2016 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions preview

The Upper Deck set that covers almost anything and everything, Goodwin Champions, returns in 2016 with another unique mix of sports, entertainment, history and more. Every hobby box will come with three hits that could include autographs, relics, patch cards, booklet cards and more.

The base set for 2016 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions features 100 regular cards plus 50 Black & White short prints and 50 Goudey inserts, both of which fall five per box. Boxes will also contain six mini base cards. Mini cards have five levels of parallels: Canvas, Cloth (#’d to 25), Leather (#’d to 16), Wood (#’d to 8) and Gold (#’d 1/1).

Autographs in Goodwin Champions features a robust checklist of athletes and celebrities, including LeBron James, Tom Glavine, Wayne Gretzky, Holly Holm, Mark Messier, Paige VanZant, Bret Hart, Kevin Smith, Robbie Maddison and Meisha Tate.  Goodwin Autographs fall 1:26 packs with hand-numbered inscription variations. Harder to find autograph hits include Goudey Autographs (1:320), Sport Royalty Autographs (1:2,560) and Sport Royalty Dual Autographs (1:10,560). Look for numbered Goodwin Cut Signatures as well.

Memorabilia cards are similar with Goodwin, Goodwin Dual Swatch, Goodwin Black & White, Goudey, Sport Royalty and Sport Royalty Dual Swatch relic hits. Each set of memorabilia cards has a numbered Premium Series version as well.

2016 Goodwin Champions also an array of inserts and memorabilia cards covering more unusual topics. The Supernaturals are 3D-lenticular cards that cover various legends and mythologies from around the world. These have various tiers of availability based on what part of the planet the legends comes from:

• Tier 1 – Americas and the Pacific – 13 subjects – 1:126
• Tier 2 – Africa and the Middle East – 10 subjects – 1:218
• Tier 3 – Asia – 7 subjects – 1:466
• Tier 4 – Europe – 5 subjects – 1:870
• Tier 5 – Ancient Rome – 4 subjects – 1:1,632
• Tier 6 – Ancient Greece – 3 subjects – 1:4,352

Supernaturals also have hard-signed Artist Autograph variations numbered out of 25.

For third and final year Goodwin Champions will have a set of Origin of Species patch cards. Previous sets have covered The Dawn of Complex Life and the Age of Dinosaurs. The final installment will tackle the Age of Mammals across six different species:

• Herbivores – 40 subjects – 1:96
• Predators – 20 subjects – 1:251
• Winged – 15 subjects – 1:484
• Water/Amphibian – 12 subjects – 1:907
• Primates – 10 subjects – 1:1,813
• Humans – 3 subjects – 1:9,067

Patch cards will land five per case.

Historical Audio Booklet cars also return for 2016 Goodwin Champions. These book cards play an audio clip from a historically significant speech when opened. Declaration of Independence Facsimile Signature cards are another historical insert. These feature a reprinted signature from one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and are numbered out of 76.

Goodwin Masterpieces Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland painted booklet cards retell Lewis Carroll’s classic story with 21 different cards hand-numbered to just ten. Look for special versions that include a piece of a page taken from an early 20th century edition of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

2016 Goodwin Champions also pays tribute to World War II with Museum Collection Signatures, Relics and Booklet Relics. Signatures feature autographs from 20 World War II veterans. Relic cards and booklet contain authentic WWII memorabilia, including badges, ribbons, uniform patches and ID tags.