[kstjst]

i believe that the earlier years of refractors they didn't notate them on the back, so you really had to have a good eye. comparing them to other cards from that set would be your best bet. sunlight is the best way to view them. but if you compare it and you see a rainbow gloss to it then that's the refractor version. unless you have a star player, or refractors from the 1993 baseball set, then it's generally not worth much more than a regular version.

[djohn]

as far as value one is not worth a whole lot more than the other except this year where they were numbered to /500 and mostly found in hobby boxes.

Generally though a base veteran card might go for $.40-$.50 and the refractor might get you $1.00-$1.25

That is not entirely true, and is an over-generalization. There are plenty of refractors that weren't serial numbered that are worth significantly more than their base counterparts. It really comes down to exactly what card it is. For example a 2001 Topps Chrome Traded Refractor of Albert Pujols is worth significantly more than the base card from the set. A 1993 Finest Refractor of Ivan Rodriguez sells for 100 times as much as his base card from the set. That doesn't even go into the different types of refractors that they make now (blue, gold, orange, red, white, etc). There are just too many dependencies to make a general statement that refractors aren't worth much more than their base counterparts.

[chevy man 22]

This is why I said Generally as there are always exceptions

[djohn]

This is why I said Generally as there are always exceptions

Yes, except saying generally intrinsically means there are only a few exceptions. In the case of refractors I think there are at least 1/4 of all refractors that are worth more than just a little bit over the value of their equivalent base card.