units and likely had no idea of what they really had. Many of the posters had the kind of art that would be associated with The Grateful Dead or other similar bands, which can fetch a good price. Some of the posters had inscriptions and signatures on them. So, he grabbed a stack, making sure to include all those with writing and got a bulk deal – 29 posters for $20.
Baker found his treasure at the Solano Swap Meet at the Westwind Drive-In in Concord.
They were almost all good posters that, in turn, can be sold for $10 to $30 each. One poster was even related to the Grateful Dead as it appears to have a signature from Vince Welnick, who played for the band at one time. However, the real gem was a pop culture piece of history from 1992. A poster of “Girl’s Tyme” – later known as Destiny’s Child – from their performance on Star Search.
The poster was printed and displayed for the live studio audience of Star Search to view as they attended the performance. It is unknown how many of these were actually printed for use inside the theater. Being that they lost that night, it is likely almost all of them, if not all the rest of them, were thrown in the trash when the theater was being prepared for the next evening’s performances. This particular copy appears to have been saved by one of the band’s managers at the time, Alonzo ‘Lonnie’ Jackson, who had several of the girls personalize it for him.
Beyoncé Knowles was 11 years old, and she already knew she was going to be a star. Not only did she sign her name but also added her autograph. Only one other girl even thought to sign her name, Ashley Tamar Davis. Two others inscribed notes but didn’t even put their names down. But Beyoncé already knew one day she would be the Queen B.
Baker’s poster appears to be the first signature and autograph of Beyoncé on any professional promotional material. Some baseball card collectors have told him that it’s like having the signature on a rookie card of one of the most popular players of all time.
The section of the poster with Beyoncé Knowles’ (now Carter) signature and autograph.
Baker purchased the poster in April 2025 and since then, he has had James Spence Authentication (JSA) certify that they believe it to be genuine. Star Search has since been rebooted on Netflix, making this a ‘Tymely’ treasure find. Being a piece of pop culture history for both Star Search and Beyonce, it may be a museum-worthy artifact. Baker thinks the new Hip Hop museum opening in the Bronx this year would be a good home.
The poster may be a ‘unicorn’ with no other piece to compare it to. How much is it worth? Is it a $1,000 poster or a $10 million poster? One suggestion is that he travel to Las Vegas to have it valued by Pawn Stars from the famous TV show which Baker said he might do.
The value or rather price he can get for the poster – which is the only true value of such an item – is unknown, for now. But Baker will eventually find out as he has it up for sale, asking $4 million. Maybe a super-fan from the BeyHive, as Beyoncé’s fanbase is known, or a museum benefactor will let him know.
Interested? Stop by and see Baker and more of his treasures for sale at the Rivertown Treasure Chest in Antioch’s historic, downtown Rivertown at 306 G Street. Or make him an offer on ebay.
Good luck Derek!
Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.
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