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.

View attachment 340701

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:

 

[LWMM]

A few months ago, I posted (posts 58 & 59) about a 2022 Japanese set I had just come across—I had the base and auto /61 at the time, and mentioned that others were incoming. These arrived yesterday.

The new cards are shown below: The foil parallel (the signature actually looks silver in person; it's a nice effect), and the auto /9. In fact, I was able to find three of the /9 autos, and another three of the /61 autos. Still looking for the /5 of the base and the auto, and the two 1/1s. I thought I had the /5 of the base, but after I bought it I was told it was sold out. And there's a completed listing for the 1/1 base on Yahoo Japan auctions, but unfortunately I didn't see it in time. Given how many of these I was able to find, however, I'm cautiously optimistic about being able to track down at least the /5s.

And the full set (bold I have; red I'm missing).

• Base
• Foil signature
• Foil signature gold /5
• Foil signature holo /1
• Auto silver /61
• Auto gold /9
• Auto black gold /5
• Auto holo /1

 

[banjar]

Good finds! I love that oddball shiznit.

 

[LWMM]

Taken from the 2025 goals thread, here are my Gomes goals for the upcoming year:

1. Add one non-1/1 card from the needs list (2001–2019)
2. Finish the two non-1/1s from the 2022 Japanese set I just discovered (a /5 base parallel and a /5 auto)
3. Add two 1/1s
4. Add two game-used jerseys
5. Add two game-used bats
6. Add 365 serial-numbered cards

Updates on goals 1–5 will, no doubt, be few and far between. But goal 6 is intended in some respects to compensate for that, giving a fun way to track pickups; I'll try to update this thread semi-regularly throughout the year.

 

[LWMM]

One (truncated) week down, and good progress on Gomes goal #6 for the year: obtaining 365 serial-numbered cards (see post #68). I got 18 such cards from January 1 to 4. This reflects some low-hanging fruit—I bought a lot of the cheaper available numbered Gomes cards in the days before New Years—and the rest of the year is unlikely to be like this. (This coming week should also be pretty good, though.)

The below links are to example photos, not the exact cards. These are the cards that arrived last week, except for the COMC purchases, which are counted by day of purchase (since I only infrequently ship those).

• 2002 Just Prospects auto 439/1200
• 2002 Just Prospects Black 28/50 (COMC)
• 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor 1270/1999
• 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor 1800/1999
• 2002 Topps Pristine U Refractor 190/799 (COMC)
• 2004 Fleer Authentix Ticket to the Majors 862/999 (COMC)
• 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Orange 380/399 (IP auto)
  • Also bought six other IP autos from the same seller, but none serial numbered
• 2006 Bowman Originals 2004 Bowman Chrome buyback auto 7/25
• 2006 Topps Gold 712/2006
• 2006 Upper Deck Future Stars Red 126/299 (COMC)
• 2007 Fleer Ultra Dual Materials jersey 117/160
• 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome 433/1959
• 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractor 153/559
• 2010 Topps Update Series Gold 296/2010 (COMC)
• 2011 Topps Gold 1548/2011
• 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome 921/1962
• 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome 981/1962
• 2015 Topps Update Gold 1000/2015

 

[LWMM]

Week 2: January 5–11
Progress: 31 serial-numbered cards (49 total for the year)

This was a very productive week against goal #6, although progress is likely to come more slowly from here on out. It partly reflects the spate of purchases I made at the beginning of the year; the bulk of it (18 cards), however, represents a single lot from a large seller on eBay who gave me a good deal on all his Gomes cards after I purchased the two he had listed. Even beyond the cards listed here, the lot included four unnumbered autos (2006 Flair Showcase Fresh Ink; 2006 Topps A&G; 2007 UD Star Signings; 2007 Topps Moments & Milestones), and four IP autos. He also threw in a couple cards that weren't even pictured, the most substantial being a 2006 Topps A&G mini no number—a card that I've been looking for a second of (for my dupe set, which isn't missing many cards) for years.

Picking through the eBay lot was a lot of fun. Mostly early cards, a decent number of which are rarer, and a few good surprises—the A&G mini no number for one, and finding out that the 2004 Skybox Royal Insignia was numbered 25/25.

Photo at the bottom shows the actual cards. Links below are to example photos.

