1993-94 Topps Finest Refractor Hot Box?

[NeilCO]

Was this a common thing? I bought a box of 93-94 Finest on the Bay, figuring I had a pretty good shot at a Jordan base and a nice refractor or two. No such luck on any Jordans, but every pack had at least 1 refractor and 3 of them had two refractors. The refractors were all on the side of the pack with no seam, and when there were two they were there together. I'm not 100% sure of this because I didn't notice while opening, but I believe each pack had one of the "[insert Division]'s Finest" Refractors, and the ones with two refractors also had a regular refractor. I also didn't get any "Division's Finest" non-refractors, or any Main Attraction inserts.

[minnesotachill]

I remember these 'hot boxes'

Not sure the odds but they are pretty rare.

I recall seeing dealers at shows who had the packs and were asking ungodly prices for packs too.

[Jpayne7787]

Did you pull any Hakeem or Shaq refractors?

[NeilCO]

I remember these 'hot boxes'

Not sure the odds but they are pretty rare.

I recall seeing dealers at shows who had the packs and were asking ungodly prices for packs too.

Interesting. Maybe I should have stopped in the middle to sell some packs, once I figured out the refractors weren't stopping. But I was dreaming of a Jordan.

Did you pull any Hakeem or Shaq refractors?

No Hakeem, yes Shaq #99.

Refractors I pulled were:
#90 Patrick Ewing
#92 Rony Seikaly
#93 Dino Radja RC
#94 Kenny Anderson
#96 Tom Gugliotta
#98 Derrick Coleman
#99 Shaquille O'Neal
#101 Horace Grant
#103 Joe Dumars
#105 Scottie Pippen
#106 Reggie Miller
#107 Mark Price
#108 Ken Norman
#111 Christian Laettner
#114 Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
#117 John Stockton
#119 Dikembe Mutombo
#120 Vlade Divac
#121 Dan Majerle
#123 Shawn Kemp
#124 Danny Manning
#125 Charles Barkley
#126 Mitch Richmond
#127 Tim Hardaway
#144 Charles Oakley
#198 Tim Hardaway
#216 Malik Sealy

Some nice ones in there, though it will still be a grind to make back what I paid for the box.

[drobfan8]

What did a box cost?

There's a few selling well now, this set is vastly underpriced other than Jordan.

Shaq sells well

[mc1]

I remember hearing of “hot boxes” in early Finest releases. 1994-95 and 1995-96 had them too.

[SK40]

95 - 96 definitely had Hot Boxes, I think it was one per two cases. There's always been rumours of odd distribution on 93/94 Refractors which led to some being perceived short prints, nothing concrete though as far as I'm aware.

Main Attraction was inserted in Jumbo packs only I believe.

[Repoman1]

Same thing happened to me last month. I hit almost all the brick refractors. Every pack had atleast 1

[GoNYGoNYGo]

If you are looking to move the refractors let me know - I’m just starting my quest to complete this 93-94 refractor set.

Thanks!


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[NeilCO]

What did a box cost?

There's a few selling well now, this set is vastly underpriced other than Jordan.

Shaq sells well

With shipping and fees I paid $662.35 on eBay last week. I was hesitant to pay so much given how much cheaper they had been in the months prior, but I couldn't help myself. What's funny is that I had some of these as a kid (probably my nicest cards) and had seen them for so long that as of a few years ago I had become completely bored of them. Then, as I was looking to pick up some old Jordans, I kinda fell in love with them again. They have such a 90s feel to them. If only they had come out in 1992-93...

I remember hearing of “hot boxes” in early Finest releases. 1994-95 and 1995-96 had them too.

I've had hot boxes of Finest baseball in recent years, but had no idea it was a thing in the 90s.

95 - 96 definitely had Hot Boxes, I think it was one per two cases. There's always been rumours of odd distribution on 93/94 Refractors which led to some being perceived short prints, nothing concrete though as far as I'm aware.

Main Attraction was inserted in Jumbo packs only I believe.

Aha, interesting. I wonder if these were around the same odds as the 96 boxes.

Same thing happened to me last month. I hit almost all the brick refractors. Every pack had atleast 1

Nice! It was a really fun rip for me. Might have been slightly less fun if I had realized they were all the brick refractors (since Jordan doesn't have one), but then again, the brick refractors are mostly stars. Really fun flipping to the back and knowing I'd be staring at a refractor.

If you are looking to move the refractors let me know - I’m just starting my quest to complete this 93-94 refractor set.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have long term plans to move them, but short term I think I will be holding. Awesome set though, good luck! And of course, if you struggle finding anything that I have, feel free to reach out. I won't gouge you for my Ken Norman.

[SleeperCards]

I sold one of these boxes a few months back, they're like $600 now, nuts. Congrats on the hot box.

[Pugdogg]

I remember my dad and I at the card shop in 93 and he was opening some jumbos of finest and the 3 packs he bought each had roughly 6 refractors in each pack. Still to this day don’t know why we didn’t buy them all however I know Mashburn Hardaway had 3-4 refractors each come out because other people got involved pretty quickly once they saw what he has pulled

[scotthenrichs]

I hit a 95-96 Finest series 2 hot box back In the day, every single card in every pack was a refractor, including two Jordan’s.

[Archangel1775]

Wow, I just bought a 95 S2 box to break . I never knew this was a thing in the 90s

[Vinny407]

They had a box of 93/94 Finest at my LCS that they were selling by the pack. I bought 3 and pulled a refractor in each, so I went back and bought the rest, 6 more packs I think. I know I pulled a Ewing and a Stockton, but I also pulled Nick Anderson and Shaq which I still have in my Magic PC :)