SCF Official Review: 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions

[Enigma]

First and foremost, I'd like to thank our sponsors at Upper Deck for providing us with this box.



20 cards per box
5 cards per pack
Current Retail Price: 69.99 - 79.99

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:
- Find One (1) Mini Card (With Rare Foil Versions) In Each Pack, On Average!
- Three (3) Out Of Every Four (4) Packs Will Contain An Additional Insert Or Short Print!
- Collect The Entire 252 Goodwin Champions Set!
- Find One (1) Hard-Signed Autograph Per Box, On Average!
- Find Two (2) Memorabilia Cards Per Box Featuring Actual Relics And Materials Worn Or Used By Subjects From A Wide Realm Of Sporting And Historical Interests!
- Look For Original 1888 Goodwin Champions Buybacks Including Hall Of Famers Cap Anson And King Kelly!
- Look For One (1) Entomology, Landmarks, Or Thoroughbred Hair Cut "DNA/Elemental" Card Per Case, On Average!
- Look For One (1) 20Th Anniversary Memorabilia Card Per Case, On Average

BOX BREAK:
- Two (2) Memorabilia Series cards per box, on average!
- One (1) Hard-Signed Autograph Series card per box, on average!
- Twenty (20) Minis per box, on average!
- Ten (10) short-printed subset cards - including two (2) Super SP's - per box, on average!

CASE BREAK:
- One (1) Entomology, Landmarks or Thoroughbred Hair Cuts DNA memorabilia card per 12-box hobby case, on average!

CHASE:
- One (1) 20th Anniversary Memorabilia card per 12-box hobby case, on average!

PRODUCT BREAKDOWN

Base Set
- Base Cards - 150 cards
- Short Prints- 40 cards
- Super Short Prints- 20 Cards
- Mini Exclusive High Series- 42 Cards

Inserts and Parallel Cards
- Printing Plates (Hobby Exclusive)
- Mini or Mini foil version
- Mini Black Bordered Gypsy Queen Back
- Mini Foil Black Bordered Magician Back (Hobby Exclusive! Limited to 8 hand numbered sets!)
- Citizens of the Day
- Citizens of the Century
- Ten (10) 20th Anniversary cards per box, on average!
- Original 1888 Goodwin Champions Buybacks

Autograph Cards: (ONE PER BOX)
- Goodwin Champions Hard- Signed Autograph Series - from the greatest legends of the world of sport!

Memorabilia Cards: (TWO PER BOX)
- Goodwin Champions Memorabilia Series - History and sport intertwine within the Goodwin Champions Memorabilia Series . . . Look for material cards of Cal Ripken, Joe DiMaggio and even Michael Jordan!

Memorabilia Cards: (ONE PER CASE) - All inserts below are HOBBY EXCLUSIVE!
- Entomology - A collection of DNA memorabilia cards focusing on astounding & rare butterflies and other amazing insects from across the globe!
- Landmarks - These memorabilia cards feature actual elements from the most famous landmarks around the world including coal from the Titanic wreck and salt from the Dead Sea!
- Thoroughbred Hair Cuts- Set of DNA memorabilia cards that will feature strands of hair from the manes of some of the world's most-famed racing horses! Look for hair from the likes of Afleet Alex, Funny Cide and the legendary Smarty Jones!

20th Anniversary Memorabilia Cards: (ONE PER CASE)
- 20th Anniversary Memorabilia

WHAT WE PULLED



Base - 57/252 (22.6%)
Dupes - 0
Mini (20)
Mini Black (5) - Scott Kazmir, Jim Thome, Gerry Lopez, Cal Ripken Jr., Russell Martin
Mini Foil (1) - Akinori Iwamura



Animal Series (1) - Bengal Tiger
Citizen Of The Day (1) - P.T. Barnum
20th Anniversary Retrospective (10)



Adam Jones Jersey
Bill Hall Jersey
Justin Masterson Autograph



FINAL RATINGS

Base Set - 3
Overall Design - 4.5
Fun - 4.5
Value - 3.75
Rebuy - 3.75
Total - 20.5/25 (82%)

Upper Deck has gone into the time machine to 1888 and returned with Goodwin Champions. This is a throwback to a set that existed well over 100 years ago. The base cards portray the subjects on a picturesque background. Vibrant colors draw you in along with the painted images of the subjects.

Instead of numbered parallels of the base cards, Goodwin Champions has mini versions. There are multiple versions of the mini cards. As seen from our break, there is a one that is simply a smaller copy of the base cards. Another style has a black border with a "Gypsy Queen" back. One other style contains a foil look with a chrome border.

The autographs and relics are bland in nature. They do not stand out in any way other than the autographs being on-card, which is very much appreciated. Though I hate to reference another release, these remind me way too much of Goudey from earlier this year.

Goodwin Champions is the latest installment of a trend over the last year, bringing back older sets with modern twists. The design work of the base cards is remarkable, but there's not enough per box. Though seen before, the mini cards are great and appeal to collectors young and old. One of the enticements of this release are the Throughbred Hair Cuts and Entomology cards. Having had the opportunity to view some of these items before they were encased in cards, I will admit it was interesting to view them especially the various butterflies. However, most collectors would prefer to have something more baseball relevant outside of those looking at taking cards like this to the secondary market. All in all, I do like seeing a resurgence of yesteryear releases appearing today to remind collectors of what cards were like before their time. But I also feel that instead of making a full-blown release, just introduce the cards as an insert set along the way to gauge the appeal as having extra releases in a year has a tendecy to alienate the collectors.

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sponsors at Upper Deck for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. For more information on all their products, be sure to check them out at www.upperdeck.com.

[Captngeetch]

I've always loved the retro design releases...the colors look crisp, very nice.....thanx Upper Deck for the product

[JKC]

Nice break and review! Thanks for providing this, Upper Deck!

Darin

[MadMan1978]

The best part of this product is the ON THE CARD AUTOS and have you checked out the lineup for the Auto set??? WOW!

[etmill01]

Thanks Upper Deck...I also like the retro design and the on card autos....Ed

[andrewcstein]

Nice break...I'm beginning to come around on these a bit.

[mikesilvia]

I'm split on this product. I LOVE the hard signed autographs, but can't stand the multi-sport aspect. If I buy a baseball product I prefer 100% baseball!

[quiet-things]

I agree with Mike - some products just need to stick with just 1 sport. Some products can pull it off (UD Champs wasn't too bad), but this is just too much. I really like the design of this though, and it's great that they're hard signed.

Thanks UD!

[hossa18sens]

Thanks for the box UD. I had to get one of my own.

I still love the look of them.

[TysonX504]

I love the looks, but agree that if i'm buying a box of cards for a certain sport, i expect it to be that sport only. With that said, thanks for the box UD. Great looking product