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The 1998 Topps Tek Thread

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RStadlerASU22

Active member
Jan 2, 2013
8,881
11
Never heard someone complain so much about others buying habits.

They pay more does not equal bidding up cards... No one owes you a reduced rate to complete your sets.

That is all

Ryan
 

corockies

New member
Mar 23, 2013
1,213
0
Colorado
Never heard someone complain so much about others buying habits.

They pay more does not equal bidding up cards... No one owes you a reduced rate to complete your sets.

That is all

Ryan

Totally agree with you Ryan.

Base diffractors are mostly worth $15-$20 to me. If others don't like it then don't bother bidding. It's simple math.

Also I rarely win any of them, so it's fairly obvious there are others out there who value them even higher.
 

shadowking86

Member
May 13, 2014
313
0
Thanks to rinkrat and another user on another forum, I am down to just 11 Sandy Alomar Jr. patterns to go. I also need all but four of the diffractors.

Here are my Tek pattern needs: 8, 11, 13, 21, 27, 54, 55, 71, 78, 83, 86
Here are the diffractors I have: 23, 31, 72, 74

Here are my Tek cards for trade for Alomars I need:
12 Craig Biggio: 35
24 Todd Walker: 67
25 Tino Martinez: 14
38 Vinny Castilla: 36
42 Derek Bell: 81
52 Jason Kendall: 50, 76
57 Barry Larkin: 22
58 Tony Clark: 81
62 Jose Cruz Jr.: 28
70 Chuck Knoblauch: 47, 53
72 Tim Salmon: 39
75 Brian Jordan: 66
78 Mark Grace: 31
79 Jeff King: 67
90 Ray Lankford: 16

I also have this Diffractor to trade, also for a Sandy Alomar Jr. diffractor:
7 Bernie Williams: 56

I posted this a few pages ago. These are mine that I have for trade.
 

togaman

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2008
1,298
26
Houston
I posted this a few pages ago. These are mine that I have for trade.

So now I know from shadowking86 list that there are at least 3 of the Bernie Williams card # 7 pat# 56 diffractor as I have one as well (one of my only two Bernie Williams Diffractors) as does rinkrat from an old list I have of his diffractors.

Would be nice to know from Topps (Topps Customer Service wont say or may not even know) how many diffractors were produced of each specific card#/pattern # so we will probably never know for sure

I still have not seen anyone with a Pattern # 49 Diffractor of ANY player so maybe Topps did not make one of that specific pattern # 49.
 
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Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
image_41.jpeg

I went to a card show yesterday. Grabbed this Jeter for $4. They had a '99 also and I am regretting not picking that one up also. I have a few Jeters from '98. No Jeter refractors yet. I really thought Tek was a dumb idea back then and was not attracted to the set unil a few years later. Years ago Beckett only recognized one pattern on their "master list" for player totals. When they totaled each of the 90 patterns is when I tried to complete my O'neill run. Took me 14 years to complete the base run of 90. I am now (2) shy of my second set needing patterns 14,90. I have managed to pick up 25 diffractors of O'neill. These are what I have 1,4,10,14,21,27,29,31,34,40,42,53,54,56,59,63,65,69,72,74,70,77,79/84 and 86. Always looking to add on to those. I also look for base Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams. I dont have a accurate list at this time so I would like any of them.
 

rinkrat38

Member
Oct 14, 2012
261
0
South Deerfield, Mass.
I have managed to pick up 25 diffractors of O'neill. These are what I have 1,4,10,14,21,27,29,31,34,40,42,53,54,56,59,63,65,69,72,74,70,77,79, 84 and 86.

Kevin,

The duplication in available '98 Tek diffractor patterns is amazing. You have 25 O'Neill diffractors; I have 36. Between us, we have 39. There are only three of your patterns that I don't have (patterns 14, 21, and 34). You also have copies of my only two duplicate O'Neill diffractor patterns. Some of this duplication of the collection can be attributed to one or the other of us not bidding on a card that is a duplicate and the other guy winning the card, but we've both been doing this for a very long time. Where are the other 51 O'Neill diffractor patterns?

Rich
 

corockies

New member
Mar 23, 2013
1,213
0
Colorado
Kevin,

The duplication in available '98 Tek diffractor patterns is amazing. You have 25 O'Neill diffractors; I have 36. Between us, we have 39. There are only three of your patterns that I don't have (patterns 14, 21, and 34). You also have copies of my only two duplicate O'Neill diffractor patterns. Some of this duplication of the collection can be attributed to one or the other of us not bidding on a card that is a duplicate and the other guy winning the card, but we've both been doing this for a very long time. Where are the other 51 O'Neill diffractor patterns?

Rich

I'm pretty sure a particular board member bought them all @ high beckett prices in 1998 and isn't telling us.

In all honesty it's starting to seem like a bunch of the diffractor patterns were never made. I wonder if printing errors occured and Topps just threw out the sheets? I doubt we'll ever know. Not like there's a ton of this out there unopened.
 

togaman

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2008
1,298
26
Houston
I have O'Neill diffractor patters 21,68,79 so I guess neither of you have pat# 68 . Those are my only 3 diffractors
and unfortunately none are dupes. Im sure there must be some Yankee collectors out there who have a few O'neill Diffractors somewhere in their collection. Pretty sure there are no pattern # 49 diffractors made of ANY player

Kevin,

The duplication in available '98 Tek diffractor patterns is amazing. You have 25 O'Neill diffractors; I have 36. Between us, we have 39. There are only three of your patterns that I don't have (patterns 14, 21, and 34). You also have copies of my only two duplicate O'Neill diffractor patterns. Some of this duplication of the collection can be attributed to one or the other of us not bidding on a card that is a duplicate and the other guy winning the card, but we've both been doing this for a very long time. Where are the other 51 O'Neill diffractor patterns?

Rich
 
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MansGame

Active member
Sep 25, 2009
15,324
20
Dallas, TX
Wow, congrats. I haven't got a Belle diffractor in over 2 years I think. Still a pattern short of having the base 90 card set too.
 

togaman

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2008
1,298
26
Houston
Must be a Big Barry Larkin collector/hoarder out there as all my dupe Larkins have been sold off long time ago

Not sure if this is the place to post this but looking for any/all 1998 Topps Tek #57 Barry Larkin, have none of these and need for mc.

Thanks,
Dennis
 

u2me57

Well-known member
Mar 21, 2014
3,234
63
Hendersonville, Tn.
Not sure if this is the place to post this but looking for any/all 1998 Topps Tek #57 Barry Larkin, have none of these and need for mc.

Thanks,
Dennis

Great to see you on here Dennis! Yes, you have come to the right place to start your 90 card Barry Larkin Tek set. It's an awesome set, both challenging and fun to collect. I'm working on the Jim Thome set. Just PM me your address and I'll send you the Barry Larkin pattern #89 to get you started. I don't need anything in return. Hope you have a great Christmas!

Gary
 

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