Official SCF Review: 2009 Press Pass Legends Football

**Enigma** · 08-13-2009, 06:33 AM

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

18 packs per master box
6 packs per mini box (3 mini boxes)
5 cards per pack
SRP: 122.99-135.99

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS:

- Five On-Card Autographs & One Game-Used Jersey In Every 18-Pack Box!
- At Least Two Autographs Will Be Legends!
- 1 Of 1 Press Plates - At Least One Per Case!
- Seven Levels Of Autographs And Three Levels Of Jersey Cards!

ENERGIZED INSERTS:

BASE PARALLELS
- Bronze #'d to 899
- Silver #'d to 299
- Gold #'d to 99
- Emerald #'d to 25
- Platinum #'d 1 of 1!

SATURDAY SIGNATURES - Autographed insert featuring the legends of the past along with legends of the future!
SATURDAY SIGNATURES PLATINUM - Autographed parallel with platinum foil, seq #'d to 25 or less!

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION - Insert featuring 2 alumni from the same school - 1:14
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INK - Dual autographs seq #'d to 50 or less!

LEGENDS OF THE FALL - Features some of the top players in the history of college football - 1:7
LEGENDS OF THE FALL AUTOS - Autographed parallel #'d to 399 or less!
LEGENDS OF THE FALL AUTOS PLATINUM - Autographed parallel with platinum foil seq #'d to 25!

ALL CONFERENCE - Insert featuring players who earned All Conference accolades in 2008 - 1:7
ALL CONFERENCE AUTOS - Autographed parallel #'d to 399 or less!
ALL CONFERENCE AUTOS PLATINUM - Autographed parallel with platinum foil seq #'d to 25!

SATURDAY SWATCHES - Material insert featuring 1 swatch of game used jersey from a current player or past great #'d to 299 or less!
SATURDAY SWATCHES PLATINUM - Parallel with a premium swatch, platinum foil and seq #'d to 99 or less!
SATURDAY SWATCHES PATCHES - Parallel with a swatch of patch, platinum holo-foil and seq #'d to 25 or less!

WHAT WE PULLED

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Base - 59/100 (59%)
Dupes - 1

Bronze /899 (13): James Davis, Darius Butler, Jeremy Maclin, Brian Robiskie, Brandon Pettigrew, Juaquin Iglesias, Alphonso Smith, Tommie Frazier, Kirk Herbstreit, Billy Sims, Mike Alstott, Charley Taylor, John Elway CL
Silver /299 (5): Austin Collie, Everette Brown, Knowshon Moreno, Doug Williams, Bill Cowher

Alumni Association (2): Rod Woodson/Mike Alstott, Howard Cassady/Chris "Beanie" Wells

All Conference (2): Knowshon Moreno, Chris "Beanie" Wells

Legends Of The Fall (2): Mike Alstott, Dan Fouts

Saturday Swatches Matt Ryan /125
All Conference Michael Crabtree Auto /150

Saturday Signatures Darrius Heyward-Bey Auto
Saturday Signatures James Davis Auto

Saturday Signatures Juaquin Iglesias Auto *RED INK*
Saturday Signatures Jim Kiick Auto

Saturday Signatures Platinum Rod Woodson Auto /25 *RED INK*
Saturday Signatures Printing Plates Black Paul Hornung Auto /1

Final Ratings (out of 5):

Base Set – 4
Fun – 4.5
Overall Design – 4.5
Value – 5
Rebuy – 4

Total – 22/25 (88%)

Legends has been a staple of the Press Pass line for a few years now. However, it has taken a lot of flack because Press Pass utilizes players in their college uniforms and therefore does not have "true" rookie cards. While that may be the case, at least they go above and beyond to put together on-card autograph sets and that's some that the collectors in the industry are starved for from the other companies.

The base set is great with it's simplicity. A nice full-color photo is enveloped within a grey scale border. The color change plays off well as it gives the feel of autumn, which is football season. However, I'm still not a fan of incorporating rookies in a "legends" products. Legends implies players who have excelled at the top level in their career and usually are in the Hall of Fame or at least retired. These are the players that people remember a generation later. This set has 60 rookies and 40 legends, so is it really a legends set?

Dividing things up into 3 smaller boxes is wonderful. You know each will reveal it's own surprises and you get them in short bursts instead of possibly exposing all the goods of a release in the first couple of packs. Very few products offer 6 "hits" in this price point range. And unlike its predecessors released earlier in the year, these do fairly well on the secondary market.

It's very hard to stop at one box. Most collectors pick up multiple boxes because of what each one yields. On top of the numerous "hits", each pack guarantees a serial numbered card. So on average, 1/3 of the cards in each box is non-base. In comparison to most products on the market, you would be hard pressed to find many that have that high of a percentage.

All in all, Legends is the highlight of the football releases for Press Pass. There are those who pass up the other releases just to pick up numerous boxes of Legends. Why? Because it's that good. Even TTM and IP purveyors will enjoy the base set as it makes for great cards for signatures.

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