Jonny Gomes collectors' thread

[LWMM]

One of many side projects related to Gomes is to acquire copies of his cards with contemporaneous signatures (e.g., a 2002 card with a 2002-style signature, and so on). Mostly base cards (since that's what's mostly available signed), but parallels are fun to find.

Here are three recent pickups from 2002: the Bowman Gold parallel, and two minor-league issues. Gomes changed his signature around the time of the 2003 Arizona Fall League, so there was a a limited window for this style of signature. Meanwhile, the Bowman Gold is a parallel, and I haven't seen many signed minor-league issues for sale (perhaps because auto seekers tend to focus on major issues, and/or because those who get team/minor-league sets signed tend to be fans who aren't looking to sell). I'd like to replace them with blue signatures at some point, but very happy to add them for now.

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Upgraded the above with a blue signature. Not an easy card to find with a contemporaneous signature—I have a lot copies of most of the major issues (e.g., Bowman and Topps 206), but only a few of his minor-league issues.




Meanwhile, here are two parallels that I've had for a while but only recently scanned: 2002 Topps 206 Polar Bear mini, and 2003 Bazooka 4-on-1 sticker. Neither card is rare, but they're the only examples I've seen with early signatures, presumably because they're not parallels that auto seekers focus on. The sticker is particularly nice to find; the set was released in March 2003 and Gomes changed his signature sometime around that fall, so there were only a few months for him to sign it with that style of signature. Note that it includes Roy Halladay. It's Gomes's only card, as far as I'm aware, to include a Hall of Famer.

 

[LWMM]

Last game-used pickup for the time being. This is a 2005–07 Max bat—likely from 2007, which is when the other JG31s models seem to be from. Lots of use on it; a sliver at the end of the barrel is chipped off, and fastened with a small nail.

 

[LWMM]

From the annals of the not-terribly-recently acquired, but only-just-now scanned, arrives the 2014 Topps Orange. These were placed in factory sets, and are numbered /199, but this was stupidly hard to find. Jeff picked one up early on, but I couldn't find one until 2022, when it appeared on eBay in a lot of five oranges. The scarcity is presumably something to do with their banishment to factory sets (are these often purchased but kept sealed as investments?), but I was surprised how difficult it was to find.

Gomes's other card from the set (#274, in Boston Strong pose) is also shown below. Picked this one up in 2014; don't think I've seen another since.

 

[LWMM]

In September, I posted about picking up a 1/1—a fairly rare event these days, probably around one a year. Barely a month later, another popped up. It's the magenta plate from 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights. I already had the cyan and yellow, also shown below; now I'm missing just the black.

This brings me to 29/37 for 2009 cards (78%; non-1/1s are 21/21, and 1/1s are 8/16). It also takes me to 136/305 for Gomes's total 1/1s, or 44.6%. That's 17 away from 50%—a heavy lift to be sure, but something that's beginning to get more possible to conceive of.

 

[LWMM]

Make that three 1/1s in two months—something probably not seen since around 2015, the last year Gomes was consistently featured in sets (and, not coincidentally, his last year in MLB).

This is the yellow printing plate from 2007 Upper Deck; it joins the black in my collection.

For 2007, it brings me to 92/114 (80.7%), which breaks down to 67/68 non-1/1s (98.5%), and 25/46 1/1s (54%). The missing non-1/1 is the 2007 Fleer Autographics; I have two of the plates, but the actual card probably wasn’t produced.

Overall, this brings me to a little north of 718/903 (79.5%)—there are a few I still need to add to the figures. And as for 1/1s, I’m now at 137/305 (44.9%)—16 away from the halfway point.




And the black, bought in 2007: