My second Rainbow completed

I completed my second NASCAR rainbow this month, with some help from a friend. Now, you might be saying "Second, what's the first?" and I will get to that in time...for years I've been trying to figure out which one of my scans corrupted. I knew I had lost exactly one scan to corruption but I didn't know which one. Well, I found out...when I went looking for it to post in a thread I began composing in August 2018. I knew which set it was, and, low and behold, it happens to be the one I completed the rainbow on. <audible sigh>. So, eventually, you will get to see my first completed NASCAR rainbow.

For now, you get to see my 2nd completed NASCAR rainbow, and one that I completed sort of by accident.

In COMC's 2018 Spring Cleaning event, I was just scrolling through the Serial Numbered NASCAR cards, and happened to come across the two you see in this thread- I actually purchased the lower numbered example first, then went back and got the higher numbered card. I thought to myself, hey, I can complete this rainbow- I had gotten the base card when the set was new. So I go to purchase the one-per-pack unnumbered parallel...and there are none for sale on COMC. I check Ebay, something I don't do too often...none there either. Disappointed, I thought to myself, "maybe someday" and that's the end of the action until January 2019.

It was during that month that I was finally able to get back onto NUTS- the NASCAR Underground Trading Society- the all-NASCAR card forum that I was active on from 2009 to whenever my laptop decided to not let me in to it. For several years now, my laptop that died in November would not let me log in. I would enter my username and password, it would let me see the home page, but click on any thread and it went straight back to the log in page, and entering the same password, it would just kick back to the log in page. I don't know what caused it, but on my new computer, I entered in the exact same username and password, and it worked the first time and has continued working ever since.

Anyway, I thought to put up a thread looking for a copy of the card, and within 24 hours I had one in the mail coming to me, with nothing asked for in return, because that's just how the NUTS members are. Showing up in the mail on February 5th, my second NASCAR rainbow was complete!

This is 2000 MVP #69- Base, Silver Script (the card that just arrived), Gold Script and Super Script, my first Super from NASCAR, which is numbered to the driver's car number.

Today Darrell Waltrip is mostly known as a goofball broadcaster, but people forget that he was, at the time of his retirement, the 4th-winningest driver ever, and still ranks 5th all time, with 84 wins. (behind only Richard Petty's 200, David Pearson's 105, Jeff Gordon's 92 and Bobby Allison's 85). 2000 was his final season, and the final season where NASCAR did not have an exclusive license. (Beginning in 2001, only Press Pass was allowed to make NASCAR cards). The photo, however, was taken in 1999, as all photos in the 2000 MVP set were. I know for a fact I watched every single race of the 1999 season, but unfortunately I don't really remember too much of the season.

It really is awesome to complete a NASCAR rainbow, and it's not very often I get a level 2 parallel, let alone a level 3 parallel, yet I did here. The first rainbow I completed only goes two levels of parallel.

Fun fact- these cards were scanned using two different scanners, on three different computers!

Big thanks to NUTS member Redwire for sending me the Silver Script!

The NASCAR season starts today...my 27th season watching the sport. I have been anxiously awaiting it's return since as soon as it ended in November.

Commishioning a post for my oldest card!

A few posts back CommishBob of The Five Tool Collector said he was going to send me something, and when he did...I was shocked speechless. As you may have gathered that doesn't happen too often...First thing I saw in the box was a bubble mailer sealed up inside...that should have been a clue to the specialness of what was inside but I was too dense to know it, I set that aside and peeked underneath to see what was there; I first saw 4 diecast NASCAR cars, a 500 count white box and a box with a picture of Elvin Hayes on it...all great stuff.

Then I opened the envelope...

Holy mackerel!  On the right is a card from 1890 Duke's Holidays, the set I bought half a card of on the COMC Black Friday sale...this one has some paper loss but most of the back is there, enough to consider it a complete card in my collection.

On the left is a card from 1889! It's from the Kinney Brothers Novelties set, (N228) and depicts what is now an ancient camera, but would have been the style at the time, along with a drawing of who I think is just some random woman, although I'm not really up on my 1880s celebrities. It's also die cut, which is a concept I had no idea existed that far back in history! The earliest die cut cards I had seen before this were...Hmm, just thinking about it...1990? More than 100 years after this card was created! I still have so much to learn about non-sports cards, but I love to learn this kind of stuff.

Bob, I can't thank you enough! I truly can't put into words what this meant to me!

As if that wasn't enough, there was also this cool bobble head of NBA Legend Elvin Hayes.
He didn't quite survive the trip as his right leg broke in two places and his left in one, but I was able to use my modeling skills/supplies to fix him up good as new. As it turned out, the box they used is slightly too small and it was probably the packing at the factory that caused the issue instead of the USPS. It's only the 2nd bobblehead in my collection, joining a Kevin Garnett one Upper Deck included in a box of 2001-02 UD Playmakers Limited. My mom has two Jason Kidd examples, including the one Angus sent me a few weeks ago, lol.