• 2002 Just Prospects auto 348/1200
• 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor 1068/1999
• 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor 1207/1999
• 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor 1465/1999
• 2002 Topps Pristine U Refractor 709/799
• 2003 Upper Deck Finite T1 527/1299
• 2004 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor 79/172
• 2004 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor 156/172
• 2004 Skybox Autographics Royal Insignia 25/25
• 2004 Skybox Autographics Signatures Silver 45/100
• 2004 Upper Deck Etchings Etched in Time black auto 310/325
• 2006 Bowman Originals 2002 Bowman buyback auto 316/341
• 2006 Bowman Originals 2006 Bowman buyback auto 302/363
  • I now have more than 30 of these—the result of trying to find duplicates of a rare error where these are accidentally numbered /366
• 2006 Flair Showcase Field Box Legacy Blue 96/150
• 2006 Flair Showcase Showcase Signatures 3/35
• 2006 SP Authentic By The Letter G auto 16/175
• 2006 Sweet Spot Signatures Red/Blue Stitch 44/99
• 2006 Topps Gold 1895/2006
• 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts Autofacts 596/700
• 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts Green 85/150
• 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts Green 118/150
• 2006 Upper Deck Future Stars Gold 3/25
• 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor 299/660
• 2007 Topps Chrome Red Refractor 29/99
• 2007 Upper Deck Elements Clear-Cut Elements Bronze GU/auto 6/350
• 2007 Upper Deck Elements Clear-Cut Elements Bronze GU/auto 276/350
• 2007 Upper Deck Elements Clear-Cut Elements Silver GU/auto 113/199
• 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractor 463/599
• 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Gold 679/2009
• 2014 Topps Update Gold 232/2014
• 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs Silver 59/99

The cards themselves (larger photo here):

 

[LWMM]

Weeks 3–6: January 12–February 8
Progress: 75 serial-numbered cards (124 total for the year)

Been busy and then out of town for a couple weeks, so getting caught up. The bulk of these come from a single sale—50 of the 2002 Just Prospects auto—though there are many pickups even without those. I also picked up a couple unnumbered cards that are pictured, but not listed: 2003 Bowman Signs of the Future auto, 2006 Topps A&G auto, and a 2011 Walgreens SGA playing-card set that I'll probably break to get extras of the two Gomes cards therein, then list the others.

Links are to example cards:

• 2002 Just Prospects auto /1200 (50): 448, 449, 453, 454, 455, 467, 545, 549, 550, 1070, 1071, 1072, 1074, 1075, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1079, 1080, 1081, 1082, 1083, 1084, 1089, 1090, 1091, 1092, 1093, 1095, 1096, 1097, 1098, 1099, 1100, 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1107, 1108, 1109, 1110, 1177, 1179, 1180, 1181, 1182, 1183, 1185
• 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor 1103/1999
• 2003 Topps Traded Gold /2003 (6): 176, 419, 463, 920, 924, 1667
• 2004 Skybox Autographics Prospects 374/1500
• 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Orange 8/399
• 2006 Bowman Originals 2006 Bowman buyback auto /363 (2): 93, 304
• 2006 Flair Showcase Showcase Signatures 21/35
• 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts Red 20/250
• 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts MLB Apparel Silver 40/250
• 2006 Upper Deck Future Stars Purple 498/1799
• 2007 Topps Gold 1730/2007
• 2007 Upper Deck Premier Emerging Stars Dual Autographs Jonny Gomes/Carl Crawford 38/50
• 2008 Topps Chrome Copper Refractor 303/599
• 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome 1258/1962 (COMC)
• 2014 Topps Gold #146 /2014 (2): 96, 743
• 2014 Topps Gold #274 489/2014
• 2014 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil /2014 (2): 887, 949
• 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autograph Purple 54/150 (COMC)

The cards (larger photo here):

 

[LWMM]

As posted in its own thread, I recently checked off two non-1/1 cards from my wants list—essentially as much progress as I've made in the last decade. That leaves the following nine cards, three of which may not exist:

• 2002 Just Prospects Prototypes #JPP.17 (might not exist)
• 2004 Skybox Autographics Prospects Endorsed Dual Jonny Gomes/Andruw Jones (probably never produced, looking for a redemption card)
• 2005 Upper Deck Platinum #412 /5
• 2006 Bowman Originals 2004 Bowman Chrome Refractors /2
• 2007 Fleer Ultra Autographics (probably doesn't exist)
• 2014 Topps Acetate #146 /10
• 2014 Topps Heritage Black Back #135 (WS Game 4)
• 2022 Epoch JRFPA Decomori signature gold #24 /5
• 2022 Epoch Authentic Autograph black gold #AA-JG /5

In the days before the cards arrived, I did some research to see just how frequently cards have come off of the list. This largely entailed looking at the wants lists I've posted over time, then figuring out when I acquired each card; many of these acquisitions featured in posts, which are linked below.

