Very rare 1994 Topps Finest Ricky Henderson Refractor?
 

This 1994 Topps Finest Ricky Henderson Refractoris being described as "Very Rare":

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/266016438788...b1936b805d06e9

"Very Rare" has been defined in the Overstreet Price Guide since the 1970's as 5-50 samples in existence. So how much of a lie is contained in the above Ebay listing?

:confused:

SGC has graded 5 refractors and PSA 64. That alone exceeds the max level of "very rare" by the definition you described. This of course isn't counting the raw examples - 3 raw ones are for sale on ebay this moment, and a few raw ones have sold in the last couple months.

I'd call this a "small" lie. Hundreds of active Topps / T206 etc ebay listings use the "very rare" descriptor that are bigger lies. Nothing to get worked up over :)

That type of puffery annoys me.

:(

I mean, "very rare" is hardly a specific term with a specific definition. It's more of a relative term. But if you are holden to the specific definition you provided, they are not very rare.

In 1993, the stated print run of refractors was 241 (although that number is disputed). The print run increased in 1994. By how much? We will never know for sure, but the 94 refractors are certainly more prevalent than the 93s. So with certainty I can say the number is >241. And likely by a bit (probably double or so).

But again, it's relative. Compared to other print runs in 1994, they are EXTREMELY rare. This was a time when basecards were measured in the millions, and the rarest serial numbered cards were /10,000 or /5,000. So to have a card <500 was rare.

But yeah, as a rare 90s collector, I don't consider 94 Refractors hard to find. Nor are the 93s, even though their popularity means they are tucked away in collections. To me, cards /100 or less begin to get hard to find (usually popping up once a year or so). And once you get <50 (which interestingly is your definition), they begin to be so rare you simply have to buy it when you see it, because you may not see if for many years, if ever. I've spent decades chasing some cards /25 or less (even a couple /50 that I can't find).

I always saw Overstreets as a general sort of price guide for most antiques that was only marginally accurate.

Rare of any type will vary depending on the hobby. A friend collects movies on 16mm film. A super common one might get to 25-50 copies. And many, especially relatively recent ones the total produced is well under 10, often no more than 3 or 4. Surviving copies in good condition are even harder to find.

There are approximately 200-300 examples of this card in my estimation.

Hmmmm. So I guess the 1994 Topps Finest Ricky Henderson Refractor doesn't approach "rare" by these standard Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide definitions:

Extremely Rare: 1-5 copies
Very Rare; 5-50 copies
Rare: 50-100 copies
Scarce: 100-1000 copies

My own experience with rare modern cards started with the 1996-97 Skybox Metal Universe Super Power cards. The toughest of these were the Armor Plate ones. One Armor Plate Super Power was inserted in every 720 packs. That certainly meets my definition of a tough pull since there wouldn't even be one such Armor Plate Super Power per case. I have all twelve different ones comprising the set:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...8aeab8ce27.png

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...268d29b6fd.png

Up until 2004 I resisted going after any Jersey cards because I regarded them as the gimmick du jour. But when I happened to see this 2003-04 Pacific Titanium 015/155 Ryan Miller Patch card (white against red number) at an AHL game at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, I thought it was so gorgeous that I couldn't resist it:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...b6fdd193f7.png

But that opened a huge can of worms since I'm a completist. So I have to get every card in the set but there are dozens and dozens of possible variants of the Jersey and Patch cards. So needless to say over the years I've accumulated multiple variants of just about every Jersey card in the 2003-04 Pacific Titanium set and some are very rare indeed:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...b48d82fcb4.png

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...32b4a5da2a.png

Plus I have the whole set of the Jersey Number Parallels serial numbered xx/150:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...d9000c6ec.jpeg

I also have 59 of the Jersey cards serial numbered xx/50 from the Jersey Number Parallel set:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...dafe9d2804.png

I'd be willing to sell one of the above Sergei Samsonov cards because they're very similar. In fact acquiring two more different ones, would mean that I'd exceed the three pocket capacity I've assigned to each player's Parallel Jersey cards.

Then I got into the 2003-04 Black Diamond Parallels. I currently have 9 of the 200 Clarity Parallels plus one Clarity Parallel Jersey card serial numbered xx/10:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...577e3d6c74.png

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...f925371964.png

Plus I have 58 of the 200 Red Parallels plus 15 Red Parallel Jersey cards serial numbered xx/50:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...f761783d7.jpeg

Plus 113 of the 200 Green Parallels plus 27 Green Parallel Jersey cards serial numbered xx/99 or xxx/100:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...83dedefe7.jpeg

Then I discovered the 2003-04 Bee Hive Jersey and Jersey cum Autograph cards the latter of which all meet Overstreet's definition of rare:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...a9632fb286.png

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...ff5a070e2b.png

Then more recently I started to pick up the 2021 Upper Deck CFL Jersey and Patch cards the latter of which are serial numbered xx/25:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...a23a255994.png

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...4acee5d821.png

And these 2021 Upper Deck SP CFL Gold Autograph cards serial numbered xxx/115:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...47f061d016.png

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...7cb9b72552.png

So no, I'm not in the least impressed with cards limited to "only" several hundred.

;)

First, great cards! Thanks for sharing.

Second, as I said, it's all relative. It's the difference between rarity and scarcity. Rarity refers to how many exist. Scarcity refers to how hard something is to find.

There are some cards that are VERY RARE, with only a handful of copies, but they trade hands all the time. If you want one, you can easily find it and purchase it.

Then there are cards with several hundred copies in existence, that are all tield up in collections and NEVER hit the market.

Finding one of those scarce cards with several hundred copies can be a significantly harder challenge than the ultra rare card that is sold all the time. So it can be more impressive to find a less rare card than a very rare card, depending on the card and the market.

Oh, absolutely! I fully agree. In this electronic day and age, it's not difficult to track down any famous and thus really expensive card. Whether that card is affordable though is another question entirely. What can be tough though is finding an inexpensive card only a select few covet. Quite simply high prices bring out the quantity supplied and the price fetched by that card isn't high enough to coax it out of collections or buried deep within some dealer's inventory.

With respect to "rare" and "very rare" cards, I've often wondered whether these 1954 Blue Ribbon CFL cards which were distributed "free inside" fifteen cent(!) chocolate bars fit those definitions:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...c7f9132a6d.jpg

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...9bb4334925.jpg

https://hosting.photobucket.com/85c5...21464b2352.jpg

:confused:

a picture in a card saver that does not show the cards possible imperfections is a terrible way to showcase it