Random Wax: 2009 Press Pass Eclipse Blaster

2009 Eclipse:  Former NASCAR Champion and all-time great in the sport, Kevin Harvick is now an announcer in the sport.  Tonight is Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte which is a grueling 400 laps totalling 600 miles.

This set has a space based them. The design isn't bad but its full of stars (no pun intended) and it is fun to look back 16 years to see so many greats in the sport.  Jimmie Johnson was the NASCAR champion for five years straight, from 2006 through 2010.  He would be the sport's top driver seven times in his career.  Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch are also past champions.

I like that these Pathfinders inserts give us a glimpse of drivers in their youth.

Denny Hamlin was still young in the sport but 2009 would mark his second top five finish in the standings.  I like the Take Off design.  The colors and the driver tree in the background work for me.

The Checklist card gives us a great photo of Jimmie Johnson away from the track, probably part of the press tour after winning the championship.

Ground Control cards seem to show drivers after victories, and I like these cards.  That Tony Stewart card is a Solar System card which is plastic.

I like this Ecliptic Path card.  The colors and photos of the driver look good.  This card is plastic.

Nice looking Brightest Stars cards and two drivers I really like in Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer.  Stars Over NYC cards show us drivers in a different setting.

I'm still not feeling these Lunar mission cards, but I get where they are going with them.

More base cards.  Martin Truex Jr. would go on to win a championship in his illustrious career.  Hard to remember him ever looking like this photo though.  Again, fun to look back so many years.

These are fun cards.  So many stars at a different time in their career.  Enjoy the race tonight!

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
5 – Brightest Stars
4 - Pathfinders
4 – Blue Parallel
4 – Lunar Mission
3 – Orbital
3 – Take Off
2 – Eclyptic Path (Plastic)
2 – Stars over NYC
2 – Ground Control
1 – Checklist
1 – Solar System (Plastic)

1994 Press Pass NASCAR Optima XL Estate Auction Lot

1994 Optima XL:  NASCAR playoffs start today!  We'll kick off this estate auction pickup with Dale Earnhardt.  Seven championships and 57 wins are impressive enough.  But even better was his persona - a hero to every fan who wanted to see a hardnosed, no-nonsense driver who was willing to do whatever it took to win every week.  Probably the most popular driver of all-time.

This was a local estate auction that worked like eBay.  I'd never seen this set before and was able to snag the lot for $2.  There were also some open wheel racers as part of the lot which I may show off some day.  What I didn't know was these are widevision sized.  No issues with that and I was very happy with the cards.  The Spotlight cards were the first 30 cards with some drivers having multiple cards.

This is a promo/prototype.  I wish there were more like this one.  I like having the driver and car so prominent on the card.  "Valvoline" is distracting but I can live with it.

I love the backs.  Nice write-up and all the stats I want.  Plenty of color, photo and even car graphics in the background.  1994 was Jeff Burton's first full season in Cup racing.  In 2000 he would finshed a career high third in the standings.  Now an announcer for NBC, he was announcing two weeks ago when his son Harrison won his first Cup race.  

A Winston Cup Scene card.  I like the vertical look.

More Winston Cup Scene cards.  I like the out of the box photos.  The first and last are Red Parallels. Jeff Gordon would go on to win his first championship in 1995.  Jimmy Spencer put in a hard day's which net him a win in the Pepsi 400.  

Trophy Case celebrates driver victories.  This one is Sterlin Marlin winning the Daytona 500.

Ken Schrader, Ernie Ervan, the back of Mark Martin's head and Rusty Wallace.

A couple of Newsmaker cards as well a Ernie Irvan Double Duty card highlighting his roles as both a driver and an owner.  I had some doubles, and they'll work well as bookmarks.  I'll keep some favorites but I'm not sure what I'll do with the rest.

A couple of Racing Families cards as well as the back of trophy case card.

Kelley Earnhardt, daughter of Dale, brother of Dale Jr. is the Chief Executive Officer of JR Motorsports.

I'm really glad I won this auction.  The cards sharp, have really good photos and there's a great variety of stars from that time frame.  The Michael Waltrip and the Kyle Petty are two my favorite photos from this set.  That Kyle Petty is a prototype.  Only difference is the backs from his standard Spotlight card in the set.