The list is somewhat over-inclusive. I thought about setting a few rules, such as omitting cards which (a) I passed on beforehand (namely the Justifiable auto, which was available but expensive), (b) took less than a year after release to find (the 2008 Heritage), and/or (c) took time to find but were all but inevitable to eventually surface (the pink /50 and orange /199). But, at only 12 cards to begin with, the list was short enough that I ended up keeping them all, and just adding qualifiers where appropriate.

The overall takeaway is the obvious one: pickups are few and far between. In the last 15 years, a card has come off the list only every two or three years.

• July 2009: 2002-03 Justifiable Black Autograph 23/25 (on eBay beforehand, but expensive)
• July 2009: 2005 Upper Deck Emerald 24/25
• September 2009: 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome Black Refractor 55/59
• September 2009: 2004 Fleer Authentix Standing Room Only 1/5
• October 2009: 2004 Fleer Authentix Club Box 118 20/25
• April 2012: 2005 SP Collection SPx Signature Spectrum 5/10
• April 2016: 2013 Topps Silver Slate Sparkle Wrapper Redemption 1/10
• April 2017: 2014 Topps Pink #146 7/50 (as best I can figure; I also have the 39/50, but am not sure when I got that one)
• May 2022: 2014 Topps Orange #146 /199
• December 2022: 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Blue 443
• February 2025: 2014 Topps Heritage Black Back #274
• February 2025: 2015 Topps Heritage Blue Back #572

 

[LWMM]

Here's something of an oddball card that I only just took a close look at. From all indications, it's from a 2004 Theo Davis Sons International League Champions Card Set that was an SGA at a Durham Bulls game. Until the set appeared on eBay in 2017, I had no idea it existed; I haven't seen another since. 20 cards were included in the lot, which is likely the full set, although the cards are unnumbered. Reaching back out to the seller now, he said that he is sure it was a giveaway, as he wouldn't have bought the set.

The cards and an archived Bulls website give a good idea of what this set is. The backs of the cards include full 2003 stats and the fronts say "Back 2 Back Champions," a reference to the team's 2002 & 2003 International League titles. All players in the set played for the Bulls in 2003, and the card of Bill Evers states that he "Returns for his 7th season as the Bulls manager after leading the team to back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003." The set therefore could have been issued no earlier than the end of 2003; more likely, it would have been issued at the beginning of 2004. Meanwhile, the backs state "Theo Davis Sons Inc. printers of excellence" (the front also includes their logo) and include the logo of the radio station Mix 101.5, presumably the printers/sponsors of the set.

More helpful yet is the archived Durham Bulls page listing their 2004 promotions. This states that on May 6, 2004, the team had a "Theo Davis Sons Championship Card Set Sweepstakes," during which "The first 5,000 fans will receive a sweepstakes card, which gives them the opportunity to receive a Theo Davis Sons International League Champions Card Set." 5,000 chances to win means that some number of fewer sets must have been made—perhaps far fewer, given that this is the only set to turn up.

The full list of cards in the set:

• Hector Ortiz
• Bill Evers
• Jason Smith
• Ryan Jackson
• Matt Diaz
• Todd Williams
• Jose Veras
• Jason Tyner
• Jim Magrane
• Talley Haines
• Jonny Gomes
• George Lombard
• Cedrick Bowers (misspelled as "Cedric" on the front; correct on the back)
• Jon Switzer
• Chris Truby
• Jorge Cantu
• Jeff Liefer
• Delvin James
• Lee Gardner
• Brooks Badeaux

 

[Dazed]

Great find! I've had that happen with a couple oddball items that I never knew existed.

 

[banjar]

Awesome find! I live for that kind of stuff.

Here's something of an oddball card that I only just took a close look at. From all indications, it's from a 2004 Theo Davis Sons International League Champions Card Set that was an SGA at a Durham Bulls game. Until the set appeared on eBay in 2017, I had no idea it existed; I haven't seen another since. 20 cards were included in the lot, which is likely the full set, although the cards are unnumbered. Reaching back out to the seller now, he said that he is sure it was a giveaway, as he wouldn't have bought the set.

