What's The Deal Upper Deck?

It's been over 2 months now since I have redeemed my Goodwin Champions Entomology card, and I have been waiting for an update ever since. Today I decided to check in, and see if there are any updates. There are, but none of it is information that is pertinent to my situation. It appears as though Upper Deck may be running into more problems than they bargained for with these beautifully designed Entomology cards. There are regulations preventing them from being shipped to locales outside of the U.S., and it appears to be slowing down this entire process. I know for a fact that the Thoroughbred Hair Cut redemptions have already shipped out, and would assume that the Landmarks & Entomology Cards aren't far behind. This is only the 4th Upper Deck redemption I've dealt with , and the previous 3 all arrived within 3 weeks. If UD really wants to be better than Topps, mimicking their redemption turnaround times is certainly not the way to go about achieving that goal.

It's really BUGGING me that this redemption is taking so long, and that Upper Deck has barely provided any information at all regarding it's status. Get it? BUGS me? My jokes suck.

Goodwill Goodwins

Mike, or JD's Daddy of JD's Wild Cardz fame, sent me a random package of Goodwins from my want list last week. It was a very kind and generous thing to do, especially since we hadn't worked out a trade, and they were sent out of the blue.





I'm quite fond of the Citizens of the Day inserts. The design is solid, and I like how each one is slightly altered to match the time period that person was famous.

Mike, I thank you and JD for giving me a topic for post number 300, and thanks for the great cards as well! My Goodwin wantlist has been updated, and if you've got any need to spare, don't hesitate to contact me about a trade.

Cards from Stats On The Back

Last week mmosely of Stats On The Back posted some trade bait, which included several Goodwin short prints needed for my set. He kindly sent them over, and in return I am sending him some Goodwins from his want list, and 1 single Mets card.

#CD-15 Grigori Rasputin Citizens of the Day

The fabled Russian mystic himself. Sweet beard dude.

#CD-12 Wyatt Earp Citizen's of the Day

That looks nothing like Kurt Russell.

AS-3 Tasmanian Devil Animal Series

Remember when there was Taz stuff everywhere? That was strange.

1998 Metal Universe Brady Anderson Hardball Galaxy

Did the animator of this card know something about Brady that nobody else did in 1998? Looks like a classic case of 'roid rage to me.

1970 Topps Rookie Stars Fred Beene/Terry Crowley

It's always nice to receive vintage cards in the mail, especially when you've got no idea they're coming. The Crow looks good here, but then again, he was young.

Well, this finally almost doesn't quite get me caught up on trades from last week, but at least it's slow progress. Mark, thanks for the great trade! I have your cards packaged, but forgot the post office was closed today. It'll get them out to you in the next few days.

Group Break Booty

As per usual, I Am Joe Collector held his monthly group breaks, and as per usual, I participated in each one of them. This time around, aside from the monthly team break, there was also a slotted break of both '08 Upper Deck Premier Baseball and Football.

The monthly break was 1 box of 2008 Prime Cuts, and 4 boxes of Goodwin Champions. While I am never lucky enough to end up with a nice Prime Cuts hit, I was lucky enough to come away from the team break with some pretty nice cards. I already had every Oriole from the set but one, and did not hit the Adam Jones card I needed from this break, but it has since been traded to me by The Hamiltonian. All in all I ended up with about 12 O's cards, 5 of which were minis. I didn't scan any of them, because I'd seen them all before, but I did scan one of the cards I received:
This is the "night variation" and is pretty darned cool. I bet I know SOMEONE who would love to get their hands on this card...


Next up are the 2 '08 Premier breaks. I had one slot in each, and managed to do okay with the baseball, and not so okay with the football. It's not that I didn't end up with a nice low numbered card out of the football break. Almost all Premier cards are low numbered, so it's not that at all. I ended up with a card #'d out of 15, it's just a pointless card #'d out of 15. Why oh why to they keep making these?
It's sort of hard to read, so I will let you know that it's supposedly of DeSean Jackson, even know there isn't a picture of him anywhere to be found on this card. It's also a manufactured patch... with the freaking draft logo on it! What a waste. Cards like this do not belong in a product as expensive as Premier. Since I don't care if I never see this card again, I am going to attempt to send it out TTM. How nice would an autograph look on all that gold space at the bottom? If anyone has an address, or any suggestions for me, please feel free to share, as this will be my first TTM attempt.


Lastly, we have the card I scored from the Premier Baseball break. I really like this card, and about the only negative thing I can think of to say about it is that it could be a little more colorful. All 4 swatches are plain-jane gray, but 2 out of those 4 prominently feature stitching, which makes the card a little more special.
It's #'d out of 10, and is the single card that makes me feel like I did okay on this month's break.


