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Jonny Gomes collectors' thread
- Thread starter LWMM
- Start date
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nosterbor
Well-known member
Fantastic collection. Keep updating us on your pick-ups.
- Thread starter
- #83
Thanks, guys!
I thought I'd take another look at this set, after (finally) digging into the 2004 Theo Davis Sons International League Champions Card Set (see post #73), an SGA which appears to have been issued in a similar manner to this one. Given how much information was available about the 2004 set on an archived Bulls set, I hoped the same might be true here. It was.
It looks like this is known as the 2007 10 Years at Triple-A Baseball set, and was given out on July 26, 2007, to mini-plan holders with that game in their schedule. Per the team's archived 2007 promotions schedule, that date was "Law Enforcement Appreciation Night," sponsored by LoJack—appropriately enough, as the company advertises what it calls a "stolen vehicle recovery system integrated with law enforcement." The schedule continues, stating "Show your appreciation for the men and women of law enforcement tonight with Lojack and your Durham Bulls. Come to the ballpark hungry because hot dogs, french fries and popcorn are all $1.00 each." And then it concludes with a "Mini Plan Giveaway: 10 Years at Triple-A Baseball Cards."
Meanwhile, an archived page on the team's 2007 mini plans shows that the Bulls offered 7 such plans that year, for between 5 and 20 games. July 26, 2007, is included in only one of those plans—a 13-game all-Thursday plan, which an earlier version of the page (released before the season, and which includes some errors and different dates) calls the "Family Feast Plan." (This is presumably because, as the promotions page shows, on Thursdays, "hot dogs, french fries and popcorn are all $1.00 each.") Further confirming that this set was linked to that game and to that mini plan in particular, the mini-plan page states "GIVEAWAY — 10 Years at Triple-A Baseball Cards."
The last part gives an indication of why this set is so rare—the one I bought in 2016 is still the only one I've seen. As a minor-league team, the Bulls can't have had that many mini-plan holders to begin with; then, only one of the seven mini plans available that year offered this as a giveaway. It's somewhat surprising that the Bulls would go to the effort of making a full set of cards for such a small offering, but that's what appears to have happened.
This is from set issued by the Durham bulls in 2007 to commemorate their 10th year as a AAA team. Despite being a decade old, and containing two players I collect (Gomes and Matt Diaz), I didn't have any idea it existed until it appeared on eBay a few weeks ago. The set has 20 cards, including players (and a manager) from a variety of years. The full list:
Delmon Young
Brooks Badeaux
Randy Winn
Mickey Callaway
Lee Gardner
Jonny Gomes
Jason Standridge
Carl Crawford
Jeff Niemann
Lance Carter
Aubrey Huff
Matt Diaz
Steve Cox
Kevin Witt
Toby Hall
Bill Evers
B. J. Upton
Jason Smith
Rocco Baldelli
Ryan Jackson
I thought I'd take another look at this set, after (finally) digging into the 2004 Theo Davis Sons International League Champions Card Set (see post #73), an SGA which appears to have been issued in a similar manner to this one. Given how much information was available about the 2004 set on an archived Bulls set, I hoped the same might be true here. It was.
It looks like this is known as the 2007 10 Years at Triple-A Baseball set, and was given out on July 26, 2007, to mini-plan holders with that game in their schedule. Per the team's archived 2007 promotions schedule, that date was "Law Enforcement Appreciation Night," sponsored by LoJack—appropriately enough, as the company advertises what it calls a "stolen vehicle recovery system integrated with law enforcement." The schedule continues, stating "Show your appreciation for the men and women of law enforcement tonight with Lojack and your Durham Bulls. Come to the ballpark hungry because hot dogs, french fries and popcorn are all $1.00 each." And then it concludes with a "Mini Plan Giveaway: 10 Years at Triple-A Baseball Cards."
Meanwhile, an archived page on the team's 2007 mini plans shows that the Bulls offered 7 such plans that year, for between 5 and 20 games. July 26, 2007, is included in only one of those plans—a 13-game all-Thursday plan, which an earlier version of the page (released before the season, and which includes some errors and different dates) calls the "Family Feast Plan." (This is presumably because, as the promotions page shows, on Thursdays, "hot dogs, french fries and popcorn are all $1.00 each.") Further confirming that this set was linked to that game and to that mini plan in particular, the mini-plan page states "GIVEAWAY — 10 Years at Triple-A Baseball Cards."
The last part gives an indication of why this set is so rare—the one I bought in 2016 is still the only one I've seen. As a minor-league team, the Bulls can't have had that many mini-plan holders to begin with; then, only one of the seven mini plans available that year offered this as a giveaway. It's somewhat surprising that the Bulls would go to the effort of making a full set of cards for such a small offering, but that's what appears to have happened.
