“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2015 Daytona 500 Official Event Pin

The Super Bowl of NASCAR took place on Sunday, and Joey Logano came out the winner.  Out of all the merchandise that was for sale, the official pin was one of the top items to buy.  I gotta say that the creativity level of the pins this year really took a nose dive.  There are at least three different types of 2015 Daytona 500 logo pins that they made.  All of them look extremely similar to each other.  Take a look.

The pin pictured all the way at the top of this post is the official pin.  Don’t let the others fool you.  That “57” on the bottom pin doesn’t even look right.  The 7 looks like a J.  The main difference between them all is that the word “DAYTONA” on the official pin is raised up, and on a level of it’s own.  On the others it is flat.  Prices aren’t all that high.  The official pin has been selling for $15.00 – $25.00.

Still no word yet on who will be producing the next generation of NASCAR cards.  Its only a matter of time until Panini announces a deal with NASCAR though.  Panini looks to be the only manufacturer with enough money to take on NASCAR.  Plus one of their head guys, D.J. Kazmierczak, use to run Press Pass.  I personally would like to see Upper Deck get back into making NASCAR stuff.

Card of the Day: Marcos Ambrose 2009 Press Pass Main Event Rookie Rounders Auto

Card of the Day: Jack Nicklaus 2014 Upper Deck SP Game-Used Edition Supreme Gear Event Worn Shirt

Panini Teases Us With Their ’12 NSCC Promo Plans

One of my favorite things to report on each year are the promos being given out during the National Sports Collectors Convention.  I love dishing out the details on what they look like and how you can get your hands on them.  The only company I haven’t talked much about is Panini.  Panini has been slowly teasing the public on their promo plans this year.  Its only a matter of days before all of their plans are unveiled, but here is what we know so far.

Panini will be holding an exclusive VIP event for high-rolling collectors.  Collectors that spend at least $6,500.00 at D & A Card World, Blowout Cards, Atlanta Sports Cards, Pittsburgh Wholesale, and/or Marty’s Sports Cards will be invited to this rare event that takes place the night of 8/4.  This event will work much like the Industry Summit distributors attend each year, except this time its for collectors.  On arrival, you will find elusive Black Boxes filled with rare gems, Hall of Famers signing autographs, case battles with ’11-’12 Elite Hockey and ’11-’12 Limited Basketball, plus more.

The following products will earn you “Panini Bucks” towards your invitation:

Baseball

• 2011 Limited
• 2011 Prime Cuts
• 2011 Contenders

NBA

• 2011-12 Gold Standard
• 2011-12 Limited
• 2011-12 Past & Present

NFL

• 2012 Elite
• 2012 Prestige
• 2011 Totally Certified
• 2011 Playbook
• 2011 Prime Signatures

NHL

• 2011-12 Elite
• 2011-12 Contenders
• 2011-12 Rookie Anthology

Only 50 collectors will be able to attend this event.  It sounds really cool, but I don’t see 50 people spending $6,500.00.  That’s a lot of cash.  I’d love to get my hands on a ticket to this, but I’m not spending that kind of money.  If any of those dealers are reading this, I’d be more than happy to take one or two of those invitations off your hands 🙂

Panini will also have their regular box break redemption program going on at their booth and it won’t require you to spend $6,500.00.  They haven’t gone too much into detail about it, but it will probably work like in previous years.  Open a 2011 or 2012 product at the Panini booth, and receive a promo pack.

Here are a few previews of the promos:

Panini calls this their “Cracked Ice” design.  It was first featured in the Father’s Day promotion.

Randomly inserted within the ’12 NSCC Panini promo packs will be redemptions for the actual printing plates used to print box covers.

Go For It! Roadshow – Rediscovered Relic With Mystery Signature

When I was in 6^th grade at Cedar Crest Middle School my class went on a field trip to Hershey, PA to see the Go For It! Roadshow.  This was around 1997 or 1998.  The Go For It! Roadshow was an interactive educational health event for kids and was operated by the HealthSouth Corporation.  It was meant to promote healthy living and exercise.  The show ran from 1995 to 2003.  In 2003, a major accounting scandal unfolded at the HealthSouth Corporation and the show was canceled.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I found out we were going.  All I knew was that I didn’t have to sit in the class room for a good portion of the day.  When the show started, I quickly discovered that professional athletes were involved in it.  During the show, Bo Jackson walked by where I was sitting and handed me a t-shirt signed by all the athletes involved with this particular show.

