1993 Finest: Difference between revisions

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<!-- [[Image:filename.jpg|right|frame|The description goes here]] -->
=Description=
 
1993 Finest (officially "Topps Baseball's Finest") is a 199-card set printed on chromium stock and widely recognized as one of the most important issues of the 1990's and Hobby history. The Finest brand was Topps' first attempt at the super-premium card market and competed with Fleer's [[1993 Flair|Flair brand]] and Upper Deck's [[1993 SP|SP.]] Production was announced at 4000, twelve-box cases (the first time a manufacturer publicly announced case production runs) and cards were distributed exclusively through Hobby dealers in the fall of 1993. This was the first time in the history of The Hobby that a major manufacturer publicly released their production figures.


=Description=
Because production figures were released, it is believed that there are approximately 30,000 copies of each base card, 1500 of each Jumbo card, and 241 of each Refractor. Some people claimed that additional refractors were backdoored to several card shops and dealers in the San Diego area -- although this was never proven.


1993 Finest (officially "Topps Baseball's Finest") is a 199-card, chromium-stock, set widely recognized as one of the most important issues of the 1990's. The Finest brand was Topps first attempt at the super-premium card market. Production was announced at 4,000, 12-box cases and cards were distributed exclusively through hobby dealers in the fall of 1993. This was the first time in the history of the hobby that a major manufacturer publicly released production figures.  
Cards were issued in seven-card foil fin-wrapped packs that carried a suggested retail price of $3.99. The product was a smashing success upon release with pack prices immediately soaring well above the $20/pack point.   The popularity of the product has continued to grow throughout the years as it's place in Hobby lore is now well solidified.


Cards were issued in seven-card foil fin-wrapped packs that carried a suggested retail price of $3.99. The product was a smashing success upon release with pack prices immediately soaring well above the $20/pack point.  The popularity of the product has continued to grow throughout the years as it's place in hobby lore is now well solidified.  
Due to these boxes not having a logo printed on the plastic wrap, boxes can easily be opened and resealed. Many boxes with the original plastic wrap have a small round hole in the upper left corner on the front. Also, packs that contain a refractor can be easily identified as they are different than non-refractor packs as they were were printed and packed separately. Packs containing a refractor have a printing variation on the wrapper.


=Distribution=
=Distribution=


18 packs per box, seven cards per pack.  12 boxes per case (4000 cases produced).
18 packs per box, seven cards per pack.  12 boxes per case (4,000 cases produced).


=Reviews=
=Reviews=
Line 24: Line 26:
|[[#Base_Set|Base]]||199||-||?
|[[#Base_Set|Base]]||199||-||?
|-
|-
|Refractors||199||241||1:18
|Jumbo||33||-||1 per sealed box
|-
|Refractors||199||Not numbered (estimated 241 of each card)||1:15 (estimated, not stated)
|}
|}


Line 31: Line 35:
==Promos==
==Promos==


Topps gave 5000, three-card, sets to its dealer customers to promote the release of its 1993 Topps Baseball's Finest set. The standard-size The words "Promotional Sample 1 of 5000" appears in red lettering superposed upon the player's biography on the back of the card. A limited amount of these cards were issued as refractors; however, the production is unknown.  
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Promotional-Samples/98/Don-Mattingly.jpg?id=7ebb6dc8-0b39-4260-b6fc-99bc3901b7ed&size=original&side=front&.jpg
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Promotional-Samples/98/Don-Mattingly.jpg?id=7ebb6dc8-0b39-4260-b6fc-99bc3901b7ed&size=original&side=back&.jpg


88 Roberto Alomar
Topps distributed 5000, three-card sets to its dealer customers to promote the release of its ''1993 Topps Baseball's Finest'' set.  The words "Promotional Sample 1 of 5000" appears in red lettering superposed upon the player's biography on the back of the card. A limited amount of these cards were issued as refractors; however, the production of those is unknown.


