I very much like the design of these cards. The graphics are bold and really grab your attention. The backs are kind of boring, however, but I generally don't base my card buying purchases on the design of the backs.
There are a number of veteran players represented. This Ted Williams is the best looking card of the veteran players.
There are also a lot of non-baseball player cards. Here is where I think this set starts to disappoint. Of course, Allen & Ginter has a lot of non-baseball cards as well. Goodwin's non-baseball cards are at least all sports cards like this Yamaguchi (if you consider figure skating a sport and many do).
I'm not a big basketball fan but managed to pull 3 basketball cards. In the A&G packs I bought this year, the non-baseball cards were about 1 in 8 cards. In the Goodwin packs the ratio was about 1 in 3. That's way too much, in my opinion, for a set which is supposed to be about baseball.
There was a mini card in each pack. I'm happy to get a Ken Griffey mini. It's sad that his career seems to be ending on a down note but I still collect him. On the subject of minis, here is another minus for the set. Topps has done the mini cards for years. It's not a new idea. It's an old stale idea. The set looks great but the minis are just not doing it for me. There are also black bordered minis. Where have I seen that idea before?
Well, here's something a bit different, a foil mini card. I got one of these. The card looks ok but I always have a problem with the application of new technology to a retro card set.
The box promised 3 "hits' per box. I got this Ryan Braun relic and a Manny Ramirez relic. The Manny card was in the first pack I opened. It also has a line of glue across the front of the card. Why is the relic cut-out an M? M for Memorabilia? Dumb.
My other hit was this Josh Willingham auto. The autos are on card which is a plus. I would have liked a better player.
I got one card from the "Citizens of the Day" insert set. There is also a "Citizens of the Century" insert but I didn't get one. This idea is also very A&G.
A Komodo Dragon! Notwithstanding that this is one cool animal, this is another card idea right from A&G. The card even looks like an A&G.I also got 10 of the 20th anniversary cards. Boy do I hate them.
My final verdict: I love the base cards but there are too many non-baseball cards in the set. The relics and autos are OK (especially with on-card autos). There are also a bunch of them (93 autos and 98 relics) so the odds of a pull per pack seem pretty good. The minis and the other inserts - yawn.
2 comments:
There does seem to be a lot of non-baseball cards in this set, even more than A&G. I don't mind it in A&G, but it seems more distracting in Goodwin, maybe because of the quantity? Maybe because I don't follow current basketball? I don't know.
My only gripe about the product is it's price, and I feel the same way about Allen & Ginter. From a "hit" standpoint, there are plenty other products out there with at least as many per box at a much cheaper price. They may not be the most glamorous hits in the world, but neither are those being pulled in A&G or Goodwin Champs.
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