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Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5
Interesting. Every source I can find states that production for 1994 was greatly increased over 1993, and that 1995 scaled it back. 4000 cases was the print run for 1993, so I find it hard to believe that is accurate for 1994. Just anecdotally, having collected them in those days, I saw 94 Finest regularly at my LCS for $5 a pack, whereas 93 Finest was very hard to find, and ballooned to $20 a pack. Coupled with the better odds for refractors (1:15 vs 1:9), and with the checklist only increasing by 20 cards per series, there would need to be even less 94 produced than 93 in order to have the same number of refractors. And I highly doubt that. But I'm definitely open to learning something new. I'll have to pull out my Standard Catalog when I get home to verify.
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Having busted a few cases myself, the 1994s ere definitely 2 per box, so 1:12 on the refractors. I'd love for someone else to dive in on the math - happy to be wrong there. But if the number of cases is factual then it is possible to get the number of refractors. It is shockingly low even at 4000 cases per Series.
From what I remember about 1994 it was not well received, as by far the #1 chase in 1993 was for the Nolan Ryan refractor. Then despite being in 1994 Topps base Nolan was not included in Finest in 1994. People were mad! On top of that there was not a key chase rookie card (a problem that would follow Finest and really lead to the development of Bowman Chrome). It was still hobby only though. Also at this point the market was slowing considerably and feeling awfully saturated with high end product. Very important was that the baseball strike began in August 1994 with that year's playoffs and world series canceled. People were mad!
1995 not sure how much Finest they produced but I remember being able to buy a pack at a gas station (happened to get a Kevin Appier refractor). So different distribution that year. The 1995 refractors are not plentiful however. Series 2 really benefited from having a true Nomo RC, which probably saved the product.