It's been a little while since I've been able to put together an Ultimate Checklist post, and there is no better set to help me get back into the swing of things than 2008 Goudey. I am a big fan of the simplicity and authenticity of the Goudey says, right down to the "Derek Jeter says..." and "Ken Griffey Jr. Says..." on the fronts. I know that many people didn't like that it was just Jeter and Griffey, but the original Goudey's were just Lou Gehrig and "Chuck" Klein (although I do love that someone's common name used to be put in quotations--how much better would it have been if the bottom of the NL cards said "Ken" Griffey Jr. Says...) Really, the main complaint was that there were too many Short Prints, and that they went away from the original card sizes (as replicated in 2007 Goudey) and made them parallels. As a set builder, I'm sure there are plenty of flaws. As a player collector, this set is really neat. See?
The Granderson in this set is just really, really nice. The artwork is excellent--it is not too cartoony, yet cartoony enough not to look pretentious. The silhouetted players in the background are a nice touch and the detail on Granderson himself is really impressive. Even better, is that this particular pose/stance is not just a recycled photo from another set, stylized into old-timey paint mode. Rather, it is a new look that we don't commonly see on a card. The color scheme matches Tigers colors but still replicates the old-time feel. I am very impressed.
The only thing better than the regular card are the mini versions.
There are five mini versions in all, and the main difference between them is the color of the ink on the backs. Here is a red back version to see what I mean:
There is just something about this size that is so enjoyable. It almost looks better than the regular version and avoids the possible pitfall of looking like a normal sized card cut short. The Blue Back and Red Back minis are not numbered. There are also Green Back (#/88), Black Back (#/34) and Taupe Back (#/8). In a touch that I like, these are serial numbered on the front and have a slight color differentiation in the "Derek Jeter Says..." portion of the front.
The serial number stamping and color variation makes collecting and displaying the minis a little more fun and less repetitive than a parallel version that only looks different on the back.
In all, I really like the Goudy set. I know that they may be on their way out, what with the shortage of actual Goudey sets to replicate from here on out, but 2008 Goudey will stand as a bright spot in Curtis Granderson collecting this year. Its just too bad that he didn't make the cut into the 2007 set. Here's hoping for a 2009...