If you haven't checked out I Am Joe Collector's blog, or group breaks yet, you can do so HERE. He's a pretty trustworthy guy (for a lawyer anyway), and runs an excellent break. You should sign up, cause ya never know when a sweet card of your favorite player will be pulled.

A Bug From Across the Border

Last week I posted an image of my Upper Deck redemptions page, which clearly showed that I had manage to acquire a Goodwin Champions Entomology card. What I did not reveal is how the redemption came into my possession. Well... if you read your card blogs (and I know you do), the title should be a dead giveaway.

This card has been redeemed, and I am SUPER FREAKING PUMPED to find out what weird insect will be sent my way. We've all seen the butterfly preview card, and regardless of whether or not you think the concept is stupid, I think we can all agree they are absolutely beautifully designed. Hopefully Upper Deck doesn't find a way to screw them up, because if they end up looking anything like the preview, it will be like owning a piece of art.

This was not my first attempt to acquire one of these cards. My first attempt to trade for one of these cards did not turn out well, and left me not only questioning why I bother collecting, but with a foul taste in my mouth as well. I was essentially screwed over by a fellow blogger (you know who you are) who shall remain nameless, one who I had traded with in the past no less. An agreement was reached on a trade (if you want to deny it, I still have the email chain), but before any cards could actually be exchanged, my redemption was auctioned off to the highest bidder.

After having gone through all of that, you can imagine how thrilled I was when The Hamiltonian and I were able to work out a trade for her Entomology redemption. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for me, these cards cannot be shipped to Canada (something about transporting a dead carcass across the border), so there was little choice left but to trade it away. I was lucky enough to be the first one to contact her about a trade, and in exchange for this card I sent her a thick stack of Josh Hamilton autographs and refractors which should hopefully be arriving at her doorstep any day now.

As if sending me a card from my wish list wasn't enough already, The Hamiltonian also sent over a 2009 Goodwin Champions Adam Jones card, which was much needed for both my player collection and Goodwin set. Oh, yeah, it is also a short print, which makes it an extra nice thing to do.


Hamiltonian, thank you so very much for trading me a case hit redemption, and I hope you enjoy the stack of Hamiltons that should be arriving shortly. I can't tell you exactly why I want one of these cards so much, but I do, and now a reservation has been made. Not everyone would trade one of these away, and it means a lot to me that The Hamiltonian was willing to do so. It's only fitting that immediately following one of my worst trading experiences came one of my best.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you to check out The Hamiltonian, and take a gander at her most excellent Josh Hamilton collection.

What My Upper Deck Redemptions Page Looks Like

BOO-YAH!

Catching Up Pt. 1

This will be the first of at least 2 posts that will strictly contain cards I have acquired in the past week, either by trade or purchase. I've been quite lazy lately, in regards to my posting habits, and am going to try to get back into the swing of things this week.

Last week I received 5 trade packages and 2 eBay purchases in the mail. This post will highlight 2 of those trades, and both purchases. We'll start off with yet another package from M Ryan, of Ryan's Memorabilia & The Ripken Pursuit. Read my blog for a week or 2 and you're bound to see a trade posted between the 2 of us. For this, there is a very good reason, that reason being because we're always involved in some sort of trade. Last week I sent him a bunch of Ripkens to help further his quest, and in return he sent me over a nice little package featuring great cards of my 2 favorite current O's.

1988 Fleer A.L. Shortstops - Tony Fernandez, Cal Ripken Jr. & Alan Trammell

I remember this card! It was a good one ot have at the time. Cal is the obviously the only one who went on to have a Hall of Fame career, but both Fernandez & Trammell were pretty darn good in their day.

2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Adam Jones relic

I shouldn't even have to tell you that I love this card! I believe it's the first Adam Jones relic in the collection, but considering he made All-Star team this season, there will probably be a lot more Jones relics in future releases. The only O's card I managed to pull out of my 2 Goodwin boxes was Brian Roberts, so this Jones card is a great one to have traded to me.

2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Nick Markakis Gypsy Queen back mini

See previous blurb. Didn't already have this card yet, and am definitely glad I do now. One of these days I have to find a way to showcase my Markakis collection. It's probably about time I hop on the Zistle bandwagon.

2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Nick Markakis mini

Yeah, didn't have this one either. Woo-hoo! Thanks for all the great cards M. Ryan!

