Taste the Rainbow

Rainbow collecting is popular these days, which multi-color parallels of varying rarity being the current trend. I'm not really doing much of that- sure, I'd love to if I had the money- but base cards remain my focus.

(Don't forget you can click on an image to make it larger)

I'm not sure if three cards counts as a rainbow, but this is one of only three times I'm aware of where I have all versions of a card with more than one parallel. The Tiffany card- on the far right- is actually a hard one to find. They were not serially numbered, but they were 1 per box. With a 200 card series 1, finding each card is a challenge. In fact, I only have two...from the entire set (Series 1 and 2). This is the only one I got new. I didn't remember having the Crystal version, in the middle, but I did. This series of scans also shows well how the finish on the base cards scans differently than the normal glossy coating- all three images were pulled from the same scan. It may be difficult to tell, especially in the smaller presentation form that the collage makes, but the base card has gold foil, the Crystal in the middle has silver, and the Tiffany has blue holofoil.

1997-98 Fleer #90 Rainbow

I pulled all three versions of the 1997-98 Bowman's Best checklist from packs. I assume I did for the Vrankovic as well, but since I don't remember getting the Crystal version, I can't be sure.
With how much I love Refractors, I'm truly surprised I don't have the full rainbow of any others. There are a couple from 2002-03 Topps Chrome that I am one away from, though. I've said it before, but it bears repeating- I LOVE checklists, and I miss them being made.The Atomic Refractor does not scan as nice as it is in person- none of the Finest/Chrome/Bowman's Best cards really do.

1997-98 Bowman's Best #22 Rainbow

My only 4-color rainbow is of my all-time favorite player, Elton Brand. I kind of cheated here, though, in that I bought all the parallels, not pulling a single one. (I never had a lot of luck pulling Elton cards for some reason)
This is also the only rainbow I've completed with serially numbered parallels. The base card is unnumbered, the Club Box to 250, the Balcony to 100, and the Standing Room Only to 25.
I really liked all 4 years of Fleer Authentix when it was new, but as time has gone I don't really consider it as great as I once did; as I've matured (?), I've realized how much more I value an actual photo, not some digitally created thing like these were. I'm still thrilled to have as many of them as I do, of course, but they don't rank as some of my all-time favorite sets anymore, as they once did.

2003-04 Fleer Authentix #81 Rainbow

And that's it. Of all the thousands of cards produced for both the NBA and NASCAR, these are the only three where more than two versions were made and I have them all. Some of the rainbow stuff is getting a little out of hand- for instance, in the 2014-15 Select set, there were 37 parallels. Yes, that's not a typo. Three. Seven. Completing a rainbow would be near impossible, especially as it includes at least three cards numbered to 10 or less, including at least 1 1 of 1.

By the way, the thread title is indeed a nod to Skittles...AKA, my Kryptonite. I used to "taste the rainbow" a little too often...one or more large bag a week...which is why my blood sugar was over 1000 when I collapsed and came literally 5 minutes short of dying in 2013. (The desired blood sugar number is 80-120; the ambulance couldn't even read how high my number was). Also, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, thank you readers, and even bigger thank you to commenters, as I make my 100th post of 2015.