98 Don Mattingly
<sql2wiki database="carddb">
 
SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1993) AND (setname = 'Finest Promos');
107 Nolan Ryan
</sql2wiki>


==Base Set==
==Base Set==


1 David Justice
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base/79/Sammy-Sosa.jpg?id=a76c6102-2136-4543-b5bd-88d5b6d6e116&size=original&side=front&.jpg
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base/79/Sammy-Sosa.jpg?id=a76c6102-2136-4543-b5bd-88d5b6d6e116&size=original&side=back&.jpg


2 Lou Whitaker
<sql2wiki database="carddb">
SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1993) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num < 84);
</sql2wiki>
===All-Stars===


3 Bryan Harvey
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base/107/Nolan-Ryan.jpg?id=40b6c1d7-1983-4746-9077-384b75e3eb51&size=original&side=front&.jpg
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base/107/Nolan-Ryan.jpg?id=40b6c1d7-1983-4746-9077-384b75e3eb51&size=original&side=back&.jpg


4 Carlos Garcia
<sql2wiki database="carddb">
SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1993) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num BETWEEN 84 AND 116);
</sql2wiki>


5 Sid Fernandez
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base/192/Robin-Yount.jpg?id=c27ad902-f265-4765-ba28-115f4b3eb1b6&size=original&side=front&.jpg
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base/192/Robin-Yount.jpg?id=c27ad902-f265-4765-ba28-115f4b3eb1b6&size=original&side=back&.jpg


6 Brett Butler
<sql2wiki database="carddb">
SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1993) AND (setname = 'Finest') AND (num > 116);
</sql2wiki>


7 Scott Cooper
==Parallels==


8 B.J. Surhoff
===Jumbos===


9 Steve Finley
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base---Jumbo/99/Jose-Canseco.jpg?id=acacd0e3-2ddc-4382-85a9-8864811720f6&size=original&side=front&.jpg
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base---Jumbo/99/Jose-Canseco.jpg?id=acacd0e3-2ddc-4382-85a9-8864811720f6&size=original&side=back&.jpg


10 Curt Schilling
These over-sized (approximately 4" by 6") cards were inserted one per sealed box of 1993 Topps Finest packs and feature reproductions of 33 players from that set's All-Star subset (84-116). Some hobby dealers believe because of the known production numbers that slightly less than 1500 of each of these cards were produced.