 

[LWMM]

Thanks, guys! I love these types of sets also, particularly when its a standalone set with its own design. And the icing on the cake is being able to track down most of the relevant information on it—so many of these types of sets get released and then forgotten about, and then 30 years later nobody know what they are.

 

[LWMM]

On the topic of SGAs, here's a card from a 2011 playing-card set, sponsored by Walgreens, that the Reds gave to the first 20,000 fans on August 27, 2011. Gomes actually has two cards in the set—the other is the 7 of spades (scan)—but they contain identical images and text. At the time, I purchased two sealed packs on eBay, and a loose card from a set that someone broke; I only recently realized that Gomes has two cards, and so purchased another sealed pack that I'll likely open and (after removing the two Gomes cards) part out.

The bottom of the packs names a company called Diamond Promos, and poking around online, I came across http://diamond-promos.com. According to the website, Diamond Promos is "the company that makes those cool playing card decks you got for free when you went into the ballgame." The entire content of the website, most pages of which are accessible in only archived form (such as here), is about promotional playing-card decks; the Reds deck is the only example it gives. (An archived copy of the home page from February 2011 also displays an XM Radio-sponsored Indy 500 playing-card deck, although it's unclear if this was actually made and I don't see any online.) Further digging shows that the company registered as an Ohio LLC in August 2010. The same name and address are also behind a number of other LLCs (e.g., Atomic Dog Publishing and AvR4Ed), most or all of which seem to have some nexus to publishing.

All in all, it seems as if the company was put together as something of a single-purpose side hustle, with the hope that other companies would follow suit and order sponsored playing cards. But the Reds deck seems to have been one of the only products it created.

 

[Dilferules]

On the topic of SGAs, here's a card from a 2011 playing-card set, sponsored by Walgreens, that the Reds gave to the first 20,000 fans on August 27, 2011. Gomes actually has two cards in the set—the other is the 7 of spades (scan)—but they contain identical images and text. At the time, I purchased two sealed packs on eBay, and a loose card from a set that someone broke; I only recently realized that Gomes has two cards, and so purchased another sealed pack that I'll likely open and (after removing the two Gomes cards) part out.

The bottom of the packs names a company called Diamond Promos, and poking around online, I came across http://diamond-promos.com. According to the website, Diamond Promos is "the company that makes those cool playing card decks you got for free when you went into the ballgame." The entire content of the website, most pages of which are accessible in only archived form (such as here), is about promotional playing-card decks; the Reds deck is the only example it gives. (An archived copy of the home page from February 2011 also displays an XM Radio-sponsored Indy 500 playing-card deck, although it's unclear if this was actually made and I don't see any online.) Further digging shows that the company registered as an Ohio LLC in August 2010. The same name and address are also behind a number of other LLCs (e.g., Atomic Dog Publishing and AvR4Ed), most or all of which seem to have some nexus to publishing.

All in all, it seems as if the company was put together as something of a single-purpose side hustle, with the hope that other companies would follow suit and order sponsored playing cards. But the Reds deck seems to have been one of the only products it created.

View attachment 361852 View attachment 361853

I've seen other sets that seem to be from that company. Here's a Trent Dilfer card, there's a listing on eBay calling it "Hero Decks" so I'm not 100% sure it's the same company but they look awfully similar. I don't know how they were distributed. The back is not a bunch of Ravens logos, it's a Ravens colors motif.

 

[LWMM]

Interesting. Hero Decks has a website, and on the "About Us" page says that "Founded in 2003, Parody Productions is an American company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio." Its 2003 articles of organization give a name and an address in Madeira, Ohio, which is a suburb of Cincinnati. Meanwhile, while Diamond Promos is registered under different name and address, it is also in Cincinnati.

There's got to be a connection here. The main question is whether they are/were working together in some capacity, or if Diamond Promos just saw what they were doing and decided to do it also.

 

[LWMM]

For Arturo's benefit, here's the Cantu from the 2004 Theo Davis Sons International League Champions Card Set (post #73).

Behind Cantu in the photo is the number 18, along the outfield wall. This is Joe Morgan's number, which for a long time was the only number retired by the Bulls. He played there in 1963.