BREAKDOWN:
84 – Total Cards
12 – Winston Cup Scene
11 – News Maker
7 – Trophy Case
7 – Double Duty
7 – NASCAR Families
4 – Red Parallel
1 – Promo 
1 - Prototype

2014 Press Pass NASCAR Blaster

2014 Press Pass:  Have a fun and safe 4th of July!  We'll kick this off with Brad Keselowski.  He's a one-time NASCAR champion and this season earned his first victory as a team owner.

These blasters are still pretty reasonable and have lots of past and current stars.  Joey Logano was only 24 at the time but would finish 4th in the 2014 standings.  He's now a two-time champion.  Mark Martin and Tony Stewart are also greats in the sport.  Stewart didn't start in NASCAR until he was 28 but won three championships.

They went horizontal as well in this release.  I do like the design overall.  The photos, color, car shot, and small print stating which level they are racing.  Works for me.

Giving Back inserts are a nice way of showing how the sport is involved with the community.

Hot Seat inserts give us nice shots of drivers in the seat which I like.

Had to show off Austin Dillon rocking the cowboy hat.  Matt Kenseth is a former champion and Kasey Kahne was always a fan favorite.

I like the Replay inserts highlighting moments from the season.

The backs are fine with a good shot of the car.  We also get a few stats which is a nice add.  Panini gives us no stats on their Donruss offering nowadays which is so frustrating.  Ryan Blaney was in the Truck Series back then but is now the reigning Cup Champion.

I do like Snapshots.  The Denny Hamlin photo really stands out.  Was happy to pull a Kyle Larson Rookie Card.  He's a favorite of my pop's and the 2021 champion.  Fun box of cards.  I could see myself purchasing more of these in the future if given the chance.  

BREAKDOWN:
32 – Total Cards
3 – Hot Seat
3 – Snapshots
3 – Giving Back
2 – Rookie Card
1 - Replay
1 – Color Proofs Magenta Parallel

2009 Press Pass Eclipse Blaster

2009 Press Pass Eclipse:  The NASCAR 2023 Awards Banquet is tonight so let's do some NASCAR.  We'll kick this one off with my favorite driver in the sport, Kyle Busch.  As a two-time champion he knows a thing or two about awards.

These are fun to open and see drivers what is now 14 years ago.  And look at these greats. The design is okay.  Photos stick to the head and shoulder shots for the most part.  Wouldn't have minded a bit more variety in driver photos. That Jeff Gordon is a blue parallel.

Brightest Stars highlighted up and coming stars on the track and they nailed it.  Denny Hamilin is one of the best drivers in the sport today, while Dale Jr. was/is a huge fan favorite but is now retired and an announcer.  Kurt Busch recently retired but won a championship in his career.

These Lunar Mission inserts are different.  

Pathfinders is another insert that is okay but doesn't wow me.  NASCAR and a space theme don't necessarily work together that well.

Solar System inserts are plastic cards.  Here we a Stars Over NYC insert.  Not sure why New York was important but okay.  That Carl Edwards is a Ground Control insert.  They weren't shy in shoehorning the theme into cards.

This Orbital card is one I like.  We have a good driver photo as well as being able to show off the card.  Not saying Orbital is great but I like the look.

More base cards of greats from the sport.  Harvick retired after this season and will move to the Fox Sports booth while Jeff Burton is already an announcer for NBC.

Again, a pretty good look on these Orbital inserts.

The backs aren't bad.  Never see stats on NASCAR cards which is a shame.  They have plenty of stats to share.  Still, these are good.  Nice photos with more variety.  Some of these would have played well on the front.

The rockets on the bottom of the cars just has me shaking my head.

Take Off inserts are another plastic card.  I like those and I like the Brightest Stars cards.  Great Jeff Gordon Photo.

That Burning Rubber raced used "WIN" tire is #/85.  I know I made some fun about the space themes but I really enjoyed these cards.  It's great seeing all the drivers over a decade ago on cardboard.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
6 – Lunar Mission
5 – Brightest Stars
4 – Blue Parallel
3 – Orbital
3 – Take Off
3 – Pathfinders
3 – Ecliptic Path (Plastic)
1 – Solar System (Plastic)
1 – Stars Over NYC
1 – Ground Control
1 – Burning Rubber Race Used “WIN” Tire #/85