Upper Deck Got It Right

I've been pretty critical of Upper Deck. I've blamed them for killing the hobby, shooting JFK, sinking the Lusitania, the Fall of the Roman Empire and the canceling of Arrested Development. But after looking through the auction listings for the new Fleer Goudey product, I have to say I'm very impressed. Much of my UD hatred stems from retro sets they butchered in the past but it looks like they really put the effort into this one.

It's not like they don't have any history of doing these things right. The first two Vintage sets, while basically ripping off old Topps designs, were well done and looked pretty good. The final Vintage set was probably the best, with homages to old Red Heart, Kelloggs and Play Ball designs if I remember correctly. Their first Play Ball release was spectacular with a good mix of current and retired stars, a nifty Joe DiMaggio streak insert and an awesome 25 card reprint set of the original 1941 cards.

Since then however, they have completely dropped the ball. The second Play Ball set was atrocious and looked like it was designed by a monkey with MSPaint. The Upper Deck Origins set was overpriced, under designed and was well, just too damn green. A huge disappointment considering they had the Play Ball and Old Judge designs to work with. I've pretty much stopped collecting UD products since then and after seeing the sell sheet I wasn't sure if I trusted the new Goudey product or not. The design looked cartoony, I was disappointed the 1938 cards were short printed and I hate hate hated the fact that Diamond Stars inserts were numbered to 15.

The '34-'36 Diamond Stars set is one of my top ten favorite sets of all time. I love the art deco backgrounds, plus it contains a record of one of the worst teams of all time, the 1935 Boston Braves. I've been hoping someone would do a retro version of this set for a while now. While the name on the pack says Goudey, make no mistake this is that Diamond Stars set.

1933 Goudey is one of the hobby's landmark sets. Like T206, '52 Topps and '89 Upper Deck it ushers in a new era for baseball cards. Unfortunately the set isn't really that interesting design wise. Most of the cards are portraits with a solid background with some action shots with the field or the stands in the background. There's a few oddball poses, like Rogers Hornsby managing from the dugout, or Moe Berg's bizarre geometric background pattern, but by and large there is a lot of solid colors in that set. It's kind of nice in a minimalist sort of way.

2007 Goudey isn't like that at all, there are grandstands and railings and smokestacks and whole cities in the background of all the base set cards done in the exact style of the Diamond Stars set. I've found a couple of cards with almost the exact design as the original set such as the Jeff Francouer, Tom Glavine and the original Sam Rice cards. The smokestacks are really the smoking gun so to speak, no other set in history did smokestacks like Diamond Stars.

They put the same attention to detail in the 1938 "Heads Up" high series cards. This set has been copied quite a few times, but this is the first time anyone has actually based it on the original illustrations and it looks fantastic. Derek Jeter has the illustration from Joe DiMaggio's card. Reggie Jackson is a reversed Hank Greenberg. Joe Mauer takes his design from Ernie Lombardi's card, the last two catchers to take the batting crown. See, Upper Deck put some thought into this!

The box loader Diamond Stars numbered to 15 that I saw didn't look like any Diamond Stars I've ever seen before. They look vaguely familiar, but what set it's copying I have no clue. The Double Play cards being limited to 15 is a disappointment, but what the hell, they're Double Plays. Not the most interesting set ever to be honest.

Now, I haven't actually opened any of this stuff (I hope to remedy that soon) but from what I've seen so far I really really like. A 200 card common set is nice. 88 short prints seem a little high, but we'll see what the pull ratio is for them. It might be a little trickier to complete than Allen & Ginter, but it looks like a set that can be completed with a little work.

Things I like from what I've seen so far:

• The design, obviously. Diamond Stars are Diamond Stars even if they do have a "Big League Baseball Cards" banner down at the bottom.
• The Heads Up cards look great, plus there are cartoon variations.
• Relic cards use the same design as the base card. I like the design so thumbs up from me. There's another relic set out there too, but they are something like 1 a case, so you'll never pull one anyway.
• There are no armpit hairs from Charlemagne or hoof prints from Secretariat or cut autos from the Magna Carta in there, but there is still some nice stuff like Tiger Woods autos and Babe Ruth jerseys if you have delusions of paying your mortgage with that one big pull.
• They appear to come in original size only, which is cool. I'd rather have the minis anyway.
• The retired player selection is fantastic. Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Fergie, Killebrew, Gibson, Kaline, YOGI!!!
• It looks like there will be retail box blasters of this stuff, unless they guy selling cases of them on eBay is bullshitting us. I can't imagine UD passing up that extra money after the way Allen & Ginter retail has been so successful.

Things I'm not too sure about/don't like:

• There are apparently red, green and blue back variations. just what we need, more parallels.
• The designs of the Sporting Kings Royalty and autograph cards are boring. Too many solid colors. Do a search on eBay for "Goudey Auto" and be prepared to be blinded by OrangeYellowRed. The plus side is that they will be very easy to photoshop. (mua-ha-haaa!)
• The rookie card logo looks terrible on these cards. I can't blame that on Upper Deck though.
• A distinct lack of Braves in the short prints/inserts. Sure there are relic cards out there and if the eBay listings are any indication Kelly Johnson autos are inserted in every other pack. I know the Braves suck now, but c'mon Upper Deck, would it have killed you to include a Chipper Jones Heads Up card??

All in all, this looks like something I'll be looking into. I do however reserve the right to revoke my praise of this product should it turn out that they are actually sold in $300 tins with 2 autos, 7 relics, 4 serial numbered rookies and the toenail clippings of a journeyman infielder per pack, with base cards dropping 2 per case. I'll post some more details once I find more info on the set and get a few packs in my hands.