Recently I rediscovered this shirt hanging in my closet.  It’s been in there for the last ten years.  I recognize three signatures – Bo Jackson, Matt Bahr, and Jennifer Chandler.  Bahr was a kicker for Penn State, played professional soccer, and went on to play with numerous NFL teams such as the Steelers, 49ers, Browns, Giants, Eagles, and Patriots.  Chandler received a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics for diving.  As for Jackson, well if you don’t know who Bo Jackson is stop reading this and go open a box of ’87 Topps in hopes of pulling an autograph 🙂

Here are a couple of photos.  Does anyone have an idea whose signature that is next to Bo Jackson?  I’ve never known.

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Bo Jackson / ???

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Matt Bahr / Jennifer Chandler

**Update**

The mystery signature is of former NY Giants linebacker Steve DeOssie.

Main Event Materials Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to Eric on being the lucky winner of the Joey Logano 2011 Press Pass Main Event – Main Event Materials Shirt Relic #’ed/25.  Once Eric sends me his mailing address I will ship out this card ASAP.

Thanks.

Main Event Materials Contest! – NOW CLOSED

Earlier this week I busted a box of 2011 Press Pass Main Event.  One of my pulls was this Joey Logano Main Event Materials – Shirt Relic #’ed/25.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, October 7, 2011 @ 8:00 p.m. EST
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post
• You can enter once per day
• The winner will be selected at random
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

2011 Press Pass Main Event Box Break & Review

Design: 

Initially I thought it looked like their basic Press Pass brand.  Press Pass usually has a theme with a lot of their NASCAR products.  This year Main Event has an entertainment theme to it.  The entertainment theme doesn’t stick out a whole lot when browsing through the cards.  I like the ticket stub logo Press Pass has in the upper left hand corner.  I love it when a manufacturer alters their logo for different brands.

Price: 

Boxes are currently selling for $85.00.

“Hit” Quality: 

Each box contains (1) autograph and (2) memorabilia cards.  If your lucky, you might get to pull an extra from the bonus pack that is included.  I pulled the following:

Autographs

• Tony Stewart Main Event Marks Auto #’ed/50

Relics

• Joey Logano Main Event Materials Shirt Relic #’ed/25
• Danica Patrick Gloves Off Glove Relic #’ed/99

Parallels

• Bobby Labonte Red #’ed/20
• Clint Bowyer Black & White

Inserts

• Jamie McMurray All-Stars #17/21
• Ryan Newman All-Stars #10/21
• Davis Reutimann All-Stars #3/21
• Juan Pablo Montoya All-Stars #12/21
• Kurt Busch All-Stars #13/21
• Mark Martin Rear View Mirror #5/10
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr Rear View Mirror #1/10
• Joe Gibbs Racing #4/6

Overall: 

Overall, I give 2011 Press Pass Main Event 3 tickets out of 5 (1=poor & 5=perfect).  Its not overly exciting, but as you can see I pulled some nice “hits”.

2011 Main Event Preview

Collectors can look for 2011 Main Event on September 28.  Each box will have (1) autograph and (2) memorabilia cards on average.  Box toppers include parallels or autographs.  Some of the autographs found in the box toppers come from older Press Pass products.

Green box toppers are 1/1’s

Red box toppers are #’ed/25

Press Pass Replacement Mailday!

The mailman just dropped of a replacement package from Press Pass.  Since I didn’t feel like waiting for my Phil Ivey autograph that was suppose to be in 2009 Main Event, I decided to settle for a replacement.  They sent me a Tony Stewart Pit Wall Banner relic #’ed/75, Jeff Burton autograph #’ed/10, and a pack of 2010 Main Event where I pulled a Danica Patrick mini Fight Card.  Thanks Press Pass!!!