Various Recent Racing Card Pickups

In addition to busting various packs of racing products recently, I've picked up a handful of singles that I figured I'd show off today. I don't watch a lot of racing, but I sure do enjoy collecting the cards and following things online.

First up is a Hailie Deegan Blank Slate insert out of 2023 Panini Donruss Racing. These cards are tough pulls from the product, rumored to be case hits. I got this one for a relative steal on eBay compared to other copies of the card that were listed, so I was happy to add it to my Hailie Deegan collection.

I picked up these Brittney Zamora cards from 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing as a lot, again on eBay. I actually bought another copy of the Newly Minted triple relic, but it arrived packed in tape which peeled off the foil along the top edge, so I had to replace it. Luckily the seller was understanding and issued a refund without too much hassle. I hate eBay returns. They feel very confrontational at times. Zamora has replaced Danica Patrick as my current primary driver collection in racing cards, although I'm not sure how much racing Zamora has done recently.

I'll close things out with a couple of cards for my longest-running driver collection, Danica Patrick. She retired a while back, but Panini luckily still puts her into most sets that get released. The tire relic is #/50 and comes from 2021 Panini Donruss Racing, while the Clear Vision insert is #/99 and comes from an older set, 2016 Panini Torque Racing.

A Second Box of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing

I mentioned in my last post that I'd opened a couple boxes of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing. It's probably my favorite racing product to open because of the variety of designs and the checklist's focus on stars and rookies. I always know I'm going to pull something for my collection.

Here are four of the base designs that I liked from the box. Danica Patrick has long been the most numerous racer in my collection, and Brittney Zamora has been my non-retired collection focus for the last couple of years. Luckily they both make appearances in most products, so I always have new cards to chase.

These are four more of the base designs. I haven't counted the base designs yet, but there are quite a few Panini brands represented in the checklist. Thunder and Luminance are a couple of my favorites. Luminance has a very Stadium Club feel to it.

 

In addition to a lot of base designs and plenty of hits per box, this product also drops a lot of parallels on you. The basic parallel in Hobby boxes is the Blue /199. It's a good-looking color. Pulling a couple of Hailie Deegan Blues in this box was pretty good. She's one of the better sellers in the current crop of young racers.

My Immaculate pulls were both pretty low-numbered, with an /25 and an /51. I assume that all of the Immaculate cards are serially-numbered, based on my small sample size. The big names came in the Red parallels for me, with a Jimmie Johnson /99 and a clear Kevin Harvick /100.

Each box promises four hits, but I pulled five in each of my two boxes. Not sure if that's typical of the print run, or if I just got lucky. I pulled three autos and two relics per box, although Panini stopped guaranteeing a certain number of autographs this year. I pulled a basic tire relic of Tanner Gray and a triple relic of Austin Cindric.

The Chase Briscoe autograph here is actually an /10 Gold parallel, so it's the lowest-numbered card in my Chronicles break. I would argue that the Kevin Harvick Immaculate auto-relic is actually the hit of the break, though. It's a nice-looking card of a guy I kind of collect.

That does it for this break of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing. It's a fun product with a lot of variety. Again, it's probably my favorite racing product to open because the checklist is full of good drivers and there is so much different stuff you can pull.

A Hobby Box of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing

I really like Panini Chronicles Racing, probably because of the sheer variety of cards you can find in every box. I usually don't get lucky and pull huge hits of big-name drivers, but there's usually a smattering of stuff that fits into my various collecting interests. It's hard (for me) to have a bad break of Chronicles Racing, as there's typically something interesting in there. That all being said, I opened up a couple boxes of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing recently. Here are some of the cards from the first box.

Technically I guess there is a Chronicles base set design and everything else is considered an insert, but I tend to think of the whole product outside of parallels and hits as one big conglomerate set. I took pictures of some of the sets designs I like, and some cards of drivers I collect. Some standouts for me this year were the Luminance and Thunder designs.

Here are a few more designs featuring drivers I collect. I especially like the Overdrive cards. They remind me of 90's Topps Chrome.

There were plenty of parallels in both boxes I opened. Most were of the /199 Blue variety. Nothing here really fits my collection, but I do like the look of the Blue parallels. The John Hunter Nemechek Pedal to the Metal card is especially eye-catching.

Every box has 2 Immaculate cards in it, which I guess replaces Spectra as the thick cardstock special set in the product. All the ones I pulled had serial numbering, but I don't know if that's true of all of them or if I am just lucky. I also got a Martin Truex Jr. card /99 and a clear acetate Richard Petty /100.

The lowest-numbered card in the box was this Lawless Alan /25. I've never heard of Lawless Alan, but he's got a great trading card name.

