Pack 11:
#178 Jonathan Albaladejo
#44 Barack Obama mini
#74 Gerry Lopez (Surfer) black border mini
Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #2196 Steve Nash#138 Gary Sheffield
Pack 12:
#103 James Shields
#129 Laird Hamilton (Surfer)
#18 Bo Jackson
#96 Alfonso Soriano mini#54 Kosuke Fukudome
Pack 13:
#161 Jeremy Bloom (Skiing)
#82 Justin Morneau mini
#32 Josh Hamilton black border mini
Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #2216 Patrick Roy#86 Lance Berkman
Pack 14:
#79 John Lackey
#104 Nate McClouth
#18 Bo Jackson mini
#CD-4 Citizens of the Day Theodore Roosevelt
#57 Eli Manning
Pack 15:
#130 Brandon Webb
Night variation?#215 Jimmy Rollins mini
Upper Deck Anniversary #2201 Ryan Howard
#110 Matt Holliday
Pack 16:
#44 Barack Obama
#155 Justin Masterson
#227 Ervin Santana mini
#A-BR Bill Rodgers (Marathon Runner) Autograph Series
A marathon runner, wow am I excited... can't you tell... so excited... it's plainly obvious how excited I am.Pack 17:
#26 Hiroki Kuroda
#50 Mike Schmidt
#129 Laird Hamilton mini
#252 Johnny Peralta foil mini
#5 Albert Pujols
Pack 18:#72 David Wright
#100 Chase Utley
#126 Troy Tulowitzki
#141 Bobby Orr mini
#108 Tim Lincecum
Pack 19:#80 Ivan Rodriguez
#204 Mark Allen (Triathlon)
#103 James Shileds mini#69 Ichiro Suzuki back border mini
Wow, this card is awesome! Look at the flag in the background?Pack 20:
#35 Clayton Kershaw
#179 Ted Martin (Hacky Sacker)
#7 Derek Jeter mini
Uper Deck 20th Anniversary #2221 Joe Mauer
#45 Peyton Manning
So there you have it, one box of 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions. There's another box coming tomorrow, but I'm not too sure how excited I am to even open it. Some of you have already pointed out several of this products flaws for yourselves, only 5 cards per pack, packs with mini "hit" contain 2 mini cards, and only 3 base cards, most packs contain one of those stupid Upper Deck Anniversary cards. Enough with those already! All of these factors will make building a set expensive and tiresome. That's not the only thing about this set that bothers me. A lot of the photos of retired players are the same ones used in this year's Goudey release, and the cards are printed on virtually the same stock, which sort of gives them a cheap feeling in my opinion, especially compared with a set like Allen & Ginter's, which is in the same general price range. Hell, it's impossible not to compare this set to A&G, since it's pretty much a parallel for parallel remake, and stacked up against A&G, Goodwin simply doesn't cut it. Oh, and another thing Upper Deck, 2 inserts in 1 whole box? You've got to do better than that, and you could if it wasn't for a 345,478 card Anniversary set that like 2 people are collecting. If not for that set, you'd have had room to include more inserts in the set that people are actually buying, and give a crap about.
All criticism aside, some of these cards are extremely good looking, and the fact that all autos are on-card is another appealing feature. I like the design of the relic cards, and in particular the black design surrounding the die-cut "M". I guess the bottom line is that I want to like this set, and almost do, at least aesthetically, but it definitely has its issues.
Enough of my ramblin and ranting for one night. What do you guys think of this release, and this break?
Posts
I think the cards look great from the scans. If I break a box this weekend, I will get into more detail, but from what I can see - I like it.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I can hit something you like and we can swing a trade for the Hamilton mini.
I will add - I stayed away from Goudey so I can't say if things look recycled from that set.
ReplyDeleteWait, they used that exact same pose of Hamilton.
That's a bummer.
I would have thought that Webb was a night variant, but that seems to be the normal card. What I really want to see is one of the "Easter Egg" cards.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right about the comparisons to A&G and based on that, I find it hard to even get past the price comparison. At my local shop, A&G is fifty cents cheaper and you get more cards. The hits don't seem all that phenomenal unless you really luck out and pull something like a Jordan auto, Tiger relic or a case hit.
Gypsy Queen!
ReplyDeleteMini Ichiro!
Teddy!
Me like.
I'm with you. A marathoner?!? They couldn't get Mao to sign or something?
ReplyDeleteOh, and as for the retro, the Berra looks like a rich man's version of the 1950 Bowman, which is an absolute classic. And by "rich man's version" I mean overdone and sad, in a Derek Jeter for 2009 AL MVP kind of way.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the auto off your hands.....
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. You can't NOT compare it to Allen & Ginter. I haven't seen it in my hands yet, but from everything I've seen so far, it falls short. It's more interesting than a lot of what we've seen this year, but it's pretty much a copy-cat set. I just don't like the look as much as A&G, and the collation issue is one more roadblock. I'd be surprised if I buy 4 packs of this.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the Bill Rodgers auto, let's set up a trade.
ReplyDeleteYour box break saved me a couple hundred bucks I think... I'm fairly confident that I'll be staying away from buying this stuff, I was looking forward to it but it seems to have many of the same problems as Goudey...which I've already been suckered into buying. You won't get me twice Upper Deck!
ReplyDeleteAt least someone saved money...
ReplyDeleteI am just going into this set to collect phenoms, sox, and any other really nice looking cards. If I hit the entemology card (redemption, apparently), then more power, but there is no way I would even consider chasing this set. Just good fun.
ReplyDeletei get my two boxes on Friday.....
ReplyDeleteyou mentioned some of the images being recycled from goudey, when i was watchin a break of this stuff on youtube i noticed the johnny bench card has the same image as one of 346,732 20th anniversary cards.
ReplyDeleteThis set is somewhat of a letdown for me, as to how hyped up it got, but it is still one of the better upper deck products of the year, a&g copy cat or not.
I didn't like the fact that there were so many non-baseball cards. That's one of my gripes with A&G as well.
ReplyDeleteI want baseball cards. If I wanted cards of another sport, I would buy a box of those.