This Just In: the finest Goudey Blue Refractor you'll ever see!

Oh, I'm sorry, did you think that was one super-fancy card?

Let's dissect. Here we have the full bodied version of Granderson's base card in 2009 Goudey:

2009 Goudey #69 Curtis Granderson

You may remember this card from such posts as this one, in which I spoke at length about the card's design, its heisted picture from another one of my favorite Granderson cards and its look as a mini. Now with the full card in hand I can say that this really is one of the better cards from 2009 Goudey in terms of design and quality. Apparently, you just can't make Curtis Granderson look bad in a faux-retro picture.

I also got my hands on my first cards from 2009 Topps Finest. The other day, I nabbed a Gold Refractor from 2008 Finest and claimed that, while very nice, it can't hold a candle to the 2009 Version. I was right.

2009 Topps Finest #102 Curtis Granderson Blue Refractor (#319/399)

This is a stunning card, especially in person. While at first I questioned the design technique of adding a bright white orb in the upper left hand part of the card, I really think that it comes through quite well. Oh, wait. Seriously though, the design of this card is awesome, which is strange the borders et. al. are all really really busy and could have been a disaster. However, there are the right splashes of color, a refractor finish, the player in a dynamic action shot outside of the confines of the inner frame. Really, really nice. I'm certainly going to have to chase down the other refractors of this.

Of course, for the traditionalists, we have the base version of the same card. Which is no less awesome, in principle, but lacks the rainbow refractor effect and doesn't have that sharp blue color. Still great though:

2009 Topps Finest #102 Curtis Granderson

So that's three more beauties for the binder. With all of the parallel versions of these cards out there, I'm going to start each on their own page and hope that I can get with the program and use those blank spots as motivation. Here's hoping!