Barry Larkin Collection 822: 1997 Topps - #ILM6 - Inter-League Finest Refractor

Barry Larkin
Year:  1997

Brand:  Topps

Insert set:  Inter-League Finest (refractor parallel)

Card number:  ILM6

I've been working hard to get my Barry Larkin Collection completely up-to-date.  One of the things that the process entails is me going through my huge stack of Larkin cards and scanning/updating TCDB/writing posts about all of the various cards that I've acquired over the past few years (you know, the ones that I haven't scanned or talked about in depth yet).  Anyhow, today's card is actually an eBay purchase - and rather than simply add the card to that stack of assorted Larkin cards to be sorted at a later date, I figured I'd do the prudent thing and discuss the card here and now!

For starters, this is a parallel of an insert - the simple idea of that is annoying to me but that's where collecting was at back in 1997 (and still today, I might add).  I do own the "regular" version of this card as well but that will have to be saved for a future Barry Larkin Collection post.  

Speaking of the regular Inter-League Finest inserts, according to baseballcardpedia, the regular inserts were seeded 1:36 packs while the Inter-League Finest Refractors were seeded a whopping 1:216 packs!  I have to admit, having both cards next to each other in my binder - the Refractor version is definitely far superior!  The bright sheen makes the card look much more special - and it even scans fairly nicely (it'd be a bit shinier if I removed the protective coating but since the card arrived with the protective peel in place, it'll be staying there)!