11 Jeff Bagwell
===Refractors===
 
12 Alex Cole
 
13 John Olerud
 
14 John Smiley
 
15 Bip Roberts
 
16 Albert Belle
 
17 Duane Ward
 
18 Alan Trammell
 
19 Andy Benes
 
20 Reggie Sanders
 
21 Todd Zeile
 
22 Rick Aguilera
 
23 Dave Hollins
 
24 Jose Rijo
 
25 Matt Williams
 
26 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
 
27 Alex Fernandez
 
28 Ozzie Smith
 
29 Ramon Martinez
 
30 Bernie Williams
 
31 Gary Sheffield
 
32 Eric Karros
 
33 Frank Viola
 
34 Kevin Young
 
35 Ken Hill
 
36 Tony Fernandez
 
37 Tim Wakefield
 
38 John Kruk
 
39 Chris Sabo
 
40 Marv Grissom
 
41 Glenn Davis
 
42 Jeff Montgomery
 
43 Kenny Lofton
 
44 John Burkett
 
45 Darryl Hamilton
 
46 Jim Abbott
 
47 Ivan Rodriguez
 
48 Eric Young
 
49 Mitch Williams
 
50 Harold Reynolds
 
51 Brian Harper
 
52 Rafael Palmeiro
 
53 Bret Saberhagen
 
54 Jeff Conine
 
55 Ivan Calderon
 
56 Juan Guzman
 
57 Carlos Baerga
 
58 Charles Nagy
 
59 Wally Joyner
 
60 Charlie Hayes
 
61 Shane Mack
 
62 Pete Harnisch
 
63 George Brett
 
64 Lance Johnson
 
65 Ben McDonald
 
66 Bobby Bonilla
 
67 Terry Steinbach
 
68 Ron Gant
 
69 Doug Jones
 
70 Paul Molitor
 
71 Brady Anderson
 
72 Chuck Finley
 
73 Mark Grace
 
74 Mike Devereaux
 
75 Tony Phillips
 
76 Chuck Knoblauch
 
77 Tony Gwynn
 
78 Kevin Appier
 
79 Sammy Sosa
 
80 Mickey Tettleton
 
81 Felix Jose
 
82 Mark Langston
 
83 Gregg Jefferies
 
84 Andre Dawson
 
85 Greg Maddux
 
86 Rickey Henderson
 
87 Tom Glavine
 
88 Roberto Alomar
 
89 Darryl Strawberry
 
90 Wade Boggs
 
91 Bo Jackson
 
92 Mark McGwire
 
93 Robin Ventura
 
94 Joe Carter
 
95 Lee Smith
 
96 Cal Ripken, Jr.
 
97 Larry Walker
 
98 Don Mattingly
 
99 Jose Canseco
 
100 Dennis Eckersley
 
101 Terry Pendleton
 
102 Frank Thomas
 
103 Barry Bonds
 
104 Roger Clemens
 
105 Ryne Sandberg
 
106 Fred McGriff
 
107 Nolan Ryan
 
108 Will Clark
 
109 Pat Listach
 
110 Ken Griffey, Jr
 
111 Cecil Fielder
 
112 Kirby Puckett
 
113 Dwight Gooden
 
114 Barry Larkin
 
115 David Cone
 
116 Juan Gonzalez
 
117 Kent Hrbek
 
118 Tim Wallach
 
119 Craig Biggio
 
120 Roberto Kelly
 
121 Gregg Olson
 
122 Eddie Murray
 
123 Wil Cordero
 
124 Jay Buhner
 
125 Carlton Fisk
 
126 Eric Davis
 
127 Doug Drabek
 
128 Ozzie Guillen
 
129 John Wetteland
 
130 Andres Galarraga
 
131 Ken Caminiti
 
132 Tom Candiotti
 
133 Pat Borders
 
134 Kevin Brown
 
135 Travis Fryman
 
136 Kevin Mitchell
 
137 Greg Swindell
 
138 Benito Santiago
 
139 Reggie Jefferson
 
140 Chris Bosio
 
141 Deion Sanders
 
142 Scott Erickson
 
143 Howard Johnson
 
144 Orestes Destrade
 
145 Jose Guzman
 
146 Chad Curtis
 
147 Cal Eldred
 
148 Willie Greene
 
149 Tommy Greene
 
150 Erik Hanson
 
151 Bob Welch
 
152 John Jaha
 
153 Harold Baines
 
154 Randy Johnson
 
155 Al Martin
 
156 J.T. Snow RC
 
157 Mike Mussina
 
158 Ruben Sierra
 
159 Dean Palmer
 
160 Steve Avery
 
161 Julio Franco
 
162 Dave Winfield
 
163 Tim Salmon
 
164 Tom Henke
 
165 Mo Vaughn
 
166 John Smoltz
 
167 Danny Tartabull
 
168 Delino DeShields
 
169 Charlie Hough
 
170 Paul O'Neill
 
171 Darren Daulton
 
172 Jack McDowell
 
173 Junior Felix
 
174 Jimmy Key
 
175 George Bell
 
176 Mike Stanton
 
177 Lenny Dykstra
 
178 Norm Charlton
 
179 Eric Anthony
 
180 Rob Dibble
 
181 Otis Nixon


182 Randy Myers
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base---Refractor/194/Jay-Bell.jpg?id=e1382c7e-5ad2-4df3-bea7-5eefa2f7b81f&size=original&side=front&.jpg
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1993/Topps-Finest---Base---Refractor/194/Jay-Bell.jpg?id=e1382c7e-5ad2-4df3-bea7-5eefa2f7b81f&size=original&side=back&.jpg


183 Tim Raines
Randomly inserted in packs at a rate of one in 15 (mostly one-per-box, occasionally two), this set parallels the entire 199-card Finest set except that their fronts have been laminated with a plastic lens giving the card its trademark appearance. Because of the known production numbers, these cards are believed to have a print run of 241 copies of each card -- although this production figure was never officially confirmed by Topps. It is believed that there might be short printed cards in this set. Topps, however, has never publicly released any verification of short-printed singles, but some of the singles are accepted as being tough to find due to poor distribution and hoarding.


184 Orel Hershiser
Some examples of such hoarding: Future Hall of Famer Andre Dawson attempted to corner the market on his own '93 Finest Refractor and was known to pay premiums of up to three-times Beckett HI value for copies.  One other collector claims to have amassed 122 copies of Randy Meyers's Refractor -- that's a little more than half the known production run.
 
185 Andy Van Slyke
 
186 Mike Lansing
 
187 Ray Lankford
 
188 Mike Morgan
 
189 Moises Alou
 
190 Edgar Martinez
 
191 John Franco
 
192 Robin Yount
 
193 Bob Tewksbury
 
194 Jay Bell
 
195 Luis Gonzalez
 
196 Dave Fleming
 
197 Mike Greenwell
 
198 David Nied
 
199 Mike Piazza
 
==Parallels==
 
===Jumbos===
 
These over-sized (approximately 4" by 6") cards were inserted one per sealed box of 1993 Topps Finest packs and feature reproductions of 33 players from that set's All-Star subset (84-116). Some hobby dealers believe because of the known production numbers that slightly less than 1,500 of each of these cards were produced.
 