Next up are a couple of cards from the Collective Troll. Everyone seems to love trading with the Troll, and I am of no exception. He was nice enough to email me about a card he happened to spot at his local card shop. This wasn't just any card, it was one that I had searched high and low for, and one that is desperately needed for my pursuit of the Burke Kenny nona-fecta.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Nick Markakis black framed mini

Yet another Markakis that had managed to elude me... until now!

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter's Burke Kenny black framed mini

You know I am psyched about this one! The Burke Kenny quest is officially down to ONE card. I just need the pube relic to complete the rainbow.

Thanks a million for thinking of me when you saw this card Marck! It really means a lot to me to know that other collectors see a card they know I'll like, and they go ahead and pick it up for me. We've really got something special brewing here, with this whole cardblogosphere thing.

Lastly, here are 2 quick eBay purchases. These were picked up with funds generated by the Goodwin Tiger relic sale.

2007 Bowman Chrome Nick Markakis Orange refractor #04/25

If you read last week's post, you already understand that all Oriole cards should be in the form of orange refractors. This is yet another great Markakis for the player collection.

2009 Bowman Chrome Adam Jones blue refractor #'d/199

Well, it's not orange, but it was cheap. I was able to add this Jones card to my player collection for a mere ninety-nine cents (plus shipping).

There you have it folks, half of what's new with me. Expect another post of a similar nature tomorrow, as I continue to catch up on trades and purchases that transpired last week. Remember to keep checking out Beardy's Baseball Blog for all of last week's news... a week later.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before...

This is officially post #250! Somehow that number was reached in less than 5 months.

So a beardy walks into a card shop with a 50 dollar bill and only gets 3 packs of cards, but walks out broke.

Which 3 packs did he get?


If you guessed 1 pack of 2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection, 1 pack of 2009 Topps Chrome Football, and 1 pack of 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions, you would be correct.

You can't start out with the money shot, so I'll save Ballpark for the end. I will say that it was too expensive, and even though I pulled something sort of cool, there's no way a pack of that should be more than $25, which it most definitely was.

Let's start off with some football. This is honest to god the first pack of football cards I have ever purchased. Unfortunately for my wallet, I loved it and will probably be picking up more in the future. I picked up 1 pack of 2009 Topps Chrome and had dreams of pulling a card of any player who plays for the greatest team in all the land right now, my Baltimore Ravens.

#TC81 Joe Flacco

Well I'll be damned. The first card in the first pack of football cards i ever bought was Joe Flacco. This kid is the truth, and I'm so happy we finally have a franchise quarterback.

#TC25 Marques Colston

Another solid card, this time of one of Drew Brees' many reliable targets.

#C55 Dwayne Bowe National Chicle

This is a great card! Bowe is one of my favorite young recievers and is an absolute beast of a man. He was one of my rookie fantasy waiver pick-ups in fantasy football 2 years ago, and has been on my team ever since. If Bill Parcells has his "Bill Parcells guys", then Dwayne Bowe is a "Beardy guy".

#TC45 Brian Westbrook

I won't dare call him over-rated, but sometimes I think it. He seems to be injured quite often, but when he isn't, Brian Westbrook is capable of some big-time plays.

That was a pretty solid pack, as every player was at least of minor star status. The Flacco card being first was pretty special, and the Bowe insert was icing on the cake. Are you ready for some Goodwin?

This pack was purchased with the hope that at least 1 or 2 cards could be crossed off my want list. Mission accomplished.

#147 Crappy McPooperson

needed it


#61 Michael Beasley

needed it


#229 Chris Young mini (mini exclusive?)
needed it


#185 Josh Johnson
double

Still no bug, but at least I was able to get some cards I needed for the set out of this pack. That Young mini MIGHT be one of the "mini exclusives", which feature players who aren't in the base set. It might not be as well, I am too lazy to check the checklist.

Now for the big enchilada, the one pack of 2009 Ballpark Collection that I purchased. You're probably able to figure that this alone at up the majority of that $50 bill, which it most certainly did. I will say it was a fun rip, but putting that much money down on only one pack is not something I plan to do very often. Let's see how we did.

#30 Gary Sheffield base card
Seriously, why even bother with base cards in this set? Honestly? Who the hell is going to be building this set?


#127 Chone Figgins/Yunel Escobar "Emerging Stars" dual swatch

#224 Ohlendorf/Carmona/Johnson/Albaladejo "Emerging Stars" quad swatch
ummm... are any of these guys even decent? Johnson maybe?

now for the big "hit"...