- Thread starter
- #84
Update on Gomes goal #6 for the year (see post #68). Got a few in from a SportLots box order, and a few more (the bottom two rows in the below photo) from the same eBay seller who sold the lot from post #70; nothing particularly rare in the lot this time, although I'm a fan of the 2002 Topps Total with contemporaneous IP auto. The remaining cards were mostly isolated pickups. Other highlights are a 2006 A&G auto, and, also from the SportLots order, a 2003 Topps Pristine R Gold Refractor 57/69 of Gomes's brother Joey.
Weeks 7–9: February 9–March 1
Progress: 17 serial-numbered cards (141 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
Weeks 7–9: February 9–March 1
Progress: 17 serial-numbered cards (141 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
- 2002 Topps Pristine U 199/1999
- 2002 Topps Pristine C Refractor /1999 (3): 645, 1169 (COMC), 1275
- 2003 Upper Deck Finite T1 482/1299
- 2004 Skybox Autographics Prospects /1500 (2): 625, 906 (SportLots)
- 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Green 146/199
- 2006 Bowman Blue 326/500 (SportLots)
- 2006 Bowman Originals 2004 Bowman 92/175
- 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AL Artifacts Red 163/250 (SportLots)
- 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome /1959 (2): 50 (SportLots), 401 (COMC)
- 2010 Topps Update Series Gold 1116/2010 (SportLots)
- 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome 731/1962
- 2014 Topps Update Gold 1570/2014
- 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autograph Purple 18/150
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- Thread starter
- #85
As mentioned, I recently purchased another pack of these from eBay, thinking I would open it, take out the two Gomes cards—most importantly, the one that I only recently realized existed—and part out the others. Almost as soon as the pack arrived, however, someone else apparently had the same idea: For the first time in years, individual Gomes cards from the set turned up on eBay. And so, here is Gomes as the 7 of Spades.
Note sure what I'll do with the pack at this point. I already had two sealed packs—might just keep it as a third.
- Thread starter
- #86
Update on Gomes goal #6 for the year (see post #68). Six cards this week, the highlight being the Topps Archives 1/150; the Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor /150 is also nice, as those don't turn up frequently anymore. On the non-serial-numbered front, the 2006 Fleer Autographics is quite difficult to find, and there are also the SGA playing cards discussed in the above post.
I also picked up a few rarer Matt Diaz cards, both duplicates. He was a teammate of Gomes with the Durham Bulls and I collect his cards too, although there are far fewer. The 2003 Fleer Mystique Gold is hand numbered 11/25. It should be stamped, so is presumably an unnumbered factory replacement that made it out post-bankruptcy and ran into someone with a Sharpie. The seller didn't include a scan of the back, but at $3, no harm done.
Week 10: March 2–8
Progress: 6 serial-numbered cards (147 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
I also picked up a few rarer Matt Diaz cards, both duplicates. He was a teammate of Gomes with the Durham Bulls and I collect his cards too, although there are far fewer. The 2003 Fleer Mystique Gold is hand numbered 11/25. It should be stamped, so is presumably an unnumbered factory replacement that made it out post-bankruptcy and ran into someone with a Sharpie. The seller didn't include a scan of the back, but at $3, no harm done.
Week 10: March 2–8
Progress: 6 serial-numbered cards (147 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
- 2002 Topps Pristine U Refractor 168/799
- 2003 Topps Traded Gold /2003 (2): 730, 795 (both COMC)
- 2006 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor 95/150
- 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts MLB Apparel Gold 88/150
- 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autograph Purple 1/150
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banjar
Well-known member
I'm curious - why Jonny Gomes?
- Thread starter
- #88
I watched him play for the Durham Bulls while when I was growing up. There were a couple players I liked there (particularly Matt Diaz and Jorge Cantu), but Gomes in particular had a scrappy, all-out style of play that I enjoyed watching and respected, and perhaps related to—be it hustling down to first on every groundout, quickly whipping his bat back whenever he swung and missed as if he'd made a mistake (he lost that habit once he became more of a slugger), or angling his elbow out on an inside pitch, taking the plunk, and jogging down to first. (One of my favorite items is Gomes's 75th HBP ball.) He also clearly had a ton of energy and was a team player, leading to his later reputation as a clubhouse leader. And it didn't hurt that he made some great plays; I still remember a no-doubt walk-off double off the "Blue Monster" in left, when the left fielder took one look at the ball leaving the bat, put his head down, and started walking back to the dugout. It was then fun to follow his career after the Bulls, which had its own share of highlights.