===Refractors===


Randomly inserted in packs at a rate of one in 18 (one-per-box), this set parallels the entire 199-card Finest set except that their fronts have been laminated with a plastic Fresnel lens giving the card it's trademark appearance. Because of the known production numbers, these cards are believed to have a print run of 241 of each card. It is believed that there might be short printed cards in this set. Topps, however, has never publicly released any verification of short-printed singles, but some of the singles are accepted as being tough to find due to poor regional distribution and hoarding. Due to their high value, these cards are extremely condition sensitive, with much attention paid to centering and minor scratches on the card fronts.
Due to their high value, these cards are extremely condition sensitive, with much attention paid to centering and minor scratches on the card fronts. Due to the subjectivity of card grading, some claim to have resubmitted the same refractors several times over the years to achieve a higher grade. 


{{Finest}}
[[Category:Topps]]
[[Category:Topps]]
[[Category:1993]]
[[Category:1993]]

Latest revision as of 20:47, 8 May 2024

Description

1993 Finest (officially "Topps Baseball's Finest") is a 199-card set printed on chromium stock and widely recognized as one of the most important issues of the 1990's and Hobby history. The Finest brand was Topps' first attempt at the super-premium card market and competed with Fleer's Flair brand and Upper Deck's SP. Production was announced at 4000, twelve-box cases (the first time a manufacturer publicly announced case production runs) and cards were distributed exclusively through Hobby dealers in the fall of 1993. This was the first time in the history of The Hobby that a major manufacturer publicly released their production figures.

Because production figures were released, it is believed that there are approximately 30,000 copies of each base card, 1500 of each Jumbo card, and 241 of each Refractor. Some people claimed that additional refractors were backdoored to several card shops and dealers in the San Diego area -- although this was never proven.

Cards were issued in seven-card foil fin-wrapped packs that carried a suggested retail price of $3.99. The product was a smashing success upon release with pack prices immediately soaring well above the $20/pack point. The popularity of the product has continued to grow throughout the years as it's place in Hobby lore is now well solidified.

Due to these boxes not having a logo printed on the plastic wrap, boxes can easily be opened and resealed. Many boxes with the original plastic wrap have a small round hole in the upper left corner on the front. Also, packs that contain a refractor can be easily identified as they are different than non-refractor packs as they were were printed and packed separately. Packs containing a refractor have a printing variation on the wrapper.

Distribution

18 packs per box, seven cards per pack. 12 boxes per case (4,000 cases produced).

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards Total Cards Numbered To Odds
Base 199 - ?
Jumbo 33 - 1 per sealed box
Refractors 199 Not numbered (estimated 241 of each card) 1:15 (estimated, not stated)

Checklist

Promos

Don-Mattingly.jpg?id=7ebb6dc8-0b39-4260-b6fc-99bc3901b7ed&size=original&side=front&.jpg Don-Mattingly.jpg?id=7ebb6dc8-0b39-4260-b6fc-99bc3901b7ed&size=original&side=back&.jpg

Topps distributed 5000, three-card sets to its dealer customers to promote the release of its 1993 Topps Baseball's Finest set. The words "Promotional Sample 1 of 5000" appears in red lettering superposed upon the player's biography on the back of the card. A limited amount of these cards were issued as refractors; however, the production of those is unknown.

  • 88 Roberto Alomar AS
  • 98 Don Mattingly AS
  • 107 Nolan Ryan AS

Base Set

Sammy-Sosa.jpg?id=a76c6102-2136-4543-b5bd-88d5b6d6e116&size=original&side=front&.jpg Sammy-Sosa.jpg?id=a76c6102-2136-4543-b5bd-88d5b6d6e116&size=original&side=back&.jpg

