2008 Goudey Kelly Johnson

Who is this? Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson.

What is this? An autograph card from 2008 Goudey, card number GG-KJ.

Where'd I get it? EBay.

How much did it cost? $2.84 from larryvan.

Why is this so special? I'm not going to lie about it, Kelly isn't having that great a year for the Bravos this season. He's definitely regressed a bit from last year, especially in on base percentage. It's gotten so bad that trade rumors are flying, which is ridiculous considering his age and the fact that no one really wants him right now. I think it's just a situation where everybody stinks right now, with the possible exceptions of players not named Chipper. The idea behind the trade rumors might be due to the fact that the Braves have a truckload of infield prospects right now. I'd still rather see Kelly at second instead of Lillibridge or Prado, or at least move him back to the outfield which is a real weakness right now.

Trade or no trade, Kelly has had a signature card in both the '07 and '08 versions of Goudey. I really like the way they look so I've been looking for the Braves relics and autos from Goudey since last year and have been fairly successful so far. The '08 team set for Braves relics and autos is a lot tougher than last year though, Chipper and Glavine are in the autographed set and there appears to be a short printed Spahn jersey card. I can make a good run at it though and this great lookign sig from Kelly is a good start.

2008 Goudey Marlon Byrd

Who is this? Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd.

What is this? An autograph card from 2008 Goudey, cards number GG-MB.

Where'd I get it? Pulled from a pack bought from flea market dude.

How much did it cost? $4.75 for the pack.

Why is this so special? Ok, so I haven't posted in a while. I got stuff to do. You'll get nothing and like it! Anyway, the flea market guy was here today and I had a pocket full of cash. My main hauls: about ten Chipper Jones cards I didn't have already, a pile of Heritage Chrome and short prints and I wiped out a box of Topps cards from the late 70's that was selling for a nickel a pop. I had some money left over so I got a bunch of packs. I snagged a nice healthy stack from the quarter bin, three packs of Allen & Ginter and two of Goudey. The Junk wax was just that - junk. I ripped a few and saved the rest to send to trade partners. Allen & Ginter was a nice hit, I beat the odds and got two Baseball Legend minis of Honus Wagner and Jackie Robinson. I ripped the Goudey and found two run of the mill mini cards (Raul Ibanez and someone I forgot already) and no short prints. I repremanded myself for buying them when a blaster is far more cost effective than Hobby packs. I got home, sorted them to put in my Goudey binder and noticed the back.


I did one of those motorboat doubletake noises and eyeballed the front looking for the autograph. It ain't easy to see, that's for sure. Not a spectacular signature either, it looks to me like "Nyl" in script. It's an autograph though... I bought the hobby packs solely to try to get lucky and pull that 'graph and I done it. Now I can quit buying hobby packs of this stuff because I've already got my hit. I'm not sure what to think about pulling Marlon Byrd though. I'm still convinced he's going to make a breakthrough with the Phillies any day now. He's hitting pretty well for the Rangers as a fourth ourfielder though so I can't complain.

2007 Goudey Jason Bay

Who is this? Pirates outfielder Jason Bay.

What is this? An autograph card from 2007 Upper Deck Goudey, card GG-JB.

Where'd I get it? A hobby pack.

How much did it cost? 5 bucks for the pack.

Why is this so special? When Goudey came out last year, I was in my "Upper Deck Sucks" period and I didn't want to give them any of my money at all. However, the shop I frequent had a promotion - buy $20 worth of Upper Deck packs and you get a ticket for an autograph signing by Braves rookie, Yunel Escobar. Now, this was a real quandry. I wanted the auto, but there was absolutley nothing out by Upper Deck that I was even remotely interested in. The base set sucked, I wasn't interested in all the high end crap and I was much more interested in buying up as much Allen & Ginter as I could. I wasn't going to get another good opportunity to in an in-person signature though, so I resigned myself to getting 4 packs of Base UD and rationalizing it as getting a guaranteed hit in the packs. Lord knows, the base packs weren't going to give up any normal hits, I bought 4 packs that year and got one lonely retro '89 insert. Great value there...

Signing day was coming up and I noticed that Goudey was scheduled to hit the shelves about the same time as the autograph session. I love retro crap, so I figured that would be a better waste of my twenty bucks than the base set. I was apprehensive about how it would look, Upper Deck's first Play Ball set was utterly fantastic, but their follow up the next year was possibly one of the ugliest sets ever made. So would Goudey be 2003 Play Ball or 2004 Play Ball? I didn't have to worry because it was actually 1934-36 Diamond Stars, which was an excellent thing. I got my Yunel auto (and as soon as I get a digital camera that doesn't take pictures that all look like Jimmy Hoffa's last known photograph, I'll show it off), I got four packs of a really good product and my hatred of Upper Deck was lessened, albeit briefly. On top of all that in the very first pack I ripped I pulled the auto box hit, so I ended up with two autographs for the price of one. It cost me in the long run though, as now I have a binder full of Goudey cards and a pile of doubles big enough to choke a mule.

Jason is pretty much the cornerstone of the Pirates' franchise, for whatever that's worth. He's a fantastic outfielder who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2004, in a rout over Khalil Greene. He is a two time All-Star including the 2006 game that was held in Pittsburgh. Last year was injury filled and Jason had an off year, but he's entering his prime years and should bounce back. Jason kind of bit me last year in my work fantasy league. He came off the DL just in time for my championship matchup game. My outfield had been a mess all year and I was rotating mediocre players in and out all year. Jason was available, I wanted an edge to help me win the crown and I wasn't happy with my rightfielder so I picked him up. Jason went on to have an abysmal couple of weeks and the guy I dropped, Brad Hawpe, was on absolute fire as the Rockies came back to win the wild card. Oops. Work fantasy leagues have been kiboshed, so there will be no redemption for me. The signature's pretty though, but I'm not crazy about the orange.