Too Many Refractor Variations Hurting Market?

[HPC]

I was discussing this with a buddy and we both agreed that the amount of refractor variations is hurting the market of newer guys because of the amount of variations out there.

Lets see, the variations (I can remember) are:

Refractor = /500, /777
Purple Refractor = /799
Green X-Fractor
X-Fractor
Green Refractor = /225
Blue Refractor = /150
Blue Wave refractor = /400
Gold Refractor = /50
Black Refractor auto/25
Orange Refractor = /25
Red Wave refractor = /25
Purple Refractor auto = /10
Red Refractor = /5
Superfractor = /1
Canary Refractor = /1

What are some of your thoughts?

 

[carlitoson]

You can add atomic and sepia from last year.
I pity the player collector "completists". LOL

 

[HPC]

You can add atomic and sepia from last year.
I pity the player collector "completists". LOL

Especially considering that some guys will have base and auto'd variations of each!

:shock:

 

[MojoDan]

...arent they adding camo as well?

 

[TBTwinsFan]

And then 4 printing plates as well.

I think it's too much...

I would like to see base, refractor, x-fractor, blue refractor, gold refractor, super fractor

 

[HPC]

...arent they adding camo as well?

Wouldnt surprise me!

And then 4 printing plates as well.

I think it's too much...

I would like to see base, refractor, x-fractor, blue refractor, gold refractor, super fractor

To be fair, plates arent refractors. But, they are another variation :/

I would also like to go back to just having those 5 variations of refractors plus the base. I wouldnt mind keeping the Red/5 or make the Canary/5 or /10

 

[TNP777]

I wish Finest hadn't done away with the blue refractor - it was my favorite.

 

[MojoDan]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-topps-...0963673912?pt=US_Football&hash=item2a22468738

 

[olerud363]

Makes me glad I don't collect a current player. Olerud's last playing year in cards was 2005 so there's only a few refractor variations each year and (I think) one super.

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[AmishDave]

Yes, values suck of non-superstar cards. I've been able to get three or four 2012 Topps Chrome Red Refractors of JJ for $5 and under. It's pitiful. Good for collector's of players who aren't named Jeter, but bad for folks busting tons of wax or cases, trying to make a portion of their money back.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

I was discussing this with a buddy and we both agreed that the amount of refractor variations is hurting the market of newer guys because of the amount of variations out there.

Lets see, the variations (I can remember) are:

Refractor = /500, /777
Purple Refractor = /799
Green X-Fractor
X-Fractor
Green Refractor = /225
Blue Refractor = /150
Blue Wave refractor = /400
Gold Refractor = /50
Black Refractor auto/25
Orange Refractor = /25
Red Wave refractor = /25
Purple Refractor auto = /10
Red Refractor = /5
Superfractor = /1
Canary Refractor = /1

What are some of your thoughts?

The number of refractors isn't hurting the market, lack of collectors IS hurting the market. There *should* be more than 2000 people interested in a refractor of a particular player.

Anyone else remember when a 2K print run was thought to be tiny?

 

[TBTwinsFan]

Wouldnt surprise me!



To be fair, plates arent refractors. But, they are another variation :/

I would also like to go back to just having those 5 variations of refractors plus the base. I wouldnt mind keeping the Red/5 or make the Canary/5 or /10

True.

I think getting rid of the red and making a canary #'d/5 would be pretty sweet.

 

[jbmm161]

I think a limit of 6 total (1 base 5 refractors is plenty) not counting the 4 plates. Probably 2 many.

Would like to see more insert sets that are harder pulls. I really like the die cuts from Topps Chrome this year. Reminds me of the 90s insert sets. Of course thats part of the reason MOST base cards have become next to worthless.

 

[cgilmo]

I don't understand people complaining about too much stuff to collect. If you don't love it, don't do it.

 

[Ty Hope]

Every year that goes by, I become less and less interested in this hobby. Too many retarded parallels are part of the problem. It's just getting silly. Camo-fractors? Yeah....

2005 was the best year for chrome IMO. It was simple and straightforward. Now its a freaking mess. Doesn't help that every year they keep changing colors and according serial #'s.

 

[olerud363]

I don't understand people complaining about too much stuff to collect. If you don't love it, don't do it.

I agree with this to a point. Everyone is free to collect what they want, but to me the refractor situation now is kind of like what happened in the early 2000's. IMHO all the silly refractor versions now are like Fleer Mystique, Focus, Focus Jersey Edition, Hardball, Showcase, and all the other sets with their parallels. It's putting out a card issue for the sake of putting out another card issue, and the availability of so many sets/parallels hurts the collectibility of each set.

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[bozemanbreaker]

Bad for collectors? No. Bad for prospectors and rip-n-flip guys? Yes.

 

[rehmus]

I've written about this on the FCB homepage. If you aren't ridiculously wealthy in 2012 you have to define/limit your collection (particularly player collections). I'm happy to just buy Topps products of one of the guys I collect and leave the rest. For this particular guy I can't get enough parallels - I love them. I'm happy to collect guys (a la Olerud) in a more complete way if I know what to expect.

 

[Mario1975]

I don't think it's refractor variations hurting the market, I think it's the rip and flip buyers. Truth is it's not much a hobby anymore. Maybe I'm wrong but I remember growing up and people bought boxes and cards to collect, not to rip and flip. I mean I can't remember anyone besides card shop owners buying a case of cards, let alone multiple cases. Now you even have teenagers buying cases for the main purpose of trying to make a quick buck. I think what that is doing is driving the prices of boxes sky high and then flooding the market making individual cards, except for the very few hot cards like the Harpers and Trouts, worth alot less on the market. Ebay has only added to the problem because unlike before where you had limited quantities of cards, places and people you could buy from, now you literally had hundreds if not thousands of different cards, people and places.

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[predatorkj]

Mario's point seems to be a lot closer to the real problem. I think a lot guys are aggravated because it used to be easier to rip and flip, and while it's still possible, the sheer amount of stuff out there and eBay really kill the value.