As someone to collect, choosing Gomes was largely serendipitous. He ended up being good enough, and having a long enough career, that he had a decent amount of cards issued, including some premier ones (logo and letter patches; superfractors; laundry tag; etc.). But the most cards he ever had in a year was 212, and they remained affordable; that meant that I could truly go after all of them, and expand into other areas like game-used items.
On that note, here's his first Durham Bulls card, from 2004:
banjar
Well-known member
Hey, those are pretty good reasons.
And it was definitely fortuitous that he was not a HOF player. They'd still be pumping out hundreds of cards a year for him. But he was fairly well known, so it's more likely that people will post his cards than those of a total nobody. Kind of the sweet spot in terms of PC'ing.
And it was definitely fortuitous that he was not a HOF player. They'd still be pumping out hundreds of cards a year for him. But he was fairly well known, so it's more likely that people will post his cards than those of a total nobody. Kind of the sweet spot in terms of PC'ing.
- Thread starter
- #90
Thanks, banjar. Definitely a different case than for someone like Alomar, for whom Beckett catalogues 7,539(!) cards. There are certainly benefits to collecting a player like that—a greater variety of cards and the like—but all in all, collecting Gomes ended up being nearly perfect.
- Thread starter
- #91
Update on Gomes goal #6 for the year (see post #68). The Bowman Silver is a nice pickup; none of the cards from that set show up with any regularity, no doubt aided by the fact that I own so many of them already. Same for the Topps Archives Silver, of which I now own around a quarter.
Though not serial numbered, the 2014 Topps 1st Edition pictured below is limited to 10. And—though not Gomes—the Diaz is a Bazooka back numbered 12/25.
Week 11: March 9–15
Progress: 8 serial-numbered cards (155 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
Though not serial numbered, the 2014 Topps 1st Edition pictured below is limited to 10. And—though not Gomes—the Diaz is a Bazooka back numbered 12/25.
Week 11: March 9–15
Progress: 8 serial-numbered cards (155 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
- 2007 Topps Gold 1998/2007
- 2008 Topps Gold 45/2008
- 2014 Bowman Silver 6/75
- 2014 Topps Update Gold /2014 (2): 21, 1845 (both SportLots)
- 2015 Topps Update Gold /2015 (2): 1485 (COMC), 1788
- 2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs Silver 54/99
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- Thread starter
- #92
As prefaced here, this is a ROMLB signed by Gomes in 2004—apparently on March 2, 2004, when the Devil Rays "B" team played a Spring Training game. More information is also found in this thread on Blowout.
This baseball is significant in that Gomes included the number "60" after his name. That's the number he wore in the majors in 2003 and 2004, when he played only 8 and 5 games, respectively. (He likely also wore the number during at least 2004 Spring Training, given that he signed it on this ball.) He switched to number 31 in 2005, which became his main (although far from only) number throughout his career. This is the only baseball I've seen signed by Gomes where he included the number 60. And I'm not sure I've seen him sign any other object with the number 60.
It's not that surprising that the ball is so rare; it's a lot cheaper to get a player to sign a 50-cent card than a (at current prices) $25 ROMLB, so the latter tend to be handed to more established players. Thankfully, however, someone decided to hand this one to a lesser-known prospect.
Larger photos here and here.
This baseball is significant in that Gomes included the number "60" after his name. That's the number he wore in the majors in 2003 and 2004, when he played only 8 and 5 games, respectively. (He likely also wore the number during at least 2004 Spring Training, given that he signed it on this ball.) He switched to number 31 in 2005, which became his main (although far from only) number throughout his career. This is the only baseball I've seen signed by Gomes where he included the number 60. And I'm not sure I've seen him sign any other object with the number 60.
It's not that surprising that the ball is so rare; it's a lot cheaper to get a player to sign a 50-cent card than a (at current prices) $25 ROMLB, so the latter tend to be handed to more established players. Thankfully, however, someone decided to hand this one to a lesser-known prospect.
Larger photos here and here.
- Thread starter
- #93
Update on Gomes goal #6 for the year (see post #68). The big one is the 2002 Topps Pristine gold refractor—those seem to be decently well collected, and are some of Gomes's more interesting rookies. The next biggest one, however unassuming it may seem, is probably the 2014 Topps Orange /199. It took me until 2022 to find one (see posts #63 & #72), so I was very happy to finally find a second. And there are some other decent ones, too, such as the 2004 Bowman Uncirculated Silver /245, and the 2006 UD Gold /299. Neither is particularly rare, but they pop up infrequently enough to make them fun to find.
