SCF Official Review: 2010 Press Pass Eclipse

[Enigma]

First and foremost, I'd like to thank or sponsors at Press Pass for providing us with this box.




24 packs per box
5 cards per pack
Current Retail Price: 109.99 - 119.99 (online)

Product Description


Press Pass Eclipse 2010 is all new - featuring the first ever artistic NASCAR trading card set printed on textured paper with unique designs that elegantly match various artistic techniques with the excitement of NASCAR! Again in 2010 Press Pass Eclipse has four hits per hobby box - (3) Memorabilia Cards and (1) Autograph Card!

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

- One Autograph Per Box Featuring Press Pass Autographs Found Only In Press Pass 2010 And Press Pass Eclipse. Also Look For Hobby Only Press Pass "Track Edition" Autographs, Seq. #'D To 10!

- Three Memorabilia Cards Per Box Featuring:
*Big Name Swatches Event-Used Memorabilia Cards With One Card For Each Letter Of The Driver's Last Name. New For 2010 - Look For Cards #'d To The Driver's Door # Including Dale Earnhardt, Sr.!
*Burning Rubber Race-Used Tire Cards From The Winners Of The Final 10 2009 Chase For The Sprint Cup Races!
*Signature Series Shoe Edition - Special Race-Used Memorabilia Cards With Authentic Autographs; #'d To Driver's Door Number! Hobby Only!

- Press Pass Vault Instant Win Contest - Exclusive To Eclipse 2010 - Interactive Contest Featuring Exciting Autograph And Memorabilia Sets From The "Press Pass Vault"!

- Gallery Edition - Hobby Only Parallel!

- Four Wide Memorabilia Program - Hobby Only!

WHAT WE PULLED



Base: 90/90 (100%)
Dupes: 9
Gold: 12



Cars (4)
Decade (1)
Focus (1)
Hall Of Fame (1)
Hall Of Fame Holo /50 (1): Dale Earnhardt #74



J.R. Fitzpatrick Auto
Burning Rubber Jimmie Johnson (Charlotte 10/17/09) RU Tire /250
Spellbound Dale Earnhardt Jr. "R" (Second) Car Cover /250
Spellbound Jeff Gordon "D" Car Cover /125



FINAL RATINGS

Base - 5/5
Design - 5/5
Fun - 4/5
Value - 3.5/5
Rebuy - 4/5

Total - 21.25/25 (86%)


Coming off a successful revamp last year, Eclipse is back in 2010. Press Pass has gone in a different direction again with Eclipse with unveiling artistic painting cards for its base set. There are six subsets in the base set. There's the normal driver and car sets. After that, a subset called Anthology which focuses on the various tracks around NASCAR and includes information on the backs of the most successful drivers there. That is followed by a set devoted to the Awards show in Las Vegas at the end of last season. Rounding it out is a photomosaic subset that takes various miniature pictures to recreate the face of a few of the drivers and then there's a set devoted to the drivers or teams who have made a change for 2010. It is a 90 card base set with no short prints.

Outside of the continuation of the Hall of Fame series (10 cards per release in 10 products), there are three insert sets in Eclipse. The first is called Cars. This 9-card set highlights some of the most popular cars on the track with tidbits of information about the driver and the car on the back. The color theme of the card is one of the primary colors of the car. Next is a series called Decade. This 8-card set aims squarely at showing off some of the elite drivers over the past ten years. Finally, there's Focus. This 6-card set focuses on the stalwarts of NASCAR today.

Each box of Eclipse yields one autograph and three race-used cards on average. The primary race-used pieces are tires and car covers. Burning Rubber continues to appear as it has in the previous two releases this year which consists of a piece of tire from the winning car of a particular race in 2009. Replacing Solar Swatches is Spellbound. Spellbound is a series of cards where the various letters of a driver's name is used to house either a tire or car cover piece. Collectors have the chance to spell out the entire last name of a small assortment of drivers. Autographs from the 2010 year are typically found in a box, but if lucky, you could acquire a Signature Series card which will have a race-used item and an autograph. Replacing the Black Hole prize cards is a set called Press Pass Vault.

The changes last year to Eclipse created quite a buzz and anticipation for this year. Press Pass made some changes this year. Most were good, but not all. The painted base cards are wonderful. The checkerboard background enhances the driver pictures and I enjoy the photomosaic cards, though the faces don't come out clearly since it is a painted landscape. You do get either a gold parallel, insert or a "hit" in almost every pack. However, it seems there are packs which are exact copies of a previous pack in the box and that's not exciting. I like seeing the return of the letter cards, but I still don't understand the rationale in making some cards numbered less than others. To heighten the case perhaps? If so, that's a turn-off to driver collectors. Also, why car covers and tires? Tires should just remain with the Burning Rubber series. Adding more tires will lead to alienating the racing collectors as they appear to be the most plentiful race-used item out there.

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sponsors at Press Pass for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. For more information on all their products, you can check them out at www.presspassinc.com.

[JKC]

Nice break and review! Although my favorite driver isn't featured in the base set, I really like the idea for it. It's not the first time this has happened, and chances are it won't be the last. Thank you Press Pass for providing this!

[etmill01]

Definitely a nice break and review, I really like the look of the cards..Thanks to Press Pass..Ed

[SingleDaddyof2]

Always nice to get the complete base set out of one box. Nice hits, too! Press Pass has got some serious artistic flair and put it all over these cards--awesome cards!