Upper Deck’s Goodwin Champions product offers collectors a diverse sampling of trading cards from sports stars, celebrities, personalities, animals, music and more. With innovation being a key tenet of our brand strategy, Upper Deck has produced several series of Museum Collection memorabilia cards in the set. There are both regular and oversize version of these unique memorabilia cards released in the product and while there are a lot of fans who love them, we want to shine a spotlight on Chris R. Here’s his story:

“In the early part of 2016 I was scrolling the Beckett website and came across the preview for the new 2016 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions cards that were to be released later in the year. I saw pictures for the Museum Collection cards. I was instantly hooked and knew I had to try and get as many as I could. Little did I know, it would turn into a fun project that would become one of the cornerstones of my personal collection.

“Being a school teacher with a wife and two small children, I do not have a lot of disposable income to purchase cards. The only way I can buy new cards is to trade or sell cards I already have. With this in mind, I started selling off a bunch of different cards. Most of the cards I sold were football as that is my second favorite type of cards to collect. I saved up for about six months in order to get as many Museum Collection cards as possible. I obtained my first card on July 20^th, 2016. It was the Lauren F. Bruner Industry Summit exclusive autograph.

Bruner appeared at an Upper Deck sponsored event in Pearl Harbor prior to his passing in 2019 where he signed promotional cards for guests.

“The very next day I obtained my first pack version auto of Ed Bearss. By September 17^th, 2016 I had obtained the entire WW2 Museum Collection autograph set. The cards looked as sweet as I had hoped. It felt amazing to have signatures of these brave individuals. It made me feel even more blessed to be living in the United States. The cards made me do research and become a smarter individual on who these heroes were. Obtaining all the WW2 autos from the 2016 set was a big accomplishment then, and is still one of the biggest accomplishments in my over 25 years of collecting.

“I was so excited to see the 2017 preview of the release have more WW2 Museum Collection autos coming out. Saving up for these cards paid off again. I obtained my first auto from the 2017 set on October 20^th, 2017. By November 1^st, 2017 I had obtained the whole autograph set. What can I say, when I am really after certain cards, I put all my effort into them. This became my regular routine. Save up, obtain all the autographs, and save up for the next release.

“Once I saw the 2018 preview did not have WW2 autos on it, I thought what can I collect from the 2018 set. I saw that the 2018 set had new Genuine Hero autos. I thought these seemed super cool, so I knew I needed to get them. I obtained my first one of these on September 13^th, 2018. I obtained the Jennifer Maddox auto. A few days later I obtained one of my favorite autos, the Maggie MacDonnell auto. Being a teacher, I thought it was awesome that they would give a fellow teacher an autograph card. By October 3^rd, 2018 I had obtained the Genuine Heroes autograph set.

“On July 1^st, 2019 I obtained my first Genuine Heroes auto from the 2019 set. This auto was of September 11^th, 2001 hero Joe Torrillo. This is my favorite auto from the 2019 set. The 2020 Genuine Heroes set was my fastest one to be completed. It only took a week to obtain this set.

This audio booklet card tells the story of President Bush’s visit to New York City after 9/11.

“Since I finished the 2020 set so fast, I finally had some time to try and obtain some of the Museum Collection memorabilia cards throughout the various releases. I have obtained all 13 of my Museum Collection relic cards within the last year. My favorite by far is my jumbo relic that contains a piece of the WW2 B-17 Flying Fortress “Tiny Angel” airplane. I was lucky enough to obtain the card in a trade on Facebook via Dustin B. in the Iron Sports Card group. Now my card image of the “B-17 Tiny Angel” has fluctuated between the 1^st and 5^th pictures to come up on Google Images in search which is extremely awesome to me!

“Goodwin Champions is one of my favorite releases each year and I can’t wait for this year’s release. I love the diversity in the set and I have many other Goodwin Champions relics, autos, and insets. I really like the 3D Lenticular insert cards too. They always look great.

Chris’s memorabilia card collection extends past the Museum Collection

Chris has an awesome collection of autograph cards from the Goodwin Champions set as well!

“I also like the inclusion of action sports athletes in the products. I love scrolling through Twitter, eBay, and Facebook groups such as Historical Autographs to look for new cards to obtain and fellow collectors to chat with.

“I would like to thank all the people through the years that have helped me in any way with my collection. I am especially thankful to my parents Jack and Joyce who got me into collecting and who keep me going with it to this day. I would like to thank my grandparents Robert and Mary. Their wise words and love help keep me collecting. I would also like to thank my wife Alissa who puts up with my collecting on a daily basis.

“If you ever want to chat cards or show off something fun you have obtained, please contact me at [email protected]. I am always looking for more historical cards, especially from the Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Museum Collection sets. You can also find me on Twitter @clrshonuff.”

Thanks for sharing your passion for this product Chris! For collectors who are looking to “save up” for this year’s set, then here is a little preview for you. The 2021 Goodwin Champions Museum Collection set will feature three unique themes:

Lady Luck Relics – These cards will include casino chips from a variety of famous Las Vegas casinos including the Aladdin, the Desert Inn, the Landmark, the Riviera, the Dunes, the Stardust and more!

Space Relics Update – A variety of unique memorabilia from different missions to space are available.

Ship Relics – Upper Deck was able to acquire a variety of memorabilia from the USS Constitution and there will be ten different cards available and an oversized memorabilia version.

“We are very excited for the eclectic assortment of Museum Collection content in 2021 Goodwin Champions,” said Tony Sirianni, product manager for Goodwin Champions. “The Lady Luck Relics and Legendary Ship Relics are completely new to the product and I’m looking forward to the reception from collectors.”

Look for 2021 Goodwin Champions in stores in late summer/early fall 2021!