Pictured at the bottom are an unnumbered Gomes auto (2007 UD Artifacts), as well as two Joey Gomes 2003 Topps Golds. Those were kindly sent gratis by someone I'd bought a couple Jonny Gomes cards from. Interestingly, we discovered during the exchange that they incorrectly list Jonny Gomes's biographical information (e.g., height and birthday) on the back. I had already known that Jonny Gomes's 2004 Bowman cards incorrectly include Joey Gomes's facsimile signature (compare the IP vs facsimile here), but this error was a new find.
Finally—on the topic of errors—the Matt Diaz card at the bottom right actually has Doug Waechter's signature on it. Waechter also had an auto in the set; the eBay seller surmised that they might have signed them at the same time and Waechter accidentally grabbed some of Diaz's, which seems a decent possibility.
Weeks 12–13: March 16–29
Progress: 15 serial-numbered cards (170 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
Pictured at the bottom are an unnumbered Gomes auto (2007 UD Artifacts), as well as two Joey Gomes 2003 Topps Golds. Those were kindly sent gratis by someone I'd bought a couple Jonny Gomes cards from. Interestingly, we discovered during the exchange that they incorrectly list Jonny Gomes's biographical information (e.g., height and birthday) on the back. I had already known that Jonny Gomes's 2004 Bowman cards incorrectly include Joey Gomes's facsimile signature (compare the IP vs facsimile here), but this error was a new find.
Finally—on the topic of errors—the Matt Diaz card at the bottom right actually has Doug Waechter's signature on it. Waechter also had an auto in the set; the eBay seller surmised that they might have signed them at the same time and Waechter accidentally grabbed some of Diaz's, which seems a decent possibility.
Weeks 12–13: March 16–29
Progress: 15 serial-numbered cards (170 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
- 2002 Topps Pristine U 1125/1999
- 2002 Topps Pristine U Gold Refractor 39/70
- 2004 Bowman Uncirculated Silver 188/245
- 2004 Fleer Authentix Ticket to the Majors 927/999
- 2004 Fleer Genuine Insider Genuine Upside 296/799
- 2004 Topps Traded Gold 367/2004
- 2004 Upper Deck Etchings Etched in Time black auto 227/325
- 2005 SP Collection SPx Materials 21/199
- 2006 Bowman Originals 2002 Bowman buyback auto 174/341
- 2006 Upper Deck Gold 24/299
- 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts Autofacts 104/700
- 2007 Upper Deck Elements Clear-Cut Elements Bronze GU/auto 335/350
- 2014 Topps #146 Orange 189/199 (COMC)
- 2015 Topps Update Gold /2015 (2): 1104 (COMC), 1471
- Thread starter
- #94
Update on Gomes goal #6 for the year (see post #68). The Skybox Autographics Silver /100 is quite nice; also glad to add the SPx /350, which don't turn up too often.
Week 14: March 30–April 5
Progress: 7 serial-numbered cards (177 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
Week 14: March 30–April 5
Progress: 7 serial-numbered cards (177 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
- 2002 Topps Pristine U 883/1999
- 2004 Skybox Autographics Signatures Silver 49/100
- 2005 SP Collection SPx Signature 174/350
- 2008 Topps Chrome Copper Refractor 341/599
- 2008 Topps Chrome Copper Refractor 480/599
- 2013 Topps Gold 1181/2013
- 2014 Topps Gold #274 1154/2014
- Thread starter
- #95
Update on Gomes goal #6 for the year (see post #68). Most of these are overpriced cards that had been sitting forever, and for which I finally decided to just go for it; the bottom two rows are from the same seller on Beckett (he still has an auto/patch /10 listed for $250—no thanks), and the 2007 Premier auto had likewise been on eBay for ages. With that said, there are some lower-numbered cards that don't come up frequently and that are nice to add, such as the 2005 Rookie Cups (especially the Blue /50), the 2004 Bowman Chrome /172, the 2007 Premier /10, and the 2007 Co-Signers /75. The 2015 Topps Black 1/64 (from one of the other Gomes collectors, selling duplicates) is also a nice add.
Now officially more than halfway to the goal, yet barely a quarter of the way through the year.
Week 15: April 6–12
Progress: 26 serial-numbered cards (203 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
Now officially more than halfway to the goal, yet barely a quarter of the way through the year.