#354 Sizemore/Mauer/Cabrera/Dye on the front....
Martinez/Cuddyer/Verlander/Swisher on the back!
This card was pulled from the pack already inside a penny sleeve, and the COA/legal jargon crap had to be on a second card, since this one is pretty crowded. While it's a nice card, do we really need 8 swatches on 1 card?


UD 20th Anniv. #2282 Tony Blair
This was the last card in my pack. When you're only getting 5 cards to begin with, in a pack this expensive, one of those cards SHOULD NOT be one of these lame inserts. LAME UPPER DECK, just LAME! This one isn't even of an athlete. I don't want cards of sissies with funny accents, but that's exactly what i got.

Overall, this trip to the card shop was quite fun, as it pretty much always is. This was the first time I'd ever ripped anything football, as well as my first Ballpark Collection experience. Both were pretty positive, although Ballpark Collection definitely isn't a perfect product. There are a lot of lousy swatches of lousy players, which shouldn't be the case when you're paying a premium product price.

If you see something you like, don't hesitate to ask. All cards except the Flacco are for trade.

2009 Goodwin Champions Want List 11/10/09

I am a humongous hypocrite. After complaining about this set as much as I did, I am now going to attempt to build it. My theory is that enough people will decide they aren't going to build it themselves, and send me their cards.

We'll see how it works out for me...

Base:
2, 28, 41, 51, 67, 82, 96, 106, 123, 152, 153, 156, 158, 159, 163, 165, 168, 170, 171, 177, 180, 182, 183, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 193, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 205, 207, 209

Citizens of the Century:
CC-2, CC-3, CC-4, CC-5, CC-6, CC-7, CC-8, CC-10

Citizens of the Day:
CD-2, CD-3, CD-5, CD-6, CD-7, CD-8, CD-9, CD-10, CD-11, CD-13, CD-14

Animal Series:
AS-1, AS-2, AS-4, AS-5, AS-6, AS-7, AS-8, AS-9, AS-10

Please comment or drop an email if you've got some cards to trade away.

Not Even Sure What To Really Say (So I'll Just Say A Lot)

I opened that second box of Goodwin. While I pulled something pretty awesome out of it, I'm still pretty pissed off overall about how badly Upper Deck loused this release up. For some reason I never have as much fun opening Upper Deck products, and I'm not really sure why. They were my favorite brand in the collecting days of my merry youth, but for some reason now everything of theirs seems cheap, and sort of boring. This has nothing to do with me feeling jobbed about not getting an Entomology card (which I really wanted), and it's not about getting my money's worth (because I pulled something good enough to make it back right now), it's about... well, I guess it is sort of about getting your "money's" worth, in a sense.

Essentially, busting this box was ruined for me no matter what I pulled this time because I already knew going in to today's break that this set disappoints me. Getting a bunch of the same cards in this box, including one of the 2 per box inserts, that were in yesterday's box certainly didn't help things any. Doubles make my eyes bug out in that "I want to choke someone" kind of way. You know, like in my picture.

Anyway, if you recall, I pretty much had the same experience with Allen & Ginter's when it was first released. After opening FOUR boxes, I had a huge stack of doubles, and less than 1 complete set. I was pissed, remember? You would've been too. For some reason that didn't matter to me, it was Ginter. Is that fair? No, probably not. Is there a reason for that? Probably. To me, there's something about Allen & Ginter's that FEELS expensive. Maybe it's the nice cardstock, or the consistently convincing artwork? Maybe it's 8 cards per pack and beautifully framed relics? Or it could also possibly be multiple interesting insert sets to keep things from getting stale?

I can tell you what it isn't. It isn't a diverse checklist featuring the greatest and most obscure athletes from around the world. That it most certainly isn't. Both sets utilize them, and both sets utilize them well. If it weren't for Allen & Ginter's, Goodwin Champions just might be my one of my favorite sets ever. The checklist is interesting, you could even argue it's less campy and full of crap than this year's Ginter set. I'm a big fan of obscurity, and love weird base & insert cards in baseball sets. But Goodwin can't hold Ginter's jock. It sucks that the comparison is there to begin with, since it automatically tilts the playing field, but isn't this the set Upper Deck created specifically to slay the Ginterbeast?

MISSION FAILED.

It's a good thing I calmed down before writing this ;)

Here's my awesome pull from Goodwin box 2

2009 Goodwin Champions Box Break Packs 11-20

Get ready for part 2! There's still an auto to come, but the real question is.... will there be a card prominently featuring the corpse of an insect?

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?

#166 Adrian Beltre
#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.

Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #2241 Dow Jones Closes Above 11,000

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?

Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #2206 Hanley Ramirez


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?