The box promises 4 hits, but I got 5 in each of my boxes. It used to be 3 autographs and 1 relic per box, but they did away with the guarantees this year. I still got 3 autographs per box, but I also got 2 relics per box. It's nice to get bonus hits, but I don't know if that happens across the print run. I guess the Chase Elliott Recon relic here is my favorite hit card from the box.

As I mentioned, there were three autographs in the box. The Spencer Boyd is /49, but I think the Chris Buescher Contenders auto is my favorite of the group.

That does it for my first Hobby box of 2023 Panini Chronicles Racing. Overall this is a fun break that pays off in variety and has a rather narrow checklist of stars and rookies, so you're likely to pull something you like if you're a fan of racing.

The Other Half of a Blaster Case of 2021 Panini Chronicles Racing

I'm back with the second half of a blaster case of 2021 Panini Chronicles Racing. I talked about the base cards in the last post, so I'll forego that discussion and get right to the hits and parallels.

This half of the case game me a ton of numbered Spectra inserts. The top row are numbered /99 and the bottom row are numbered /49. Brittney Zamora and Danica Patrick are two racers I collect specifically, so it was nice to pull so many of their cards in this bunch. The Brittney Zamora parallels are both nickname variations.

The William Byron Pinnacle parallel here is numbered /99 and the Austin Dillon Obsidian card is the lowest-numbered card in the whole break, at /25. The Obsidian parallels can be hard to spot, but the pink foil gives this one away.

Chase Elliott features on this Blue Pedal to the Metal insert parallel, the last numbered parallel in this half of the break.

Similar to the last post, most of the relics and autos don't really fit into my specific collecting interests. I guess my favorite card here is the John Hunter Nemechek relic. Chronicles Swatches are the basic relic you're going to find in most Chronicles blasters.

I've still got three pictures to go here and I've pretty much run out of things to say. All of the stuff that fits into my collection happened in the first photo. I guess maybe the several-year layoff has given me a bit of blogging rust.

I guess the Kevin Harvick card here is my favorite of the bunch of dual relics. It's kind of a boring card, though, as the black firesuit and tire swatches blend into the background of the card.

Just like in the last half of the case, this half produced 8 relics and 2 autographs. The autographs in this batch are Matt DiBenedetto and Sheldon Creed.

Overall this was a fun break, but probably not worth the price of admission. I'd argue that busting packs, especially retail packs, is a sucker's game on most days. You really are better off buying singles and sets on the secondary market, although that is much less fun than rolling the dice on ripping packs.

The Other Half of a Blaster Case of 2018 Donruss Racing

I'm back today with the second half of this blaster case of 2018 Donruss Racing. This is all going to be pretty similar to yesterday's break, but with a few different names thrown in. Hopefully I can come up with a few things to say in between pictures.

This batch of 10 blasters didn't have an /49 like the first one did, but it did have 3 cards /99, including a couple of inserts in Chase Elliott and Dale Jarrett, and a base parallel of Bobby Labonte.

The /199 contingent included Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, and Austin Dillon. I have a small collection of Mark Martin cards, so happy to pull something of his from this group.

The Red foil cards are numbered /299. Richard Petty is the most recognizable name here, as one of the most famous race car drivers of any era.

Mark Martin makes another appearance in the Gold /499 parallels. Other highlights include Kevin Harvick and a Kyle Larson Race Kings card.

The inserts get the Cracked Ice /999 versions, which in my opinion are some of the best-looking cards in this product. The Joey Logano Pole Position car card is pretty neat. I think Pole Position is the best insert in the set, and I'd contemplate trying to complete the base set of that insert. Bubba Wallace and Danica Patrick are both drivers who I collect, so I was glad to pull some numbered cards for those driver collections.

Another Bubba Wallace appearance is the highlight for me here, this time with a bit of firesuit in a relic card. These are the 1985 Retro relics.

Rounding out the relic cards are a quartet of Rubber Relics tire swatch cards. Probably the highlights for me here are the Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman cards on the bottom row.

The ink from this batch of boxes comes in the form of an old-timer, Morgan Shepherd. Also in this batch of blasters was a dreaded Panini Rewards point card. 150 points will get you a whole lot of nothing in the Panini Rewards store, and you'll have to pay shipping if you want to get that nothing sent to you. I hate to waste a hit on a points card, but what can you do?

That does it for this blaster case. Like I mentioned yesterday, for $100 this blaster case was a pretty fun rip. I got 19 various hits, a bunch of numbered cards, and several base sets out of it. I'd probably do a similar deal again, but not on the same year of Donruss. You can only handle so many base cards before it gets ridiculous.

Danica Patrick Rookie Tape Autograph

I have to work the weekend and it's already getting late, so this is going to be a quick post. Probably. Sometimes I get long-winded on quick posts.