This is a crappy picture- too much stuff is visible in the background, and the power cord for my phone is in it. when I get my photo studio set up again (soon!) I'll take a better photo. This is one of the very, very few- maybe only- items in my collection to show the home San Diego Rockets in full color. When I do the Rockets' Uniform History post you may see the studio photo  then since I can't think of any cards that show it in full and in color.

The box of cards, which was mostly NASCAR but included a couple of Multi-Sport cards, some NBA and one hockey, was mostly all 1990s...my favorite era. Mid 1990s at that! 1994 is my favorite year for NASCAR cards and I would guess more than half of them are from the 1994 season.

There was also one that totally stumped me at the bottom...a big chrome DW. I've never seen this design ever before, so I will need to do some research on this one!

I have not listed all the cards yet so I can't say exactly which ones or how many were new but I know it's a lot.

Here are the diecasts.  I have a very extensive collection from the 1990s but he still managed to send me one I didn't have, the Jeff Gordon Pepsi is new to me. The two Earnhardts are technically new as well- they have a "Value Pack- not for individual sale" sticker over the bar code on the back which technically makes them a variation. I will be glad to add them to my collection! The Labonte/Gibbs Football Hall of Fame car is a duplicate, but may be a conditional upgrade or might even be a variation, I've been too busy to pull up my collection photos and check...luckily, my diecast collection is fully photodocumented.

Sorry this second photo is a little out of focus. I'm still learning the perspective with my smart phone...

Thanks again Bob! I am pretty darn shocked here and even stunned speechless, something that like I said above, does not happen very often at all!

A Couple of big trades with a new trading partner

Over a month ago now, I got into something I rarely ever do, and that is a three way trade. Not that I'm not willing to trade with anybody, but the opportunity almost never presents itself. In the 15 years or so that I've been trading online, I think this is only the second time I've been able to pull off a trade involving more than two people.

It started with a message from a frequent trading partner of mine from the Trading Card Database, Mark Z. aka mzentko. He asked me if I had anything on his friend's tradelist, would I be willing to make a trade by sending his friend some cards and he (Mark) would send me some. Sure! This became the first trade I'd ever been involved in where I didn't actually know the other trader, but it worked out very well.

His friend Joel maintains an online wantlist that is set up very well- you can see it here. I liked the way it looked so much that I, with some modification, adapted it for My Own wantlist! (still a work in progress).

So I went through my duplicates box and pulled out all the Topps NBA cards I had that he needed, and packed them up and sent them away. I have been on the receiving end of surprise card mailings in the past, (My PO Box is listed publicly on the NASCAR card forum) but I rarely get to make them, and I did here.

Shortly after, Joel sent me back a thank you package, filled with lots of good stuff. About half of it was NASCAR, but, not knowing what I really collect, he sent me some baseball and some football, too. Since I don't have a lot of either of those, they were all new- not a single duplicate! Since I will accept any card, I was pretty happy with what I got- and that's not even taking the cards themselves into account!

Here is a collage of just some of the baseball cards he sent me. There was one from every set from 1957-77 and a bunch from 1978. Previously, I had one card from 1963 and one from 1978, all the rest were new to me! This was the first time I ever held examples from most of these sets. I did not scan all of the sets/cards but did two pages only.

I can post bigger scans if anyone wants to see them

 They aren't all in perfect shape but I don't care. I may not actively collect baseball but getting these vintage cards was really a thrill! It's really great how you baseball collectors can build a complete (or at least, mostly) history of your sport. My two sports have lots of empty spaces- NASCAR didn't get cards until it's 4th decade, and the NBA has more than a decade without any cards produced at all. As someone who collects mostly to document the sport, you guys have it WAY better than I do. 

The football cards all came from 1993 Topps, and with the shipment I hit #1000 in my football collection. That's pretty amazing because in my life I've purchased exactly 1 football card! The rest all came as gifts, freebies and randomly mixed into the mixed boxes of NBA I like to buy. I don't mind, I will accept any sports cards for my collection.

This was #1000

1993 Topps #108

but this one is my favorite. I think photography wise it's my favorite football card in my whole collection actually. Speaking as a photographer, this one is perfectly timed, if not perfectly cropped.

1993 Topps #8

I mean, just look at the photo. He's flying through the air, getting ready to crush the guy in blue, who appears to be totally oblivious. It's just....spectacular. How could you not like this card? If only they had not cropped out his other foot, so you could see that he's totally in the air....

Since then, Joel and I have chatted on the Database and we ended up doing another big trade. I went through his Fleer/non Topps flagship wantlist and was able to pull a lot of cards for him. I was able to fit them into one of those $5 if it fits-it ships boxes from the USPS and it was full- not any spare space at all, and I didn't even see his Upper Deck wantlist until the box was sealed and ready to go. I didn't bother to count the cards but it was well into the triple digits.

He then sent me another box, with more NASCAR and this time basketball- a large selection of 1995-96 Collector's Choice Portuguese II, a set I had one card from, that I had gotten from COMC during their sale recently. I now have 86 cards from the set!

In just two trades Joel has moved into the top 5 of people who I've gotten the most cards in trade from. Not that I keep actual statistics on that but I can only think of two or three people I've gotten more cards from off the top of my head.

