I'm the middle of opening a hobby box of these and am mostly enjoying myself so far. The cards are well designed, I like both the off-white background of the base cards and the "boutique midrange" stock (think Score but a thicker and more-expensive-feeling matte finish). I don't exactly love the treatment of the photographs (which looks midway between half-tone printing and an early 2000s Photoshop filter), but it's unique at least. The cards are sorted into rookies, veterans, and legends, a nice touch to help set Champions apart from other Upper Deck releases.

Other upsides include the '51 Retros (though separate blank-back vs. wrapper-back vs. blue vs. red versions feels redundant - more on that later), as well as the buyback inserts, which I think may have been the biggest selling point for seasoned collectors.

"The bad" with this set isn't too different from the bad of most modern sets. ~25 different insert sets and 6 base set parallels (not including plates) are overkill in general, the insert sets themselves are massive, and some of the more modern die cut inserts like Tomorrow's Riches stick out like a holographic sore thumb and should've been left for flagship UD. This greedy marketing tactic devalues most inserts to the point of fools' gold (I'm honestly happier to see base cards in a pack), and with all the different sets we're already seeing this year, I really wish Upper Deck would just pick one, make it the designated "parallels set" (Artifacts would be a great choice), and give collectors a fighting chance of completing any of these checklists.

Overall, I recommend picking these up and like them much more than the past few years of Parkhurst releases. The base set is a bit large for the price range (350 cards including 50 short-prints), but I could see myself investing in another box or trading for the outliers once I'm through. Call it a 7.5 out of 10.