2011 Press Pass FanFare Racing
Product Review
2011 Press Pass FanFare Racing Product Review
Reviewed By Doug Cataldo
Good: A brand new Press Pass product for 2011. Can you name another NASCAR product that delivers both four memorabilia cards and four autographs in a single box? That's what you get in every box of 2011 Press Pass FanFare. As an added bonus, just before its release Press Pass announced a bonus box-topper pack that includes an additional hit. That's nine packs, all with a potential golden ticket. Look for exclusive Nationwide and Truck series first-time autographs and memorabilia cards. The set also boasts signatures featuring drivers and team owners on the same card. NASCAR legends are also included.
Bad: Not nearly enough legendary autographs and memorabilia included in the mix. Although missed, at the same time, it keeps the secondary market strong when products such as Press Pass Legends hit stores. So, you decide whether that's a bad thing, or a good thing.
The Bottom Line: 2011 Press Pass FanFare is a solid entry to follow the hugely successful Showcase product. It focuses squarely on all three racing series and provides a deeper memorabilia and autograph checklist for both Nationwide and Truck series racers. The set shows that Press Pass is willing to delve deeper into the NASCAR well to offer collectors some autograph pairings that have never appeared on cards together.
Card Design: 2.5/5.0
The 99-card base set has an elegant design that features gold foil borders and highlights that appear to borrow elements from previous Press Pass collections. The silver parallels (/ 25) are also sharp and will be tough to put together. Perhaps the most appealing variation of the base set are the mirror foil finished cards that also happen to be die-cut. The 30-card Championship Caliber insert set also resembles some of the previous foil-board inserts you might expect in a Press Pass product. Some fresh ideas might be in order from the design team. The autograph and memorabilia insert collections borrow a little from the base design but have elements all their own that allow for a nice hard-signed autograph canvas.
Checklist: 4.0/5.0
The base collection has a great mix of all three NASCAR series and even includes some team owners, such as NFL legend Joe Gibbs, Jack Roush and Richard Childress. With 99 cards, you will get the complete NASCAR picture, including some drivers that don't make a lot of other Press Pass collections. Names including motocross champion and current Camping World and Nationwide driver Ricky Carmichael, and Brazilian touring series racer Miguel Paludo (a relative newcomer to NASCAR) stand out as ones to watch for among the many top stars. All kinds of racing gear can be found, from hats and shoes to the always-popular sheet metal swatches directly from the cars themselves.
Value: 4.5/5.0
With multiple levels of autographs and, perhaps, the most extensive assortment of race-used memorabilia ever to appear in a Press Pass set, FanFare delivers a total of nine hits per box for just under $120. Every pack delivers a hit, and you never know what's coming next. The fact that Press Pass included the bonus pack is truly, for lack of a better term, icing on the cake. And if FanFare were edible, there is no doubt that you could have your cake and eat it too. The lack of retired legends in the autograph and memorabilia inserts keeps FanFare from reaching its full value potential. Perhaps a little tweaking for 2012 can boost this area of the product.
The Fun Factor: #/5.0
Some people enjoy set building. Others collect specific players. Some look only for the big hits and enjoy buying and selling cards. Whatever it is that tickles your collecting fancy, Press Pass FanFare has a hit in every pack. And, that anticipation of knowing you can find something with great potential inside all nine packs from a box is a trait many products cannot deliver. That feeling alone provides all the fun factor a collector could ask for.
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Product Details
2011 Press Pass FanFare Racing gives NASCAR fans not only an expansive checklist, but an exclusive one at that. Pulling together Sprint Cup, Nationwide and World Truck Series racers, as well as owners and racing legends, the 100-card FanFare base set covers the entire track. The autograph checklist in particular is bound to appeal to collectors looking for not just the superstars, but some of the fan favorites from the lower levels as well. For many Nationwide and World Truck Series Racers, FanFare will be the only place to find their signatures cards. Every five-card pack of FanFare is guaranteed to include an autograph or memorabilia card.
Estimated Release Date: 8/31/11
Product Configuration: Eight packs per box, five cards per pack.
Price Point: High-End Racing Card
Target Audience: Racing Fans, NASCAR Fans, Racing Collectors, NASCAR Collectors, Autograph Collectors, Car Memorabilia Collectors
Box Break
- Eight autograph and/or memorabilia cards.
- 40 Total Cards
Product Highlights:
- 100-card base set.
- Press Pass' biggest autograph and memorabilia checklists for 2011, spanning Sprint Cup, Nationwide and World Truck Series racers, owners and legends. More than 80 signers and more than 75 memorabilia subjects.
- Many Nationwide and World Truck Series autograph subjects signing for the first time.
- Four levels of FanFare Autographs, including dual owner/driver cards with such combinations as Joe Gibbs and Kyle Busch, Jack Roush and Carl Edwards, and Aric Almirola and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Magnificent Materials race-worn memorabilia cards include single-swatch cards numbered to 199 and dual swatch cards numbered to a maximum of 50 copies.
- Magnificent Materials Signature Edition cards combine autographs with race swatches.
- Rookie Standouts (15 cards) looks some of the best first-year performances in NASCAR.
- Championship Caliber (30 cards)
- Update: Hobby boxes also have a bonus pack that contains either an additional autograph card or instant win prize redemption. Prizes include NASCAR tickets, race-worn memorabilia and Danica Patrick autographed photos.
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