Ever since Press Pass didn’t get their college license renewed, I haven’t been too thrilled about their football products. This year they are going to kick it up a notch by making football versions of their popular NASCAR products such as FanFare and Showcase. I think they’ll do well, but not as good as a product that can take advantage of college logos. They could take a play out of Leaf’s book, and make a unique product that is made from a totally different perspective where logos don’t matter. 2012 Press Pass Rookie Football probably isn’t a product like that, but rest assured these autographs will be hot when they first come out.
In a press release, Press Pass stated they have signed Andrew Luck to an exclusive autograph agreement. Press Pass will be the only manufacturer to have Andrew Luck unlicensed autographs. Don’t worry, Luck will be in all the licensed college and NFL stuff. Exclusives for unlicensed cards isn’t that big of a deal anyway. As soon as the licensed stuff hits the secondary market, unlicensed cards take a major dive. Exclusive or not, that’s what happens. The last time I checked, Leaf was planning to have Luck cards too. Leaf has a loop-hole though. They don’t have a collegiate or NFL license, but they can use U.S. Army All-American photos.
2012 Press Pass Rookie Football is due out on March 21st. Each box will contain (6) autographs. FanFare, due out on May 9th, will have an autograph in each pack. The base autographs will be featured on “chromium” technology. I hope this looks something like Leaf Metal or the base cards found in 2009 Press Pass Stealth. Showcase, which will be released in June, will feature the high-end type of “hits” you would find in their NASCAR product.
Filed under: Preview | Tagged: 2012, andrew, football, griffin, III, luck, pass, press, Preview, richardson, robert, rookie, trent |
Sports Card Info 
Press Pass always makes some cool looking racing cards and non-sports stuff. I never understood why their football cards were so bland. They aren’t terrible, and I like the on-card autos, but there just isn’t much to them. They put more into the actual design of their racing inserts than any of the big manufacturers do for any of theirs anymore. I’d really like to see that carry over into football, instead of an insert that just basically has a big blank spot where a jersey or autograph should be.
My understanding is that Leaf, Sage, and UD are all out, meaning no collegiate logo autos either. That’s fine by me. I miss the college logos a little, but the value and customer service with Press Pass is top notch.