The feedback I’ve been getting on this series has been very positive. I guess there are a lot more people out there like me who just want the card without the autograph or piece of game used item. I already covered hockey and baseball, so I figured why not talk about football cards. The card line I’m going to explore today is 1994 Topps Finest, specifically card number one Emmitt Smith.
The Finest brand was first released in 1993 covering basketball and baseball. In 1994 Topps decided to release Finest Football. 24 packs per box, 6 cards per pack and three refractors per box. This is a very difficult set to put together for many reasons. One of the most valuable refractors is the Emmitt Smith one.
Personally I love this design, I love how bold it is, how it practically pops off the card. I wish that Topps made cards like this now. Plus who doesn’t like shiny cards? The price this little baby goes for between $25 and $50 on the Bay, it has been at this price level for quite some time. I don’t see the prices fluctuating much but I don’t think you will ever lose money on it.
Why Emmitt and not say Brett Favre? Dan Marino? It’s easy, he was the most popular player on the most popular team. He continues to generate a lot of interest on the secondary market and it doesn’t matter that he has been retired for years. He has the most yards rushed by any running back in football history and only he and Jerry Rice are the only two non-kickers to score more than 1000 points. In the end though, it’s hard not to like or respect Emmitt Smith and the career he had on the football field.
What do you think of the Finest Refractor Cards from 1994? Do you have any?
Finest and Stadium Club are two of the best products to come out of the 90s, if I am not mistaken I think 94 was the year that the great “Peel/Dont Peel!” debate started when Topps added the For Your Protection sticker over the card face on the basketball cards.
Topps Finest including the refractor versions of the cards was a brilliant concept for higher end products that at the time was still affordable (relatively speaking). My brother and I actively collected Finest, particularly in baseball and basketball. I have a Mark McGwire from that year. It was highly sought after back in the 1990s. I never got rid of it though.
To answer your question , Yes I do have one,and it is the Emmit Smith pictured above. I opened it from a pack in a card shop and the owner flipped out saying I could retitre with money made from that card one day. Well, it is a long way from retirement money but it is still a great card, and really cool to open a pack with a card that everyone was looking for. I was alay a big Emmit fan!