A place where Colorado Rockies baseball card collectors (all 3 of us) can waste some time reading about our favorite sport. The Rockies and their cards will be the primary focus, but I like to go off on tangents as well so anything and everything baseball related may be covered here.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sunday's Afternoon Blaster - 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions

Welcome back to the Sunday Afternoon Blaster.  Today I picked up a set that seems to be a popular one in Blogland.  This one also extends my streak of Upper Deck discount blasters to 4.  I am not a big retro set person and I am not a fan of SPs in a base set, this one has both plus the added factor of non-baseball players that I also can't stand.  So why did I buy this?  I need more trade bait and I need all Rockies other than Todd Helton (luckily 3 of the 4 I need are short prints).  Who knows maybe I'll even like the set enough to collect it, stranger things have happened.



Card coloration is it's availability

white = I'm keeping it
green = available for trade
red = already claimed/traded



Today's blaster is 2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions.  12 4 card packs, nothing guaranteed.


On with the show.


pack one
125 Chris Johnson - East Carolina Pirates (Titans)
4 Jorge Posada - Yankees - Scott
30 Al Kaline - Tigers - Scott
108 Tim Lincecum - Giants - Colbey


pack two
55 Chad Reed - motocross racer - Scott
45 Peyton Manning mini - Tennessee Volunteers (Colts) - Julie
CD-5 John D. Rockefeller -  Citizens of the Day - Julie
23 Kevin Youkilis - Red Sox - claimed by Julie


pack three
86 Brooks Robinson - Orioles
111 Kevin Garnett - Celtics
20th Century Retro 2480 - Philadelphia Phillies - Julie
77 Manny Ramirez - Dodgers - Colbey


pack four
136 Roy Oswalt - Astros - claimed by Julie
10 Vladimir Guerrero - Angels - Scott
78 Jason Varitek mini - Red Sox - Julie
135 Tony Gwynn - Padres - Colbey


pack five
33 Jeff Samardzjia - Cubs - Scott
61 Michael Beasley - Miami Heat - Scott
163 Nyjer Morgan SP - Pirates - Colbey
24 O.J. Mayo - Memphis Grizzlies - Colbey


pack six
91 Todd Helton - Rockies - claimed by Julie
116 Kristi Yamaguchi - figure skating - claimed by Michael S.
135 Tony Gwynn mini - Padres - Colbey
78 Jason Varitek - Red Sox


pack seven
93 Daisuke Matsuzaka - Red Sox - claimed by Michael S.
132 Chien-Ming Wang day - Yankees - Scott
10 Vladimir Guerrero black bordered mini - Angels (Gypsy Queen back) - Julie
137 Prince Fielder - Brewers


pack eight
143 Derrick Rose - Chicago Bulls
20 Grady Sizemore day - Indians - Scott
213 Erik Bedard mini - Mariners - Scott
56 Ozzie Smith (day? night?) - Cardinals - Colbey


pack nine
47 Nick Markakis - Orioles
75 Carlton Fisk - Red Sox
102 Curtis Granderson - Tigers
109 Chad Billingsley - Dodgers - Colbey


pack ten
128 Bill Rodgers - marathon runner (really?) - Scott
12 Matt Cain - Giants - Scott
23 Kevin Youkilis mini - Red Sox - claimed by Michael S.
52 Nolan Ryan - Mets - Colbey


pack eleven
36 Lyndon Johnson - U.S. President - Scott
64 Alex Rodriguez - Yankees - Scott
119 Carl Yastrzemski - Red Sox - Scott
98 Jason Giambi - Athletics - Colbey


pack twelve
71 Adrian Gonzalez - Padres
99 Ben Roethlisberger - Miami Redhawks (Steelers)
94 Adrian Peterson mini - Oklahoma Sooners (Vikings) - claimed by Jeremy
54 Kosuke Fukudome - Cubs - Colbey















IMPRESSIONS
Design:  B-
Well the design is actually quite good for what it is.  Although I don't quite get why some are photos and some are painted.  Example, the Michael Beasley is a photo and the O.J. Mayo is a painting.  I do like the inclusion of the old Cubs logo on the Fukudome as well.  The night and day stuff is confusing because the Ozzie Smith looks like it could be dusk or dawn.  If you know whether this is the day or night version let me know please.

Inserts / Hits: C+
To be fair to this set, it does have one interesting insert.  I like the Citizens of the Day set and that is simply because I am a history buff.  As an insert they work fine, my biggest problem with them is the insertion into base sets.  I don't even object to historical inserts in main flagship sets, I like the Presidential ones from 2008.  The minis (I got 7) are useless in my mind, although I know a lot of you love them.

Value: D-
By my count, I got 22 current regular baseball cards (and 7 retired ones) in this blaster, and 19 others.  Even at the discounted price of $11.99 it didn't work for me.  I did get at least one short print (Nyjer Morgan and maybe the Ozzie) though.

Rox in the Box: 1
Ugh, I got the only Rockie I already had, actually I already had 3 of it.


Will I Collect This Set: F
Nope.  It hits just about every one of my pet peeves about modern card collecting.  Short prints, non-baseball players in the base set, retired players in the base set, retro design, minis, ridiculous gimmickry (night and day cards) and uneven distribution of teams (8 of the 29 were either Yankees or Red Sox).

Overall: D
If the market wasn't overrun by retro sets, the grade would be higher.  Or if the title on the pack wasn't Upper Deck presents Major League Baseball Goodwin Champions it would be higher.  My biggest fix for this set would be to make the SPs all the non-baseball players, if both have to be present.  I will definitely not be buying this set ever again.  Everything is for trade, hopefully for the Rockies in this set so i can put it to bed for good.

3 comments:

Scott Crawford said...

I'm in the hunt for some Goodwins. Julie from Things Are Funner Here has some for me, and I'll know by later this week what's going on with those, but as an aspiring set builder here, I'm interested. Get ahold of me. I think I have some more Rockies for you, anyway.

Funner Here said...

These are the base cards I need!
If you have any that Scott hasn't claimed I'd be interested. You can find my SPs and SSP needs on my site. I have a ton of Rockies ready to send you.
1, 9, 16, 23, 26, 40, 42, 58, 61, 66, 68, 79, 88, 90, 91, 104, 112, 114, 120, 130, 136, 139, 141, 147

flywheels said...

I could use 23, 24, 52, 54, 56, 77, 98, 108, 109, 135, 135 mini, 163

I too have some Rockies I can send to you. Perhaps I can dig up some other things for you as well.