Friday, March 15, 2019

Completed my first NASCAR Rainbow!

And the funny thing is, I didn't set out specifically to complete this one, and didn't realize I had until I listed my cards in my paper listing.

To recap: a Rainbow is having all possible parallels of a specific card. For my purposes, there need to be more than 2 versions (base and one parallel) to qualify as a rainbow.

I actually HAD been trying to complete a different parallel via COMC, as there is a set that has an unnumbered parallel, one numbered to 125 and one numbered to the driver's car number, in this case, 66. As luck would have it, I was able to get the two numbered versions, but the un-numbered, one per pack Silver Signature is eluding me! (2000 MVP #69)

EDIT: I originally began writing this post in August 2018. Since that time, I was able to complete that rainbow with the help of a member of NUTS, the NASCAR only card forum. You can read about it HERE

So, the first rainbow was not planned, but one I lucked in to. 2003 Press Pass VIP has 4 versions. The base card, then there is the Exclusive, which is one per pack. (This is the card with the corrupted scan) There is also a special Tin set, which looks very similar to the base but the foil is a different color and the cards have different numbering. The last version, the Laser Explosive, is serially numbered to 250 copies and is the one I got from COMC in August 2018.

2003 VIP Base #15. Gold foil. I didn't really know what I was doing back in 2009 so the scan is a little too bright.
2003 VIP Explosive #X15. The Explosive cards are black and white, have holofoil, feature no gloss whatsoever, and feel in hand like an old metal-printed photo of the late 1800s. They are actually pretty cool in hand.
2003 VIP Collector's Tin #CT15. This was scanned with scanner #3, which explains the lines. I will probably rescan it at some point in the future. They have a light gold foil.
2003 VIP Laser Explosive #LX15. The Lasers feature the same silver print and texture of the Explosive, but feature full color. They also have silver foil. 

As an added bonus bit of coolness, the Laser I got happened be SN #001!
Very fitting to be my first completed rainbow as SN1. The first Serially Numbered NASCAR card I ever pulled from a pack was also #SN1, in that case of 125, back in 1999.

The funny way I mentioned lucking into this rainbow? I was just paging through the SN cards on COMC, picking off as many cheap ones as I could before the money ran out. This one was the cheapest from the Laser Explosive set, and when I clicked on it and saw it was SN#1, I couldn't click "buy now" fast enough.

Considering I have the complete base set, 3/4ths of the Tin set, and about half of the Explosive set, I could conceivably complete a lot more rainbows for this set...if I wasn't such a cheapskate. Most of the cards on COMC are a dollar and change, but there is a Ryan Newman card for 75 cents...unfortunately I am in a negative balance, -28 cents, so I can't buy it unless somebody buys something I have for sale on there. Maybe some day.

I'm planning to be attending the Plainville card show in Connecticut tomorrow, so stay tuned for another card show recap a couple days from now. Now that I have a really good scanner I may scan the cards before I do the post, so I may not get it up until next week some time. It may also be a combination of pictures and scans. Only time will tell.

4 comments:

  1. Congrats.

    It seems weird seeing Rudd in any other fire suit than a Tide one.

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    1. I agree, even though I actually saw him race non-Tide cars more than Tide, it's who I associate with him as well!

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  2. I always liked Ricky Rudd but like Commishbob can't think of him in anything but orange and yellow. Congrats on the rainbow, intended or not. And pretty cool synergy with the SN1. Great stuff.

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    1. Thank you! One again, pure dumb luck is one of the biggest contributors to my collection!

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