[packs]

As a collector, I don't see any difference between a refractor and a back variation. If you have to bring up intention to differentiate the two, then you're just talking about semantics. One is rarer than the other because it was printed in a more limited quantity. You can gloss the front in crazy colors or you can change the advertisement on the back, either way, you're making a scarcer version of your base card. The Strasburg card is not just a manufactured rarity, it is a chase card. It's the premier card in the entire set. People are going to buy more packs to try to find it. The same was true for the Lajoie Goudey, Ruth Butter Cream, the Chance Cracker Jack and so on and so on. I think people should stop looking at numbered cards as manufactured rarities and should start seeing them as what they are: chase cards. Card manufacturers have literally been doing the same thing for over a hundred years. Just because a product is modern doesn't make the concept new. And because you enjoy pre-war cards doesn't mean you aren't sharing a common collecting interest as modern collectors.