When Texas Motor Speedway opened however many years ago, I had season tickets for the first few years. I was (notice I said was) also a big time die cast car collector back then and I also dabbled in cards a little. I even sent Tim from the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame his firs Dick Trickle cards. I used to TAPE ON VHS every Winston Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck race and watch them every weekend as well as all the Indycar races. Needless to say, that was before the kids got so involved in activities, so I don't have time for that anymore, but I still follow racing and watch ON DVR what I can. So like I said I enjoy racing so let's see what we got here.
Here is the wrapper featuring "Smoke" himself. I've liked Tony Stewart since his Indycar days and hated to see him leave that series, but he's done well for himself in Cup. I'd still like to see him try the Indy 500 again some day though. The wrapper says we'll get 6 cards inside.
I scanned the back so you can see the odds on the inserts and hits. They are much smaller that anything you see in the big 3 sports. The largest odds of anything is 1:600. Man, that's practically 1 per pack compared to some of the odds I've seen on baseball wrappers. Let's check out the cards.
Rookie Recap card of Scott Speed. With a name like that, what else are you gonna do for a living? The cards are a little on the thin side stock wise, but do have a little splash of foil decent enough design. The backs typically show some portion of the car rather than repeat a photo of the driver. Gotta keep those sponsors happy!
Here Tony shows off the size razor he needs to keep that 5 o'clock shadow at bay.
These two base cards feature Mark Martin and one of my favorite drivers, Elliot Sadler, though I hate to say his career hasn't amounted to much. He's got a great Virginia accent though, love to hear him talk. Mark Martin has never been one of my favorites, but I respect his ability and he's really had a resurgence of sorts since driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He still looks about 15 years older than he really is though.
It's hard to tell, but this card here is a blue parallel. They are retail inserts that fall one per pack. The foil on the MPH and the speedo are blue. Dumb thing is, Cup cars don't have speedos, just tachometers. Oh well.
This next card is a Jimmie Johnson Unleashed. The Unleashed cards are kinda neat, they are foily and embossed, but don't scan well. They fall 1:6 packs. Jimmie has won the last 4 Cup Championships which ties him with mentor Jeff Gordon for 3rd on the all-time list, if I'm not mistaken. I wonder how soon till Jimmie is considered the master over Jeff. They have been feuding publicly with each other the last couple races. I don't think they are on such friendly student/teacher terms anymore. It makes for nice drama though!
Here Tony shows off the size razor he needs to keep that 5 o'clock shadow at bay.
These two base cards feature Mark Martin and one of my favorite drivers, Elliot Sadler, though I hate to say his career hasn't amounted to much. He's got a great Virginia accent though, love to hear him talk. Mark Martin has never been one of my favorites, but I respect his ability and he's really had a resurgence of sorts since driving for Hendrick Motorsports. He still looks about 15 years older than he really is though.
It's hard to tell, but this card here is a blue parallel. They are retail inserts that fall one per pack. The foil on the MPH and the speedo are blue. Dumb thing is, Cup cars don't have speedos, just tachometers. Oh well.
This next card is a Jimmie Johnson Unleashed. The Unleashed cards are kinda neat, they are foily and embossed, but don't scan well. They fall 1:6 packs. Jimmie has won the last 4 Cup Championships which ties him with mentor Jeff Gordon for 3rd on the all-time list, if I'm not mistaken. I wonder how soon till Jimmie is considered the master over Jeff. They have been feuding publicly with each other the last couple races. I don't think they are on such friendly student/teacher terms anymore. It makes for nice drama though!So there you go. Something you probably didn't expect from me, but I've got a couple other racing packs to review in the next few days or so. I haven't seen anyone else reviewing racing cards, but to be honest, I haven't really been looking either. Later.
Heh. Dick Trickle.
ReplyDeleteNot too shabby dude. I have a tonnnn of auto racing cards from my childhood (i.e. like...1991-1998 type stuff), but don't really collect it anymore. Would you want any of it? No need to trade for it or anything, just looking for someone who might appreciate it more than me!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Sadler rules. My all time favorite driver though? Brett Bodine. I have like 100 cards of his from collecting as a kid...so you may get a few Bodines if you want my racing cards hahaha.