SCF Official Review: 2011 Press Pass Stealth

[Enigma]

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

In addition, I would like to apologize to Press Pass for the late posting of this review. I sincerely thought I had posted it already, only to discover I was wrong.



24 packs per box
5 cards per pack
Current Retail Price (online): 84.99 - 94.99



WHAT WE PULLED



Base: 100/100 (100%)
Dupes: 10
Shield /99 (1): Dale Earnhardt Jr.





Flyover (1)
In Flight Report (4)
NASCAR HOF (1)
Supersonic (2)



Press Pass Signings Juan Pablo Montoya Auto /50



Metal Of Honor Kevin Harvick Sheet Metal /99



FINAL THOUGHTS

Base - 5/5
Design - 5/5
Fun - 3.5/5
Value - 3/5
Rebuy - 3.5/5

Total - 20/25 (80%)

Press Pass went all out this year to tie Stealth in a military theme. Releasing right around Memorial Day in the U.S., Stealth is in a lot of ways a salute to the brave men and women who have, who are and who will serve the U.S. via the Armed Forces. Even the motto on the box lends to the motif, "For Those Who Serve And Collect."

The base set is stunning. The background appears to be the outside of a jet fighter for all the drivers, even differentiated between the NSCS and NNS stars. The first twelve drivers on the checklist actually have three cards: a photo, picture of the car and a snapshot of members of the pit crew. When you combine the three cards and flip them over, they create a picture of the car's hauler. It's not the first time that's been done in sports cards, but it is always neat to see when it is done. Two parallels can be found in packs, Chrome /99 and Black Ops /25 (hobby only).

Continuing the theme are the inserts (outside of the year-long NASCAR HOF set). Flyover is dedicated to the various planes that have graced the skies over a NASCAR race during a fly-by. In-Flight Report focuses on the drivers and some of their best quotes to their crew chief/pit crew during races. Finally, Supersonic is all about speed as in the pole setters of 2010.

Each box should yield one autograph and one memorabilia card on average. There are three versions on the Metal of Honor cards that adhere to this product's theme, Purple Heart, Silver Star and Medal Of Honor. The Press Pass Signings are done with a metallic background.

Press Pass does what you rarely see from other companies and that is to attempt to reinvent a product. Many times over the last couple of years, Press Pass has tried to go away from the cookie-cutter aspect of their early releases and give more excitement to the collectors. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It definitely works here and the card design is sleek. The motif is spot on and for that, Press Pass should be saluted. However, in this day and age, it is really hard to appeal to the masses as the majority are looking simply for the "hits" and not the overall product. This change in attitude from simply collecting for the fun of the hobby to centering everything around the secondary market hurts products such as this that have a low yield of "hits" and it is a shame.

Once again, I'd like to thank our wonderful sponsors at Press Pass for giving us the opportunity to open and review this release. As well as reiterate my apology for posting this almost a month late as I had mentioned before that I thought it was already done. For more information on all their products, visit them today at www.presspassinc.com.

[skippy]

nice review T, always did like the Stealth product. Really enjoyed the way the gave notice to our troops. Give a big thumbs up for the inovation of the Metal of Honor and the After Burner RU'd.

[joeyfan22]

i always love stealth