Hobby Musings: Opening 2023 Goodwin Champions
Hobby Musings: Opening 2023 Goodwin Champions – Quite possibly the most eclectic product Upper Deck releases each year, the 2023 edition of Goodwin Champions recently hit the market. One of the new features of this releases included a Michael Jordan jersey card that features a game-worn jersey swatch from the 1994 Scottie Pippen Charity Game. Besides that, Upper Deck also introduced some other first-time features in the product, including Young Guns.
Each box advertises at least two hits per. While I didn’t come away with a Michael Jordan jersey relic in the box I opened, I did pull a map relic card featuring Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. My second hit was a manufactured patch card of the constellation Taurus. Besides those, I also came away with a Cosmic parallel card numbered to 199 of Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday. I also pulled an Aquamarine parallel numbered to 75 of Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava. For the Young Guns, I pulled a pair of nice ones in Texans rookie QB CJ Stroud and Pirates prospect Termarr Johnson.
The checklist featured a nice variety of subjects, including legendary athletes like Michael Jordan and young prospects like Stroud and Caleb Williams. While there were some non-sport subjects in the checklist, there weren’t as many as in years past. I’ve previously enjoyed that aspect of Goodwin. However, I found the lack of it didn’t bother as much as I thought it would, given the new athletes included. I liked the design of the base cards and the inserts. It’s a simple and clean look, but I felt like it worked for the product. Upper Deck did a nice job of including extra value and inserts into the product. Each pack in my box included a non-base card, which is great to see if you’re someone who can only bust a pack or two at a time.
I wish I would have come away with some better hits in my box, but overall, this was another fun rip of Goodwin Champions. The hit potential is there as always with some nice autographs and the Michael Jordan chase. The checklist is a nice one for in-person autograph collectors who have the chance to land cards for subjects that don’t normally get them. Boxes are selling online for around $110. The variety of the hits makes it a risk-reward proposition at that price if chasing hits is your thing. That being said, if you hit big, it can make for one heck of a reward.
In case you missed it, I had the chance to ask Upper Deck’s Tony Sirianni a couple of questions about this year’s Goodwin Champions product, and the 2024 edition as well. Here’s what he had to say.
KS: The product you and I talked about at the 2023 National was Goodwin Champions. It was just released a little bit ago. What do you think the reception to that has been so far?
TS: Yeah, I’ve heard positive buzz. Again, having the CDD conference last week, product had been out just a few days at that point, just to sort of get the early reaction. I think adding UD flagship cards, as well as Young Guns, was a great addition to the product. It’s always a polarizing topic as far as what’s considered a hit in Goodwin. Being such an eclectic mix of content, it certainly helps in the mix, in the pack delivery, when you pull a cool Young Gun. Maybe your other two hits aren’t necessarily what you were looking for individually, but I think the Young Guns, the UD cards, the Black Diamond content, I think those have added a nice bit of value and a nice variety to the product that has been met with a lot of positive reception so far.
KS: So are we going to see another Goodwin product coming out later in this year, as you mentioned catching up a little earlier?
TS: Yeah, we’re doing everything we can to be caught up. If everything works out and things keep moving the way they are as we’re getting caught up as you guys can tell with the bevy of products we’ve been releasing. Yeah, the intention is to absolutely have 2024 Goodwin out in 2024. We were really close on 23. We almost had it out at the end of the year, but there were a few, you know, few little snags here and there, but we got it out here early in the new year. But yeah, 2024, we’re confident, will release within 2024. Ideally, you know, late summer. Hopefully we’ll be at the National looking at it together and breaking some of it. That’s the goal. But yeah, 2024 is absolutely on our radar for getting that one out.
KS: That sounds really good. So super sneak, super early sneak at that. Can you give me any insight to what we might see in that product? Anything new?
TS: 2024, I think you’ll see some of the new things that we added into 23. The Young Guns will return. You’ll see more Black Diamond. There are some exciting historical relics that I can’t speak to yet, but I know that Goodwin collector, it really enjoys that. 2023 really does feel like a sport product. There’s a lot of athletes from the four major sports. Olympics coming up. We have summer Olympics. Personally, would have liked to see a little more non-sport, so I’m hoping 24, we will get back to that. But yeah, there is some exciting new non-sport and historical memorabilia. I can’t get into detail, but I think you guys are going to really enjoy when you do see 24.
If you missed it, check out the full interview with Tony Sirianni here.
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Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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