When a New Set Comes Out and is Loaded with Parallels of Your Favorite Player...

Recently, Topps released its 2003 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary set.  Ignoring the fact that Topps can't seem to get "caught up" in the year naming, I do generally enjoy the Chrome Platinum brand.  As with the past couple of years, Topps did include Barry Larkin on the checklist which means there are now a TON of new parallels for me to chase after.

While I was on vacation last week, I would occasionally have a moment to check eBay - and in doing so, I was able to pick off a few needed parallels from the 2023 set:

I'll start with the rarest of the four parallels that have arrived thus far:

That's a Platinum Toile Cream/Rose Gold Refractor numbered out of 75.  I was kind of hoping that Topps would do something other than the Toile parallels this year but I guess they are sticking with what works for the brand.  

Next, numbered out of 199 comes this Blue Mini Diamond Refractor:

I'm not sure why Topps put the serial numbering on the front of the cards this year (it can be easy to miss for some images) but it does make it easier to identify what type of parallel you are holding (I need to see the border, the serial number, and a full checklist in order to make much progress since the parallels can be so confusing/similar)!

My final serially numbered card of this spate of purchases is a new parallel introduced for this year's set, the aptly named Topps Refractor numbered out of 499.

This card gives off serious Topps Tek vibes with the background logo being what sets the parallel apart from others.  I'm wondering if the "Topps Refractor" is going to be a thing in other Topps sets moving forward.  It seems like an easy way for Topps to cram in yet another parallel into almost any set.

Finally, we'll end with the lone non-serially numbered parallel that I bought:

That's a Prism Refractor and it's another nice looking parallel!  The light catches the background prisms nicely when the card is held in hand, definitely a great addition to my Larkin Collection.  Heck, all four of the cards are nice additions - even if I am getting parallel overload lately!

That'll do for this batch but I should have some more cards coming from the 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary set later this week.  At some point soon, I'll have to go through and make a proper checklist of what I have/need from the set - I kind of hate to see how many more parallels I still need to track down!