Now, with everything that's been going on lately (See most of my posts in the month of July) the NASCAR cards got mixed together from which shipment was which. I could figure it out- I have it in Excel- but, meh, I'll just post them in any order.

The majority of the cards are Mark Martin and Darrell Waltrip but there are other drivers included as well.

This card really scanned well- you can even tell the gold foil IS gold foil! I've always loved Action Packed. And this paint scheme is the iconic Mark Martin scheme in my opinion.

This latest batch of cards included three Serially numbered parallels. I love serially numbered cards, always have, and am always happy to get them.

 This is my first Badge of Honor Reflector, SN0959/1350. Oddly, the basic version of this insert is die cut, while the parallel is not.

 A Platinum Red from 1997 Totally Certified. And it shows a special paint scheme! This was, in fact, the first special paint scheme of Robby Gordon's career. It is SN1600/2999

This Platinum Blue from the same set scanned really well, and is SN0098/1999.

Something interesting I just noticed when posting these- both Press Pass and Pinnacle used the exact same font and color on their "Peel off" sheet. Hmm...I wonder if there is a connection there. I will do some research.

There were several First Gear parallels from various Wheels High Gear sets. Here's one from 2001 and 2003.

1998 VIP was a 50 card set and Mark got 6 cards in the set. I didn't have any of them before, and now I have 5 of them! For some reason, despite 1998 being my favorite year in NASCAR history, I have very few cards from that season.

This is an insert from 1995 Maxx Series 2 retail. I did not have a single card from the insert- either retail or hobby- before!

This die-cut insert from 1999 Premium is a great set.

Can you tell I favor the cards that show cars? Even though he drove other schemes and for a longer amount of time, the pink and black cars of 1998-99 are the ones I think of when I think of Jeff Burton.

Since I wrote up most of the post I got a gift of 1127 NASCAR cards from a different friend and now I truly am mixed up on which cards came from where, so I am done posting scans in this post.
I will say that I just mailed out another box to Joel today, (Saturday, July 30th) and it cleaned out what I had for him that he needed. I will be getting another package from him shortly, it will probably be waiting in my PO box when it's checked again next Saturday. I have no idea what'll be in it, but I know it'll be good.

Check out his wantlist- he has lists for everything he collects but favors baseball, especially the Red Sox . He's trustworthy to trade with and let him know I sent you! His email is jefreedman1 at gmail.com. He's also on the Trading Card Database.

PS, this also counts as my Trade Recap for both May and June. I have not been able to complete any other trades during the past two months, but I've now done three with Joel.

Hot off the Scanner Tray week 7- all 1990s NASCAR edition

It has been a slow week for me. I didn't really do a whole lot of scanning or anything else, even missing a few days where I didn't scan a single thing.

It doesn't help that I was sick again. 4th time in 2015.

I did do some scanning, though, and it was all NASCAR, all working on prepping the backs of the cards that I had previously done the fronts of during 2009-12. I've talked about that before.

Remember last week I showed a card where I accidentally cut the bottom of a diecut card off the scanner? Here's the replacement scan.

 I did all the base cards I had for 1999 Press Pass, which is all of them. But the final 36 cards in the set were short prints and I don't have all them. 1999 Press Pass is my favorite Press Pass design.

I finished 1996 Pinnacle Pole Position, a K-Mart exclusive set. Remember when K-Mart was a big deal in retail cards?

 I remember pulling this insert from my very first pack, back in 1996. In all this time I've only gotten two other cards from the most common insert in the set. (Interestingly, but coincidentally, the other two cards I have in the insert are Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, the two drivers posted above. I just got the Earnhardt a few months ago) The card is holofoil.

 Sometime in the 1990s I purchased what was supposed to be a complete set of the foil version of 1996 Pinnacle. Instead of the actual #13 of Dale Jarrett, they included the Winston Cup Collection etched parallel instead. My copy got damaged being in my storage unit for several years. (I forgot I even had those cards until we found them down there!). I am missing the foil version of the card, making it 1 card short of the complete set.

I did all of my 1997 Pinnacle Certified set...a grand total of two pack's worth.

I also did all of the 1997 Racer's Choice and 1997 Skybox ProFile that I mentioned/posted several HOSTs ago.

I prepped, but have not posted yet, 1997 Pinnacle. I really like this set but I didn't get a lot of it when it was new. 1997 was not a good year for me for NASCAR cards, most of the ones I have I got much later.

Unfortunately not all the cards I have are in the greatest condition.

It looks like somebody used the back as a cutting board. there's more damaged that didn't even show in the scan as it was on the white portions of the card. I wish I could say this was the worst condition card in my collection, but it's not. Someday I hope to replace it with a better condition copy. Like I've always said, I'd rather have a low condition copy than no copy at all. And, the price was right (I was given this card)

That's it for this week, like I said, a slow week. Being sick kind of slowed me down as well, I have several posts in the Draft stage that I just didn't get to finishing, making this the first time I've posted two HOSTs back to back.