SCF Official Review: 2008 Press Pass

**molly1984** · 09-06-2008, 07:05 PM

Thanks to everyone at Press Pass we are able to do a break/review of 2008 Press Pass Basketball.

Product Description and Highlights:
Release Date- August 1, 2008
4 cards per pack; 30 packs per box; 16 boxes per case (Hobby)
Approximate Price- $3.99 per pack, $100 per box

Press Pass 2008 Basketball gives Basketball collectors their first chance to obtain autographed and game-used cards of the top rookies from the 2008 NBA Draft, including 15 of the top 17 picks, and the #1 pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft, Candace Parker. There is a 65-card base set with a gold foil parallel set of the first 60 cards that is a hobby exclusive. Two out of the four autograph sets are hobby exclusive as well and there is also a set of college game-used jersey cards which features three different levels of numbering. Each hobby box of Press Pass 2008 Basketball contains at least 5 autographs and 1 game-used jersey card.

Set Features:
Base Set
-65-card base set
-Subsets are: Collegiate Leaders, All Americans, Teammates, Power Picks (short-printed holofoil subset 1:10)

Parallel Sets
-60-card Reflectors gold foil parallel set (Hobby exclusive, 1:1)
-60-card Reflectors blue foil parallel set (Retail exclusive, 1:1)
-Sequentially Numbered Reflectors: 60-card parallel set of the base cards printed on holographic stock and numbered to 250
-Reflectors "Proof Edition": 60-card parallel set numbered to 100 (Hobby exclusive)
-Reflectors "SOLO": 60-card parallel set of 1/1’s (Hobby exclusive)

Autographs (1:6)
-Press Pass Signings (37 cards for each level)
Bronze: features each player’s school logo or national flag, not numbered.
Silver: includes each player’s uniform number, sequentially numbered to 199
Gold: includes an “X’s and O’s” pattern, sequentially numbered to 99
Blue: features a second player image, sequentially numbered to 50

-Teammates Autographs (3 cards)
Features autographs of two rookies who were teammates in college, sequentially numbered to 25

-Power Pick Autographs (14 cards)
Autographed version of the Power Pick subset, numbered to 250 or less (Hobby exclusive)

-Class of 2008 Autographs (14 cards)
Autographed version of the Class of 2008 insert, numbered to 199 or less (Hobby exclusive)

-Look for randomly inserted “red ink” and “nickname” variations for all autograph sets.

Game Used
-Game Day Gear (1:30) (9 cards)
College game-worn jersey cards, 3 levels.
Silver: numbered to 400
Gold: numbered to 99
Holofoil: numbered to 50

Inserts
-Class of 2008 (1:5) (10 cards)
-Insider Insight (1:4 ) (10 cards)
-Insider Insight Parallels
Silver: holographic parallel numbered to 199
Gold: holographic parallel numbered to 99
-Primetime Players (1:5) (10 cards)

Overall Break:
Base- 57/65 (88% complete)
Missing/Needed- 8
Duplicates- none
Gold Foil Parallel- 26/60 (43% complete)

Base

Base Subsets

Gold Foil Parallel

Inserts
Class of 2008 - 6/10 (60% complete)
Insider Insight - 10/10 (100% complete) (5 duplicates)
Primetime Players - 6/10 (60% complete)

Insider Insight

Primetime Players, Class of 2008, and Power Picks (short prints from base set)

Numbered
Insider Insight Gold Parallel
II-7 OJ Mayo #'d 63/99

Sequentially Numbered Reflectors
11 Eric Gordon #'d 185/250

Sequentially Numbered Reflectors "Proof Edition"
14 Roy Hibbert #'d 025/100
22 Brook Lopez #'d 015/100

Autos
Press Pass Signings Silver
PPS-RW Russell Westbrook #'d 026/100 (blue ink)
PPS-RL Robin Lopez #’d 159/199 (blue ink)

Press Pass Signings Gold
Darnell Jackson #'d 34/99 (red ink variation)

Power Pick Autographs
PP-DAJ Deandre Jordon #’d 102/250 (blue ink)

Class of 2008 Autographs
CL-DR Derrick Rose #’d 020/199 (red ink variation)

Game Used
Game Day Gear Silver
GDG-RW Russell Westbrook #’d 313/400

Final Ratings (Out of 5):
Base Set – 3.5/5
Fun - 4.75/5
Overall Design - 4/5
Value – 4.5/5
Rebuy – 3.5/5
Final Grade: 20.25/25 (81%)

Press Pass is always a set full of cards of up-and-coming players that will be the future stars of the NBA. This year’s Hobby box of press pass doesn’t disappoint, offering 5 autographed cards and one game used card per box for about $100 on average. On top of that there are a few insert sets, a few numbered parallel sets, and a gold foil parallel set of the entire base set. Player collectors and college collectors will really enjoy this set because in addition to each player having a regular card there are a few subsets, allowing for more than one card in the base set for some players. The base card subsets are Collegiate Leaders, All Americans, Power Picks, and my personal favorite— Teammates. The Teammates cards showcase two players who played for the same team in college and were drafted to the NBA. Another nice design is the Power Picks subset, these cards are part of the base set but are short-printed holofoil cards (1:10 packs). The regular base cards themselves look nicer as well compared to other Press Pass sets I recall seeing in the past. This year the main base cards have a nice silver outline on the left side with the player’s name and school logo or national flag. Each player’s college stats are also included on the back of each non-subset card.

