This week was pretty slow for both baseball and football, although 2 unlicensed sets both hit shelves. Elite Baseball is back for another year, despite a really lackluster year last year, and Goodwin Champions is returning as one of Upper Deck’s more popular sets. Both cater to different crowds, and both are sets that really dont look like ones I would ever open.

Elite Baseball

Although Elite has had a strong following in Football for a while, in baseball, its not even close to that brand. Licensing in Baseball seems to play much to the disadvantage of Panini in most of the sets it releases in the sport, and it is doubly so for a product like this. It doesnt help that the design features a pretty awkward presentation, with a chevron looking very awkward with the sticker overlaid. If the V shape was smaller, or if the sticker was higher, it might not be as awkward, but this way looks incredibly off.

Not really sure how I feel about these:

2015 Panini Elite Kris Bryant RC Auto Base

2015 Panini Elite Archie Bradley Jumbo Patch Auto

2015 Panini Elite Jose Canseco Auto 3/5

2015 Panini Elite Joc Pederson RC Auto Base

It features a mix of prospects and veteran players, but Topps owns the exclusive to all the top grossing names in the sport at this point. Its like going into an a fight with your hands in cuffs and wearing a blindfold. Good luck walking out of that situation unscathed. Kris Bryant may be available at this point for them, but Trout is gone, and so is Bryce Harper. Not good.

Add in that Panini is continuing to trot out the tired and awful manupatch autos, and Im pretty much done with this product before even wanting to bust a single pack. These cards and those fucking hideous black construction paper gold autos all need to be axed and burned.

There are so many issues with the product, that anyone who chooses to open this over a much better Diamond Kings product is beyond me.

Goodwin Champions

I think this is almost identical in presentation to Gypsy Queen, but the choices Upper Deck makes in the weird pictures of the players completely ruins it for me. I would think this product could be a lot more successful if they retouched some photos and removed logos from action shots. Using players in candid pictures is really unusual.

Here is what I am talking about:

2015 UD Goodwin Champions Barry Sanders Patch

2015 UD Goodwin Champions Lebron James Mini 1/1

2015 UD Goodwin Champions Ray Bourque Patch

Of course, this is a set collectors product, and the redemption relics are always highly sought after by some of the collectors who like things that arent sports related. You may think its pretty niche, but in reality this is one of the reasons the product is as successful as it is. These cards usually sell for well over what one would expect, and there are always surprises.

I think its pretty much a perfect representation of how important licensing is in a lot of these types of products, as it is something that can mean the difference between really awesome cards and a forgettable product. Both of these products are pretty forgettable, to be honest. Its unfortunate, because even without a license you can still produce good looking cards. I dont think either of the products really did a good job there either.