[lukemiddleton]

I'm wondering if anyone can give me some guidance on knowing if I'm looking at a Topps Finest standard card or a Refractor. I have a Shaquille O'Neal, 1993-1994 #3 card. The Beckett picture of the standard card looks like mine, but then so does every listening on ebay.com and those all refer to it as a Refractor. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[buckunteer]

Tough to tell from that pic, but my inkling is that it's just the base card. If you get a real refractor side-by-side, it becomes a lot more obvious. I realize that's not super helpful. Maybe a few more pics? Take a look at the thread about the Anfernee Hardaway Cornerstone refractor. The guy took several pics that make the refractor stand out and make it clear that it is in fact the refractor.

[carrollm09]

The card you have looks like a base card, but it definitely can be difficult to tell sometimes from a picture. Also, I've bought at least one 1993-94 Finest refractor on eBay that was just the base card. In this series, the refractor is the card on the right:







When compared side-by-side it's hard to confuse them, but any changes in lighting will cause the cards to look differently. Hopefully this helps some.

[hercules21]

great post above. there is absolutely no difference in the picture on the card. the only difference is the rainbow refraction of light. one way to verify is to buy a refractor on ebay from the same set, but a cheap common card for 99 cents. then you will see what a refractor looks like, and be able to identify it from then on out.