I have noticed a disturbing trend in my local area...most large retail chains have quit carrying Press Pass racing boxes in their card sections....a bunch of cheap mostly junk football and basketball now are all that is available on a retail front...I inquired to my local store management about the getting Nascar cards back on the shelves...and he said he would contact the vendor that stocks the sports card section about getting Press Pass back on the store shelves...
so if this is happening in your area...please be sure to speak to someone about picking these items up again...I know the majority of us purchase hobby..through box breaks and e-bay...but by keeping retail on the shelves of major chains like Wal-mart and Target we are insuring that other race fans have the chance to see Nascar has their own trading cards..and possibly get some new blood into our collecting circles...
Chris

preach it brother pimp

get some new blood into our collecting circles...
Chris


AMEN BROTHER!!!:winking0071:

here is an article I posted up a while back.....


I would like to take this opportunity to ask each of you to look around you ..and see if you have people in your life that are Nascar fans ...but don't know about Nascar cards....take a few cards if you have extra of their favorite driver and give to them ..and explain to them a little about the hobby itself...the different types of cards..such as inserts and certified race used and autographs ....and how much fun you have collecting them...
if they seemed interested you may have just may new collector from someone you already know...
it is amazing that Nascar has the second largest fan base ...but one of the smallest collector groups...if each of us were to give cards out to ten people we know ...and one of the ten began collecting ..we would double our numbers....
with the loss of most hobby shops around the country and the shift to more on-line trading it is essential to both help educate and invite people into the hobby....
I feel blessed to be able to have all the enjoyment I recieve from helping others...all because I am a Nascar collector...
last week I was on the phone with people from 13 different states...answering questions about cards and helping them buy sell and trade...to me that is my favorite part about doing this...it unites people from all walks of life...
from the base and set collectors to the high end collectors ....we all have the same passion and enjoyment for what we do....
so I would like to ask everyone that has the ability to give a few cards away on a local level to find people that enjoy the sport and then..

SHARE THE HOBBY

I have been fortunate enough to start a few people on the path. One of the last Dega Card shows I did, I tried to drum up interest in a card group for the area....unfortunately it fell on deaf ears...Some one is buying the NASCAR cards other then me around here...Tim Galloway at Gadsden Sports Cards (the only local shop that sells NASCAR) has noted that the few NASCAR fans are so diverse in their collecting that its hard to adequatley buy product. He wont be ordering Element except for 1 box specifically for one guy. He got burned on Traks and Speedway though regular Press Pass is usually a good seller as well as Premium and Eclipse. And if I hadnt bought a bunch of the Stealth last year, he'd have gotten screwed on that. Another guy who occasionally buys NASCAR buys it just to be buying it when none of the stick and ball sports have a new release. Ive generated some interest when I bought a few packs with other customers.

Another Dega show, alot of the people who stopped and looked commented that they aint bought NASCAR since before UD bought Maxx out. Back when I lived in Charleston, WV we had a great group of NASCAR collectors who met at the local card in Cross Lanes and traded once a month as part of their trade days. Short of taking out an ad in the local paper (which is in my opinion not worth 2 cents), it's hard to find out who is buying the loose packs at Wally World. My envolvement in Culinary School (and my upcoming internship probably out of state) precludes me from doing more.

Sorry for the long rant, I get going and dont shut up some times.

All this is great, but what if Nascar cards get to be as popular as baseball and football, could the other brands want in? And if that would happen could the market for Nascar get flooded with so much product?

Again something to wonder..

We had that problem during the mid 90s during the card boom when the presses ran until they broke...here are a few companies that tried NASCAR cards:

Press Pass
Wheels--bought out by PP
Fleer/Skybox--bankrupt
Upper Deck--still going but got out in 2000
Score Board--bankrupt
Pro Set--bankrupt, the patron saint for overproduced cards
Maxx--bankrupt, the name was bought by Upper Deck
eTopps--only once, but haven't tried again

Les, Chris, Mason (autocritic), et al, any of the old timers in NASCARDs can give you a few more manufacturers that have tried the sport.

But i digress...

There is so a lot of lead time in the process of NASCARDs to even make a set. Unlike it the other sports, there in no player's union; you have to get each driver INDIVIDUALLY. You have to get the sponsors, teams, and whatever/whoever is needed to be approved for appearances on the card. Some sponsors, like Budweiser for one, will not appear on a card.

Then the cards go out for approval from the drivers'teams' reps...once in a while they do not come back to PP in a timely fashion. Take some time and see if you can find any Jeff Gordon cards from 2001 WHG...Oops, there isn't any cards of him in that set wiht the exception of the autographed cards and the Custom Shop redemptions because they didn't get the approvals back in time for production.

Then there is the wait for auto/ru'ed cards (the Dale Jr. hot threads last year and this years autos in 09 PP), but that is just like the others sports, so I won't go there.

With the extra time and money needed for NASCAR to make a successful product, some companies will just be better off to not do it.

Hope this helps, Alex

The liscensing aspects of the NASCAR card process is unreal. I recall at one point talking to a representative of Pacific who told me they were pretty much good to go but were having problems getting Dale Jr on board. They did go on to produce one of the Roush/Kraft sets which were actually very nice looking cards.

The reality is without new blood in the hobby, the hobby will grow stagnate and die a slow painful death. Chris is right on the money about getting more people collecting. While this is one of the smallest boards on this site (I honestly was shocked to find that out), the level of passion on this board, is rivaled by none. Yeah I came to the hobby back in 1977 through of all things Star Wars cards (and yes I still dabble in Star Wars) this progressed quickly to Baseball which was my main focus from 1977 to 1989 when Hockey eclipsed baseball. Though I have watched and followed NASCAR since about 1977 or 78, I didnt even start collecting til 1999 (11 years after the 1st NASCAR set was produced) and if it hadnt been for Tony Stewart, I might still only be looking for Star Wars, some specific hockey, and 50's - 70's Pittsburgh Pirates cards. The fact is Tony lit a fire in my collecting spirit that has not waned and that has expanded considerably.

Many NASCAR fans will buy a new diecast or three every year religously. When their driver changes team, it necessitates a whole new wardrobe. I know people who change the oil brand in their car when their drivers team changes brands. Imagine if we could get some of those same dedicated, passionate race fans as card collectors.

Look around at the group...there are several who go back to the old NTN2 days and even before that. There are people who I have traded with over and over again the last 10 years on several different sites. And there are people who have kind of faded away who had killer collections and were great traders as well. We need more new blood and to find some of the older collectors to boot. Yes I know the economic situation for many is such that pieces of cardboard may not be a priority. But as I stated earlier...no new collectors eventually means no hobby.

Again sorry for the long winded speech...but as some of you may remember I get that way from time to time.