In the Mail today- 2014 Topps Chrome Variation

    The newest edition to my collection...

My 2014 Topps Chrome collection is continuing to expand. A special thanks to jshsports on eBay!

    This is a 2014 Topps Chrome Photo Variation SP. To those of you readers who are scratching your heads going, "Huh?" here's basically what it means.

    Topps chrome released the base set with all the base cards. In 1 of every 269 hobby packs, instead of seeing a Philip Rivers card that looks like this:

    You'll see one like the one listed above. There are 30 different veteran variations and 25 different rookie variations in 2014 Topps Chrome, so in otherwords it's a rare card.

    That's all out of the mail today. Another one down, so many more to go!

JMJ + God Bless

2014 Topps Chrome Rainbow... STARTED!

    The newest editions to my collection...

I'm getting my 2014 Topps Rainbow started. A special thanks to scizscott on eBay for getting me this deal! 

So, here's what I got in the mail today that are pictured above:

    Topps Chrome Refractor

    Topps Chrome XFractor

    Topps Chrome Purple Refractor

    Topps Chrome Blue Wave Refractor

    Topps Chrome BCA Pink Refractor (#ed 265/399)

    Topps Chrome Black Refractor (#ed 131/299)

    Alright, so to my friends who don't know football cards who I know are reading this blog, here's the basic principle of my mail arrival. 

    Topps Company released their annual base set earlier in 2014. Shortly after they released that, they released Topps Chrome, which is basically a clear chrome covered version of their base card. In the Topps Chrome set, there are parallels. Parallels look just like the regular card, except the border may be different, maybe the print isn't black anymore, it's gold, etc. In Topps Chrome, it's usually a border change, and their called Refractors.

    Now, Topps Chrome, there are several different refractors. A Refractor parallel is simply the regular, or base, card that when it hits light right, it reflects the light in a rainbow type of way. You see a rainbow appear. See the image below to kinda understand what I mean.

    See the rainbow type of light? That's a refractor. Now, most refractors don't have that camo pattern around it, but that's okay. 

    Next, the XFractor. The Xfractor is when they design a pattern in the chrome that makes it look almost like a bunch of x's are popping off the card. Observe below.

    See that pattern it makes? That would be an Xfractor. When you move the card up and down, those big X's run up and down the card. 

    The last keyword you really need to know right now is Wave. Wave is still pretty new to the Topps Chrome technology, so it's only really found, I believe, in 2012 Topps Chrome and up. They've just become more common then they used to be. See the image below.

    That is a wave card. See the waves it makes in the pattern? When you move the card left and right, it waves across the card. 

    So there's my big parallel explanation of the day. Some other sets have different types of parallels, but I'll worry about teaching you all those later when I get some. 

   Go Rivers!

JMJ + God Bless