Head To Head: Legends Vs. Greats of the Game

This week I decided to put two base sets against each other; 1999 Upper Deck Century Legends (legends) against 2004-05 Fleer Greats of the Game (Greats). If you want, vote on your favorite in the poll at the top-right of this page!

• Condition: Legends - For some reason I see more and more Greats singles with nasty chipping problems on the edges and corners. Maybe it's because they're printed on thicker card stock.
• Design: Greats - Greats has that nostalgic wood background in a frame design that makes a complete set in a binder look awesome. Plus, I never liked the Sporting News logo UD used. I think they could've done more with it.
• Star Ratio: Legends - Legends was an obvious winner with the 50 greatest players announced in '96 plus future stars. But having to leave-out Magic Johnson (contract reasons) knocked this set out of "best set ever" contention.
• Photography: Legends - Although the Greats set has a better design, Legends had devoted more room for photography.
• Inserts: Legends - Greats just had the gold parallel and the autographs as inserts, while Legends had a parallel, autographs, and numerous insert sets.
• Result: Legends - It was close, but Greats was just outmatched. Design was a huge factor to overcome, but the overall quality and player selection of Legends was more than enough.