Modern Refractor Question
 

Im a vintage guy... starting to get into some modern.... for any of the modern collectors can you give me your opinion on a refractor vs the wave version of that refractor...

i know they come in different colors and some rarer then others.. but what is the difference between a blue refractor numbered to 150 and a blue refractor wave also numbered to 150? does one sell for more then the other?

thanks

The traditional colors will sell for more than the wave/shimmer/speckle, etc...

what type of a reduction do you place on the wave? 20%? 30%?

thanks for the valuable info.

It's not real exact, but I'd say on average the variants sell for 80% or so of the true colors.

I’m assuming the lower the pop the more expensive the refractor? But do you ever see certain colors sell for more just because it’s “gold version”?

Trying to make sense out of a gold variation out of 50 selling for more than an orange version out of 25. Both being a Normal refractor. (Non wave version etc)

I would have thought the version out of 25 is far more valuable then the version out of 50.

Traditionally the main attractions are the refractor auto to 499, the true blue refractor to 150 and the red to 5. People like orange to 25 and gold to 50 too.

Even though they sometimes have lower or equal serial numbers the purple to 299, wave refractors, green to 99, and yellow to 75 are less desirable.

In basketball the Silver Prizms at least for some years seem priced higher than their pure pop would indicate, suggesting they are more popular?

Yeah the silver prism in basketball is akin to the refractor for Bowman. People love the refractor auto for first Bowman cards. They sometimes sell for much more than lower serial numbered cards of less desirable color variations.

I will gladly trade all of these refractors I have for any of those T206s errors, ghosts and miscuts you have !

the "true" colors always demand more, and gold is just a popular color because well, people like gold. for chrome, red /5, gold /50, blue /150 are the most desirable because they have longest tenure / lineage in products, everything else seems to have been slotted in later to justify printing more but still giving people hits. orange came soon after so is still quite desirable.

some #'s are exclusive to certain products, like green /99 for awhile was only in retail. on panini side, there are various sku's that contain specific parallels as well.

imho, i would stick only to the true red, orange, gold and blue parallels if your budget allows as most of the others have less demand despite lower or equal supply. the waves and lavas etc can sometimes be as low as 50% of the true alternative, but agreed 70-80% is about right as a rule of thumb. they are still great cards of course, but there's something about having the true that over time you realize you're glad you spent the few extra bones to get the one that matters the most.

here's a good thread with helpful perspectives too:

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1558142