The Trading Post #44: Golden Rainbow Cards

In the last few weeks, I've experienced a small flurry of trading activity. The amount of snow we got in the Denver area earlier this week turned out to be a little more than a flurry (depending on which part of town you were in), but even in the wintry offseason, there are plenty of cards to write about.

Golden Rainbow Cards agreed to send a handful of Rockies from 2015 Topps in exchange for some Braves (which I still need to send), but these few cards significantly expanded my collection of 2015 parallels and inserts.

2015 Topps Gold #479 Carlos Gonzalez /2015

As they have for many years, Topps continued their run of gold parallels, with a print run matching the calendar year. I picked up most of the Rockies team set from my LCS in the same trip as that Mickey Mantle card, but CarGo was not present in the 5,000 count box I thumbed through.

2015 Topps Update Rainbow Foil #US315 Kyle Kendrick

I can't remember ever buying Topps Update at retail. I often end up with a lot of it, as it seems to make its way into discount boxes more quickly than any other product. Maybe Topps ought to number it sequentially with Series 1 and Series 2. Then it would feel like a continuation of the main set, rather than something separate that just doesn't grab my attention.

Regardless, this is my first look at a Rainbow Foil parallel. It's one of those products that has to catch the light just right, but it's nice to see the rainbow finish on such a regular-feeling card. I've been in this hobby long enough to associate the rainbow look with thick, expensive cards like Topps Finest and Topps Chrome parallels. And it is easier to spot than the rainbow foil parallels from 2014 Stadium Club, which was applied to the foil only, not the entire card.

2015 Topps Update Rookie Sensations #RS7 Troy Tulowitzki

Since I haven't paid much attention to Update, these Rookie Sensations cards are new to me. I first learned of their existence from all the ultra-glitter parallels that started appearing in posts about the $15 Topps Update discount box that everyone's been buying at Target. I haven't bought one of those yet, but I'm a sucker for shiny cards, so I just might.

I like the concept of this set. A lot. It has guys we haven't seen on a new card in a while, like Fernando Valenzuela and Livan Hernandez. And while it's only 25 cards, Topps did a pretty good job of selecting the best rookie seasons, maybe leaving out Vince Coleman and Mark Fidrych. Adding those two would get it up to 27, perfect for three 9-pocket pages, just how Night Owl likes.

It was just three cards, but Golden Rainbow made sure I stayed current on Topps' latest release and introduced me to one of the best insert sets of the year. Even better, he just reached out yesterday saying he had another Tulowitzki card to send me, one from my Eight Men Out list. And since the Rockies were such a bust in Nachos Grande's group break, I won the pity prize of a complete 2015 Allen & Ginter set (!), which should be in the mail soon.

Baseball season may be over, but baseball card season seems to be picking up a bit.