  • 1 Dave Justice
  • 2 Lou Whitaker
  • 3 Bryan Harvey
  • 4 Carlos Garcia
  • 5 Sid Fernandez
  • 6 Brett Butler
  • 7 Scott Cooper
  • 8 B.J. Surhoff
  • 9 Steve Finley
  • 10 Curt Schilling
  • 11 Jeff Bagwell
  • 12 Alex Cole
  • 13 John Olerud
  • 14 John Smiley
  • 15 Bip Roberts
  • 16 Albert Belle
  • 17 Duane Ward
  • 18 Alan Trammell
  • 19 Andy Benes
  • 20 Reggie Sanders
  • 21 Todd Zeile
  • 22 Rick Aguilera
  • 23 Dave Hollins
  • 24 Jose Rijo
  • 25 Matt Williams
  • 26 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
  • 27 Alex Fernandez
  • 28 Ozzie Smith
  • 29 Ramon Martinez
  • 30 Bernie Williams
  • 31 Gary Sheffield
  • 32 Eric Karros
  • 33 Frank Viola
  • 34 Kevin Young
  • 35 Ken Hill
  • 36 Tony Fernandez
  • 37 Tim Wakefield
  • 38 John Kruk
  • 39 Chris Sabo
  • 40 Marquis Grissom
  • 41 Glenn Davis
  • 42 Jeff Montgomery
  • 43 Kenny Lofton
  • 44 John Burkett
  • 45 Darryl Hamilton
  • 46 Jim Abbott
  • 47 Ivan Rodriguez
  • 48 Eric Young
  • 49 Mitch Williams
  • 50 Harold Reynolds
  • 51 Brian Harper
  • 52 Rafael Palmeiro
  • 53 Bret Saberhagen
  • 54 Jeff Conine
  • 55 Ivan Calderon
  • 56 Juan Guzman
  • 57 Carlos Baerga
  • 58 Charles Nagy
  • 59 Wally Joyner
  • 60 Charlie Hayes
  • 61 Shane Mack
  • 62 Pete Harnisch
  • 63 George Brett
  • 64 Lance Johnson
  • 65 Ben McDonald
  • 66 Bobby Bonilla
  • 67 Terry Steinbach
  • 68 Ron Gant
  • 69 Doug Jones
  • 70 Paul Molitor
  • 71 Brady Anderson
  • 72 Chuck Finley
  • 73 Mark Grace
  • 74 Mike Devereaux
  • 75 Tony Phillips
  • 76 Chuck Knoblauch
  • 77 Tony Gwynn
  • 78 Kevin Appier
  • 79 Sammy Sosa
  • 80 Mickey Tettleton
  • 81 Felix Jose
  • 82 Mark Langston
  • 83 Gregg Jefferies

All-Stars

Nolan-Ryan.jpg?id=40b6c1d7-1983-4746-9077-384b75e3eb51&size=original&side=front&.jpg Nolan-Ryan.jpg?id=40b6c1d7-1983-4746-9077-384b75e3eb51&size=original&side=back&.jpg

  • 84 Andre Dawson
  • 85 Greg Maddux
  • 86 Rickey Henderson
  • 87 Tom Glavine
  • 88 Roberto Alomar
  • 89 Darryl Strawberry
  • 90 Wade Boggs
  • 91 Bo Jackson
  • 92 Mark McGwire
  • 93 Robin Ventura
  • 94 Joe Carter
  • 95 Lee Smith
  • 96 Cal Ripken, Jr.
  • 97 Larry Walker
  • 98 Don Mattingly
  • 99 Jose Canseco
  • 100 Dennis Eckersley
  • 101 Terry Pendleton
  • 102 Frank Thomas
  • 103 Barry Bonds
  • 104 Roger Clemens
  • 105 Ryne Sandberg
  • 106 Fred McGriff
  • 107 Nolan Ryan
  • 108 Will Clark
  • 109 Pat Listach
  • 110 Ken Griffey, Jr.
  • 111 Cecil Fielder
  • 112 Kirby Puckett
  • 113 Dwight Gooden
  • 114 Barry Larkin
  • 115 David Cone
  • 116 Juan Gonzalez

Robin-Yount.jpg?id=c27ad902-f265-4765-ba28-115f4b3eb1b6&size=original&side=front&.jpg Robin-Yount.jpg?id=c27ad902-f265-4765-ba28-115f4b3eb1b6&size=original&side=back&.jpg