I have pretty much given up on being a completist collector when it comes to my player collections. There are so many products and parallels and hits out there that it's pretty much impossible to get everything made for an individual. That goes double when you're trying to collect cardboard featuring a star whose cards drive whole product lines. Although I do try to get as many cards for my collections as possible, I don't chase everything with equal zeal. But every so often I find something unique or different that I have to have.

That was the case with this 2011 Press Pass Eclipse Signature Series Rookie Tape autograph card of Danica Patrick. For people who aren't sure what Rookie Tape is, it's a yellow tape stripe that is put on the back of a car to let other drivers know that a racer hasn't raced that track before. There are different conventions and rules about it, but it is basically a bright marker on a car to let people know you're new. So this card contains a strip of tape, probably from Danica Patrick's Nationwide Series car, as she hadn't raced at the top level of NASCAR yet when this card was produced. The card is numbered # 09 / 11, so this isn't an easy one to find.

I happened to stumble across this listing very soon after it was posted to eBay. The price was too good and the relic was too unique for me to pass it up. I hit the Buy It Now pretty quickly and soon it was in my hands.

This isn't a very good picture of it, but the relic window is pretty deep, so the authentication sticker had to make a pretty big dip to get from the card surface down to the signature on the tape. Usually autographs are on the surface of the card (or on a sticker on the card), so you don't get a stepped authentication sticker like this.

Two Tires - Stewart and Patrick

I'm glad it's the weekend, even though it already feels like the weekend is too short. I don't have much to talk about today, so I guess I'll just get straight to the cardboard.

I probably got this card on eBay. This post was originally scheduled for April 30th, 2017, so it's been a while since I acquired it. It's a Pairings Materials card from 2016 Panini Torque, featuring tire swatches from Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. This is the Red parallel, numbered # 26 / 49.

Both racers are retired from NASCAR now. I haven't really been following NASCAR much this year. I never really latched onto another driver now that all of my favorites are off the circuit, so we'll see where things go from here. I don't have any proof as far as numbers go, but I think my Danica Patrick collection might be my biggest player collection across all sports, especially when it comes to hits. R.A. Dickey and Jon Singleton might be close, and I probably have more of their autographs than I have signatures for Danica, but I bet it's pretty close. One of these decades I'll actually get my cards sorted and maybe I'll find out for sure.

Danica Patrick Red Flag Prizm Tire Relic

Just a quick one-card post tonight, as I had to work the weekend and I want to go to bed soon. At least I have Monday off, so I will probably sleep in a little and hopefully receive a package I've been expecting from Venezuela.

This is a card I picked up a long time ago. It's a race-used tire relic from 2016 Panini Prizm Racing. This is the Red Flag Prizm parallel, and my copy is # 24 / 25. I don't think the front looks quite as busy in-hand, but all of the shininess really stands out in the scan. The base versions of these cards suffer from Prizm-itis, which is a term I just made up for the dingy-looking expanses of dull silver that some Prizm sets seem to have.

Blog Bat-Around: What I Collect

I don't think I've ever participated in a Blog Bat-Around before. I tend to do things on my own schedule, and by the time I am ready to participate in something like this, everyone else has moved on. I think most people have already moved on from this one, too, but I'm posting about it anyway. I think credit goes to Night Owl for starting/inspiring this one, entitled 'What I Collect.' It's basically an excuse to list your various projects and collecting interests. Some people listed theirs in order of preference, but my collecting habits are too random for me to do that.

I'll start off with baseball. I mainly focus on player collections, although there are some other things I chase. I would say the primary player I collect is R.A. Dickey, but Jon Singleton is up there and I also have tried to put together a decent Josh Reddick collection. Evan Gattis is a guy I've tried to start an accumulation for, but I get distracted from that one too easily. He's probably one of my favorite players to watch, though, outside of Jose Altuve. Singleton's available cardboard seems to be drying up, as it doesn't look like he's going to pan out anytime soon. Maybe I'll change my focus to Gattis or someone else once I feel like I'm done getting Singleton cards. I also pick up Munenori Kawasaki cards when I can, but I think he announced his retirement in the last few days, and he doesn't really have a lot of cardboard out there anyhow.

Because I can't reasonably expect to get all of the cards of any given player, I just try to get the ones I like best, and the ones that are available at a reasonable price. I will grab random hits and cards featuring other players I like, such as Max Scherzer, but when it comes to single cards I am usually pretty focused on a handful of guys. I did pick up a whole lot of Topps Now cards from last season, mostly the ones featuring Astros. I also like to get some of the oddball cards that Topps prints for the Now program, like the card that talked about the Royals' Rally Mantis. I will generally grab any that include a donation to charity. A couple that come to mind are one Topps did for Hurricane Harvey relief and another donating to veteran's charities for Memorial Day.