Each hobby pack had four cards, one of which was a gold foil “Reflectors” parallel card. The parallels are nice but they just simply say “Reflectors” on them. We also got 3 numbered Reflectors parallels. The “Proof Edition” Reflectors parallels that are numbered out of 100 are only in hobby packs and have a gold foil stamping (Roy Hibbert and Brook Lopez), as opposed to the silver stamping of the ones numbered out of 250 (Eric Gordon). The numbered Reflectors are much nicer and have a holofoil look.

I did not keep track, but it seemed like every pack at least included some sort of insert. We pulled over 30 insert cards so this is probably correct. The Class of 2008 and Primetime Players inserts have a nice shiny look to them and feature a double photo of the player. The Insider Insight insert set is not as nice, but is a cool concept because it features quotes about the players from coaches, teammates, and scouts. We pulled this entire insert set plus 5 duplicates. The set has odds of 1:4 packs, which is too much. From this box we had no duplicates for the base set yet we had 5 for this insert set. On top of that there are gold and silver holographic parallels for this set that are nicer and would suffice. We pulled a Gold Insider Insight parallel of OJ Mayo that is numbered 63/99, which is a decent pull since he was the third pick in the NBA Draft.

Some of the hits we pulled from this box are very promising. Each box contains one game used jersey card and we pulled a white Russell Westbrook numbered 313/400. Westbrook was the fourth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft so it was good to pull a game used jersey card of such a high draft pick. Additionally, Westbrook was one of our autograph pulls. We pulled his Silver Press Pass Signings Silver autograph numbered 026/100. Other autographs we pulled were a Robin Lopez Silver Press Pass Signings numbered 159/199 (15th pick in the NBA Draft), a Darnell Jackson Gold Press Pass Signings numbered 34/99 (52nd pick in the NBA Draft), a Deandre Jordon Power Picks Autograph numbered 102/250 (35th pick in the NBA Draft), and last but not least, a Derrick Rose Class of 2008 Autograph #’d 020/199 (1st pick in the NBA Draft). The Derrick Rose autograph really made up for the lack of high draft picks for our autographs. Plus, the Derrick Rose autograph is red, which is a variation on the normal blue autographs. There are also nickname variations for the autographed cards but we did not pull any of those. The only type of autograph we did not pull was a Teammates autograph, which features two player autographs who were teammates in college. Those are numbered out of 25 and there are only three in the set, so they are probably much harder to pull.

The Derrick Rose autograph variation really made the box worth it. The two Russell Westbrook cards also made this a good box as did the OJ Mayo Insider Insight numbered parallel. It was a little surprising that the box did not yield a full base set (since the base set only has 65 cards), but it was only 8 cards short. Additionally, cards 61-65 are short-printed so it would be hard to get all 5 of those in one box. One thing to note is that a few of the top picks of the 2008 NBA Draft were not included, such as Joe Alexander and Jason Thompson. Most of the players from the first round are represented though, including 15 of the top 17. For collectors who are into the WNBA there are even cards (and autographs) of Candace Parker, who was the number one pick in the WNBA Draft. Overall, I would say that this was a fun box to break because of the cool designs and the fact that all the players are new. For many of these players the cards in this set could be their first cards. I would not rebuy the box, one box should be enough since there are 6 hits and many parallels. This box is definitely a must for collectors of rookies and college basketball fans.

As done for previous official reviews, the base and insert cards will be made available to SCF members for a SASE (please see the request thread in Basketball Card Trading). The autos, game used, and numbered parallels will not be available because they will be used as prizes for contests or for the Card Cash store.

Once again, I would like to thank Press Pass for providing SCF with this box of Press Pass 2008 Basketball to review.

**demonpower55** · 09-06-2008, 07:23 PM

Great review, and talk about beating the odds!!

**gladdyontherise** · 09-06-2008, 07:26 PM

WOW!!!!
a derrick rose red auto! woohoo!

looks like we need Molly to keep busting these! and robin lopez as well as westbrook are great autos as well! the inserts look very cool!

and i should add great review!

**garnett_21** · 09-06-2008, 07:28 PM

Awesome box! Rose auto is awesome! Thanks Press Pass!!

**molly1984** · 09-06-2008, 07:36 PM

Yes, big thanks to Press Pass. and the Rose auto is AWESOME! but i didn't want to get all spazzy in the review lol. so i'll put the exclamation marks here :)