Card of the Day: 1978 Donruss – KISS – Gene Simmons #50

“Pin-Up” of the Week: LA KISS Guitar Pick Pin

Ok, officially this pin hasn’t been made yet.  But rest assured that Gene Simmons probably has them in the works.  Merchandising and slapping the KISS logo on everything is his specialty.

Arena Football fans have a new team to watch this season – LA KISS.  This is the third AFL team to represent Los Angeles since 1988.  I’m sure that owners Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will try to bring the energy of their concerts to the football field.  The LA KISS play their first home game on April 5th.

Card of the Day: Gene Simmons KISS 360 Relic

More Images of The Legends of KISS

Press Pass posted a few more images of The Legends of KISS due out on 4/14/10.  This is the first KISS product to feature autographed relics.  If I’m not mistaken, I think its the first to to contain patches too.  Take a look!

PREVIEW: The Legend of KISS

What can I say?  KISS does an excellent job of marketing themselves.  On April 21, Press Pass will release The Legend of KISS that tells the story of the band.  Its a 100-card set that contains concert worn relics and autographs.  Collectors can also look for pop-up cards and various serial numbered proofs.

I’ve opened two KISS products that Press Pass has sent over, but have never pulled an autograph or relic.  The biggest hit I’ve pulled came from KISS 360 which was a serial numbered parallel limited to 50 copies.  These products must be a huge hit with all those KISS collectors or they wouldn’t keep making them.  This will be the 5th KISS product Press Pass has made.

Place the back of the cards together to unveil the story of KISS.

Press Pass Wasn’t The First

Later this week Press Pass will be releasing its third KISS product this year, and by looking at all the pre-sales it looks to be like another sellout.  The demand these cards have almost makes it look like Press Pass was the first company to make KISS trading cards, but thats not true.  Starting in the 1970’s manufacturers really started to make products based around T.V. shows, movies, and bands.  This was actually done before the 70’s, but it seems like this is when manufacturers seemed to get a real high from it because of all the products they began producing.  In 1978 Donruss produced the very first set of KISS cards for collectors.  There weren’t any autographs or relics, but there was such a high demand Donruss produced a second series.  Each box contained 36 wax packs featuring great photography of the band.  If your lucky enough to find a sealed box, your probably going to pay out the nose to get it.  I think its safe to say that KISS is one of the most collectible bands in history.

’09 Komplete KISS Preview

Next week Press Pass will be releasing a box set called Komplete KISS.  It will feature both of the KISS Ikons and KISS 360 sets.  Press Pass will be inserting special “UV” inserts as well.  This is the third KISS product Press Pass has produced this year.  KISS fans are just loving this stuff.  I’ve seen collectors buying product sell sheets for their collection.  Below you’ll find a few photos of the new stuff.  You can check out more over at their Facebook fan page.

For Those KISS Collectors………

If your a fan of KISS, then you probably know that their new album “Sonic Boom” will be sold exclusively at Wal-Mart starting on 10-6-09.  Press Pass has created a product that will be sold right next to their new CD/DVD.  KISS  “Tour Edition” is a 33-card set that features a ton of KISS stuff from the last 35 years.  There are three collectible boxes and posters.  This set should give collectors a great look back at the band.  Each set will cost around $10.00 each.  KISS is one of those bands that understands the term “merchandising”.  The world is filled with a ton of KISS collectors that will scoop this stuff up.

On a side note, maybe this is something other manufacturers should think about doing.  A few days ago I wrote a post about how current manufacturers should try and work their way into the video game industry, which sparked quite an interest.  If its too costly for a manufacturer to actually get in the game somehow, perhaps they could package some cards with the game.  Would anyone be opposed to having a pack of 2009 Topps Football attached to their new copy of Madden?

KISS Contest Winner!

Congrats to wickedortega for winning this week’s contest.  wickedortega wins all of the inserts that I pulled from my box of KISS 360 that Press Pass sent me.  Would wickedortega please send me an e-mail at: rosschrisman2003@yahoo.com with their mailing address?  Once I have your mailing address, I can send your cards out ASAP.  Thanks for reading Sports Card Info!

Here are the results:

2009 Press Pass KISS 360 Box Break/Review

I never know what the UPS guy will drop off at my doorstep.  On Friday I got a package from Press Pass which contained a box of their new KISS 360 product.  This is the first time I’ve ever opened a product which hasn’t been released yet.  Press Pass’s last KISS product Ikons quickly soldout and was a big hit.  It wouldn’t surprise me if it happens again with 360.

Design:

I didn’t know what to expect with a product like this, but I enjoy the design of these cards.  Most of the cards feature great photos from the band’s history.  There are a ton of rock n’ roll themed borders.  My favorite would have to be the borders around the first 9 cards in the set called “UNMASKED”.  Each card has volume bars around the edges.  Just like with their past Ikons product, there are “Blood Spitting” parallels for each base card which fall 1:4 packs.  These feature blood spots on black and white images of the base set and look really cool.

Price:

Right now boxes are being pre-sold anywhere from $40.00 to $60.00.  Considering there are 24 packs with 5 cards in each pack, thats not too bad.  You aren’t guaranteed any hits which is probably why its selling within that price range.  I’m sure there are collectors out there who have spent much more on a box and didn’t get any hits either.

Hit Quality:

As I said before, your not guaranteed any hits per box.  Relics fall about 1:90 packs, and you really need to get lucky if you want to pull an autograph.  The “Blood Spitting” parallels seem to be a big hit with collectors based on the Ikons set.  The parallels #’ed/50 hold a lot of value for collectors too.  I consider it a good box if you pull at least one serial numbered card.  It makes sense that the relics and autographs would be hard to pull.  Everyone in KISS is a star and it almost makes each hit a really good one.  Its not like baseball or football where you have a ton of players.

Overall:

Overall, I give 2009 Press Pass KISS 360 3 out of 5 blood drops (1=poor & 5=perfect).  KISS is one of those bands that has done an excellent job of slapping their name on anything.  With all the KISS fans in the world I’m sure they’ll have success with this product.  I bet it won’t be long until they produce a product with at least 1 relic or autograph in each box on average.  I’m glad to see that boxes aren’t selling for huge amounts.  You don’t see many products today targeted towards certain bands or people.  Usually you’d find band members and other celebrities in products like Americana.  If your a fan of KISS, it couldn’t hurt to try a box of 360.