I usually buy a factory set of Topps and a set of Update from eBay. In most years I collect the blue foil parallel set out of Opening Day. Sometimes I buy a set of Heritage after busting enough of it to realize that I can't possibly build a set without spending a whole lot of money on packs full of doubles. I typically buy a box of Allen & Ginter for Gint-a-Cuffs. Usually I find one other product that I buy a bunch of. Last year it was Bowman Platinum. There are other collections that I sometimes add to, like Wally Moon, Rollie Fingers, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, vintage sets, Fan Favorites autographs from Topps Archives, and oddball releases.

One big focus of mine has been sketch cards and full-size artwork. I have a few main character collections. The primary ones are DC Comics' Power Girl and Leia from Star Wars. I also have small collections of Marvel characters She-Hulk, Squirrel Girl, and Scarlet Witch. I've accumulated quite a few Captain America sketches, as well as a small number of M.O.D.O.K. sketch cards. I will pick up sketches of other subjects, too, if they catch my eye.

I also collect Star Wars cards, but not all that obsessively. I just get what interests me. Topps puts out a lot of Star Wars products, and keeping up with them all would be a full-time collection. I don't have that kind of focus. I gather cards featuring Leia, interesting relics, and autographs from other characters that I like.

I like wrestling cards. They are a lot of fun. Again, I collect just about anything that catches my eye. I don't try to get all of the Topps Now WWE cards, but I get one or two every few months if a wrestler I like is featured. I like autographs of classic guys like Sergeant Slaughter. I also have collections for Nia Jax and Bayley. I started a Charlotte Flair collection after I met her last year at a book signing, but I don't have an autographed card from her yet. John Cena is too popular for me to collect, but I should really track down an autograph of his.

I've gathered a couple of Iron Sheik hits over time, and I went out and got that Trish Stratus autograph recently. Most of my collections are grab bags of single cards that I pick up on eBay, with the occasional box break or group break thrown in.

I also collect trading cards of Japanese women wrestlers. BBM puts out an annual set that covers a wide range of promotions, and the Stardom promotion puts out their own card set every so often. The Stardom packs are really hard to get, so usually I am limited to whatever singles pop up on eBay. I have a pretty good source for unopened BBM True Heart cards, though, and between eBay and Yahoo! Auctions in Japan I am able to get most of the cards I want. I have a full run of Command Bolshoi (the masked wrestler up top) autographs dating back to 2003. That's my best Japanese wrestler collection, but there are several other wrestlers that I collect. I am currently waiting on a large shipment out of Japan, which includes the complete 2004 set, which almost never comes up for sale. A couple of high-level Japanese wrestlers have transferred to the WWE recently, and that has driven up interest a little bit in these cards. 

I collect UFC cards, too. I have a couple of fighter collections. Neil Magny is one of the primary ones, and Randa Markos is one of the others. I really just like to collect a little of everything, though. I will usually grab just about any relic or autograph if it is cheap enough, and especially if I don't already have something featuring that fighter. I gather up low-numbered parallels if I can, from just about any product. It seems like every year I go pretty hard on at least one product. Last year it was Museum Collection and Chrome. This year I might go after those same products.

I chase NASCAR cards, mostly focusing on a handful of drivers. Most of my favorite drivers have retired, so I am looking for new people to collect. I haven't settled on anyone yet. In reality most of my racing card money goes to Danica Patrick cards and the occasional box break. I am thinking about starting a Darrell 'Bubba' Wallace collection, or maybe collecting one of the Busch brothers. Other racers I collect are Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Josh Wise. I also have a small collection of drag racing stuff, with the main focus of that collection being the Force family (John, Courtney, and Brittany). 

I guess this scan represents pop culture celebrities and other sports. I gather autographs, relics, and other cards featuring people that I've heard of from outside of mainstream sports. Goodwin Champions is a good source for those, as are Panini's various celebrity offerings. I've got a fair number of cards featuring Olympic gymnasts, a decent Felicia Day collection, some singers, some authors, and some people who are mostly famous for being famous or being related to someone famous.

Basketball cards were the main thing I collected during my teen years in the 90's. It is mostly a fringe collection now, but I still gather cards for my main player collections (Hakeem Olajuwon, Gheorghe Muresan, Manute Bol). I will also pick up any Houston Rockets cards I can find, but I don't often go out of my way to track them down. 

Football cards are pretty far down my list, but I still have a couple of NFL collections. Most of the cards I add picture former Broncos' tight end Shannon Sharpe. I like getting Terrell Davis and John Elway cards. I will collect just about anything with Tim Tebow on it. I also recently started a Jake Butt collection, because how often does someone named Butt play for your favorite team? I've picked up one or two Von Miller cards over the last couple of years, too, but I have a hard time focusing on football. The careers are so short, and the sport just hasn't been as exciting for me as it was previously.

That's a quick rundown of my collecting world. I am not a very focused guy, so I bounce around from thing to thing as new products release and my interests change.