1993 Finest baseball question...

Guru

How can you tell if your card from the 1993 Topps Finest Baseball is a refractor or not? They all look shiney to me.

jmbkb4

If you send me a scan, I'll be able to tell you. PM me if you want.

The refractors have a special finish (an extra layer) that causes the cards to kinda change colors (or refract the light) at different angles.

best,

Josh

tsalem

hold the stack that you have all together under a light and angle them. If you have a refractor, you will know it..

Guru

Yeah, they don't refract the light at all. Shucks, thought I might have something there.

Braves4Ever

Hello folks, this seems to be a pretty stale topic of discussion, i.e 1993 Topps Refractors. However, I purchased a relatively large collection of eclectic material probably 20 years ago and have just gotten around to some work on the material. Amongst the 1000's of cards in the collection are perhaps 40 Topps Finest of 1993. Regular and all-star cards. These are great looking cards and have been in card protectors since they were removed from their packs. My problem is that there appears to be no sure fire way to positively id the refractors. I've held them to the light, etc., they all reflect light and have blazing color, etc., etc. Can someone out there provide a positive (and quick) way of "nailing" the refractors?...Thx

Centauri

@Braves4Ever said:
Hello folks, this seems to be a pretty stale topic of discussion, i.e 1993 Topps Refractors. However, I purchased a relatively large collection of eclectic material probably 20 years ago and have just gotten around to some work on the material. Amongst the 1000's of cards in the collection are perhaps 40 Topps Finest of 1993. Regular and all-star cards. These are great looking cards and have been in card protectors since they were removed from their packs. My problem is that there appears to be no sure fire way to positively id the refractors. I've held them to the light, etc., they all reflect light and have blazing color, etc., etc. Can someone out there provide a positive (and quick) way of "nailing" the refractors?...Thx

The refractors are rare, but they stand out among the regular cards - very easy to spot. So either you have all regular (likely, still nice), or you hit the jackpot and they are all refractors.

Stone193

It's easier to tell in person by slightly rotating the cards in hand under a light.

I took this one with the cell phone - which ones are the refractors? Can you tell?

Ahmanfan

@Stone193 said:
It's easier to tell in person by slightly rotating the cards in hand under a light.

I took this one with the cell phone - which ones are the refractors? Can you tell?

1 and 4 Mike
Easy to miss 1 If you’re a newbie!

saucywombat

They originate from the same material that stop signs are laminated in to make them shine at night.

To me the easiest way to tell refractors from regulars is in a dim light they really pop.

Stone193

@Ahmanfan said:

@Stone193 said:
It's easier to tell in person by slightly rotating the cards in hand under a light.

I took this one with the cell phone - which ones are the refractors? Can you tell?

1 and 4 Mike
Easy to miss 1 If you’re a newbie!

1 and 4 is correct.

Estil

If you hold the card up to the light and tilt it side by side there will be a shifting rainbow effect...look up this or any other YouTube video and you'll plainly see the difference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exPr3pNwOX4

Considering how beautiful they look and the fact that only 241 of each exist in the whole world, you can plainly see how from the very start they became among the most legendary sets of all time.

lwehlers

here is frank thomas that i have.