  • 117 Kent Hrbek
  • 118 Tim Wallach
  • 119 Craig Biggio
  • 120 Roberto Kelly
  • 121 Gregg Olson
  • 122 Eddie Murray
  • 123 Wilfredo Cordero
  • 124 Jay Buhner
  • 125 Carlton Fisk
  • 126 Eric Davis
  • 127 Doug Drabek
  • 128 Ozzie Guillen
  • 129 John Wetteland
  • 130 Andres Galarraga
  • 131 Ken Caminiti
  • 132 Tom Candiotti
  • 133 Pat Borders
  • 134 Kevin Brown
  • 135 Travis Fryman
  • 136 Kevin Mitchell
  • 137 Greg Swindell
  • 138 Benito Santiago
  • 139 Reggie Jefferson
  • 140 Chris Bosio
  • 141 Deion Sanders
  • 142 Scott Erickson
  • 143 Howard Johnson
  • 144 Orestes Destrade
  • 145 Jose Guzman
  • 146 Chad Curtis
  • 147 Cal Eldred
  • 148 Willie Greene
  • 149 Tommy Greene
  • 150 Erik Hanson
  • 151 Bob Welch
  • 152 John Jaha
  • 153 Harold Baines
  • 154 Randy Johnson
  • 155 Al Martin
  • 156 J.T. Snow RC
  • 157 Mike Mussina
  • 158 Ruben Sierra
  • 159 Dean Palmer
  • 160 Steve Avery
  • 161 Julio Franco
  • 162 Dave Winfield
  • 163 Tim Salmon
  • 164 Tom Henke
  • 165 Mo Vaughn
  • 166 John Smoltz
  • 167 Danny Tartabull
  • 168 Delino DeShields
  • 169 Charlie Hough
  • 170 Paul O'Neill
  • 171 Darren Daulton
  • 172 Jack McDowell
  • 173 Junior Felix
  • 174 Jimmy Key
  • 175 George Bell
  • 176 Mike Stanton
  • 177 Lenny Dykstra
  • 178 Norm Charlton
  • 179 Eric Anthony
  • 180 Rob Dibble
  • 181 Otis Nixon
  • 182 Randy Myers
  • 183 Tim Raines
  • 184 Orel Hershiser
  • 185 Andy Van Slyke
  • 186 Mike Lansing RC
  • 187 Ray Lankford
  • 188 Mike Morgan
  • 189 Moises Alou
  • 190 Edgar Martinez
  • 191 John Franco
  • 192 Robin Yount
  • 193 Bob Tewksbury
  • 194 Jay Bell
  • 195 Luis Gonzalez
  • 196 Dave Fleming
  • 197 Mike Greenwell
  • 198 David Nied
  • 199 Mike Piazza

Parallels

Jumbos

Jose-Canseco.jpg?id=acacd0e3-2ddc-4382-85a9-8864811720f6&size=original&side=front&.jpg Jose-Canseco.jpg?id=acacd0e3-2ddc-4382-85a9-8864811720f6&size=original&side=back&.jpg

These over-sized (approximately 4" by 6") cards were inserted one per sealed box of 1993 Topps Finest packs and feature reproductions of 33 players from that set's All-Star subset (84-116). Some hobby dealers believe because of the known production numbers that slightly less than 1500 of each of these cards were produced.

Refractors

Jay-Bell.jpg?id=e1382c7e-5ad2-4df3-bea7-5eefa2f7b81f&size=original&side=front&.jpg Jay-Bell.jpg?id=e1382c7e-5ad2-4df3-bea7-5eefa2f7b81f&size=original&side=back&.jpg

Randomly inserted in packs at a rate of one in 15 (mostly one-per-box, occasionally two), this set parallels the entire 199-card Finest set except that their fronts have been laminated with a plastic lens giving the card its trademark appearance. Because of the known production numbers, these cards are believed to have a print run of 241 copies of each card -- although this production figure was never officially confirmed by Topps. It is believed that there might be short printed cards in this set. Topps, however, has never publicly released any verification of short-printed singles, but some of the singles are accepted as being tough to find due to poor distribution and hoarding.

Some examples of such hoarding: Future Hall of Famer Andre Dawson attempted to corner the market on his own '93 Finest Refractor and was known to pay premiums of up to three-times Beckett HI value for copies. One other collector claims to have amassed 122 copies of Randy Meyers's Refractor -- that's a little more than half the known production run.

Due to their high value, these cards are extremely condition sensitive, with much attention paid to centering and minor scratches on the card fronts. Due to the subjectivity of card grading, some claim to have resubmitted the same refractors several times over the years to achieve a higher grade.