Week 15: April 6–12
Progress: 26 serial-numbered cards (203 total for the year)
The cards (links to example scans):
- 2003 Topps Traded Gold /2003 (2): 140, 157
- 2004 Bowman Chrome X-Fractor 12/172
- 2004 Upper Deck Etchings Etched in Time black auto 154/325 (COMC)
- 2005 SP Collection SPx Materials 186/199 (COMC)
- 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Yellow /299 (2): 114, 211
- 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Blue 30/50
- 2006 Upper Deck Artifacts MLB Apparel 137/325
- 2007 Topps Co-Signers Bronze 93/275
- 2007 Topps Co-Signers Blue 96/250
- 2007 Topps Co-Signers Hyper Silver Red 13/75
- 2007 Upper Deck Premier Emerging Stars Dual Autographs B.J. Upton/Jonny Gomes Gold 7/10
- 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome /1959 (3): 141, 148, 750
- 2008 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractor 177/599
- 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights Gold /2009 (3): 231, 504, 725
- 2010 Topps Update Series Gold 331/2010
- 2011 Topps Gold 370/2011 (COMC)
- 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome /1962 (2): 1451, 1728
- 2014 Topps Opening Day Blue Foil 1330/2014
- 2015 Topps Update Black 1/64
banjar
Well-known member
Man that's a lot of pickups the last few months. You're killing it.
- Thread starter
- #97
Thanks! There are a lot of fun ones in there. It's an unsustainable rate of pickups, though, as a lot of it represents the low-hanging fruit, so to speak, and, increasingly, the medium-hanging fruit. A lot of what's left on eBay etc. is thus way overpriced. But, hopefully, more cards continue to be listed.
- Thread starter
- #98
It's not every day you add an eleven-year-old card to your collection. And, certainly, it's not every day when that eleven-year-old card is a mainstream issue that you didn't even know existed until it popped up on eBay.
Such, however, is the case here. This is the 2014 Topps Power Players Prizes (also known as Gold HoloFoil) parallel /75. There's a thread on Blowout about this issue (see post #9 from me). In short, it was part of a promotion where there was a 220-card Power Players partial parallel set, and each card had a code on the back; if you entered 30 codes (some sites suggest they had to be from different players), you were given one of these /75 parallels.
There's absolutely no way that 75 of each card were issued—something that would have taken redeeming just under 1.5 million codes. As said, this is the first Gomes I've seen (he has two cards in 2014 Topps), and we've been able to find examples of only 30 cards as part of the list on Blowout. By way of comparison, COMC lists around 600* different 2014 Topps Blacks /63 in active/sold listings, but only 22 Power Players Prizes /75. Given these paltry numbers and the method of distribution, it also seems very possible that not all 660 cards were even issued.
As noted, Gomes has two cards in 2014 Topps, the other being the World Series Game 4 highlight. The World Series Game 5 highlight card is known to exist, which raises the chances that the Game 4 one does too. Until I see it, however, it's staying off the checklist.
Fun fact (albeit less fun for me): I got into a snipe-out with one of the other Gomes collectors on this one, making it probably a top 10 all time most expensive Gomes card.
* They list 625 2014 Topps blacks, but COMC lists cards in different conditions/grades separately, meaning some are dupes. It would be possible to go through them one-by-one and figure out the exact count, but I just can't make myself.
Such, however, is the case here. This is the 2014 Topps Power Players Prizes (also known as Gold HoloFoil) parallel /75. There's a thread on Blowout about this issue (see post #9 from me). In short, it was part of a promotion where there was a 220-card Power Players partial parallel set, and each card had a code on the back; if you entered 30 codes (some sites suggest they had to be from different players), you were given one of these /75 parallels.
There's absolutely no way that 75 of each card were issued—something that would have taken redeeming just under 1.5 million codes. As said, this is the first Gomes I've seen (he has two cards in 2014 Topps), and we've been able to find examples of only 30 cards as part of the list on Blowout. By way of comparison, COMC lists around 600* different 2014 Topps Blacks /63 in active/sold listings, but only 22 Power Players Prizes /75. Given these paltry numbers and the method of distribution, it also seems very possible that not all 660 cards were even issued.
As noted, Gomes has two cards in 2014 Topps, the other being the World Series Game 4 highlight. The World Series Game 5 highlight card is known to exist, which raises the chances that the Game 4 one does too. Until I see it, however, it's staying off the checklist.
Fun fact (albeit less fun for me): I got into a snipe-out with one of the other Gomes collectors on this one, making it probably a top 10 all time most expensive Gomes card.
* They list 625 2014 Topps blacks, but COMC lists cards in different conditions/grades separately, meaning some are dupes. It would be possible to go through them one-by-one and figure out the exact count, but I just can't make myself.
