Some of my favorite parallels

 After getting a parallel from the 2025 Topps set that I really liked, I thought I would make a post of some of my favorite parallels of all time. 

For me, a neat parallel would be one that features a unique printing technology showcased, and a rainbow sheet also helps put it over the top. I’m not really concerned about the scarcity of a card, if it is a rare card, it’s a rare one. If not, it’s not. I’m going to not really go in a particular order since it’s kind of hard to judge between favorites, but I’ll definitely save my 2-3 favorite ones until the end. 

SET: 1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection

ODDS: 1 in 3 packs

Pinnacle treated collectors to Dufex technology in 1994, and boy, were these Museum Collection card beautiful!  The only way they could get better is if they had a rainbow sheen on them. While these cards were 1 in 3 retail pack odds, I would rather pull one of these than the rarer Artists Proof cards which just have a gold foil AP logo and are 1 in 22 retail packs. In 1998, I saw a Rays/A’s game at the Trop, and Kenny Rogers’ mom saw my ‘94 Pinnacle Museum card of Kenny, and she wanted it, and traded me his 1990 Upper Deck card for it. The card would’ve been beautiful with an autograph, but I’m still happy I got to trade it to her. 

SET: 2023 Topps Chrome Green Sonic Refractor

ODDS: 1 in 672 retail packs

While these are much tougher to pull, I found one at a LCS in either the $1 or $5 box. All of the shapes, the rainbow sheen, the only thing I wish is that I could’ve found a blue one to match the Rays colors. 

SET: 1998 Score Artists Proofs. 

ODDS: 1 in 35 packs 

In 1998, I was at a friends house, and his dad got the card bug watching the McGwire/Sosa HR race. He busted tons of boxes of product, and had a trade box that he let me pick a few cards from that day. I picked a 1998 Score Artists Proofs Todd Worrell. I loved the rainbow sheen that looked like water, I loved the red AP logo. Just a cool looking card. 

SET: 1995 Topps SpectraLight/Cyberstats

ODDS: 1 per pack

 An easy 1 per pack pull, these cards go by either the Spectra or Cyber name. The set was originally going to be called Spectra Light after the technology, and perhaps replace the ToppsGold series. During the ‘94 season, the MLB players went on strike, and Topps used a computer program to play the remaining games of the season and did the playoffs as well (the Indians beat the Braves in the World Series). They then called the set CyberStats, and added the computer season stats to the regular season stats and printed them on the back. The card front on the left is a normal one and the right is a Spectra, and the top is a regular back, and bottom is a Cyberstats back. I wish Topps added these to the 2021 set and finished out the Covid season. 

SET: 2024 Topps Chrome Ray Wave Refractor

ODDS: 1 in 9

These ‘Wave’ Refractors have been around for a few years now, this was just the first one I found in my binders. I really like the wave pattern that moves when you bend the card. 

*The next 2 sets are confusing, as they have a number of different parallels*

SET: 1998 Leaf Fractal Matrix

ODDS: various

These things are confusing, and I’m still not sure how many different versions there are. The Fractal Matrix parallels have normal cards, X axis die cuts, Y axis die cuts, Z axis die cuts, and Diamond Axis ones. From what I gathered from Baseball Card Pedia, there are 10 different sets, and gold silver and bronze versions as well. Nice looking cards, but confusing. 

SET: 1998 UD3 Die Cuts

ODDS: Various

UD3 was a confusing set as a base set. 90 cards, 3 subsets (power corps, the establishment, and future impact). There were 3 technologies (rainbow foil, embossed, and special fx).  On top of that, there were die cut inserts. I have versions of each technology of each subset, and only have die cuts of each subset. The die cut cards are bad, though. Look some of them up on COMC. They follow the the pattern of the design and are one of the neatest die cut sets I’ve ever seen. 

SET: 1994 Collectors Choice Gold Signature

ODDS: 1 in 36 packs

In my first Collectors Choice pack, I pulled a Gold Signature Robin Ventura. The fact that they were rarer than the Silver versions and feature player autographs make them favorites for me. As an autograph collector, it’s always cool to compare an autograph to a Silver or Gold Signature card. 

SET: 1998 Pinnacle Artists Proofs

ODDS: 1 in 39 packs

I’ve always liked the 1998 Pinnacle set because of the rainbow foil nameplate. I’ve never actually pulled one of these Artists Proofs cards, but darn, do they show off that Dufex technology. 

SET: 1998 Pinnacle Museum Collection

ODDS: 1 in 9 packs

I figured I would keep the ‘98 Pinnacle cards together. A different way to use the Dufex technology, the Museum cards are nothing to sneeze at. 

SET: 2004 Donruss Career Stat Line

ODDS: varies

Donruss parallels just don’t do it for me with the technology. I will give them credit for the Stat Line parallels, which number a card according to either a career or a season stat. 

SET: 2022 Topps Chrome Sonic Purple/Yellow Refractor

ODDS: 1 in 49 packs

This is just a bad looking card with the different colors and shapes on it. 

SET: 2021 Topps Orange Foil

ODDS: not listed

Actually, any of the color parallels are great looking cards, I just found the orange one first. The technology is unique, the colors have a rainbow sheen, and it is on the whole card and not just the border. 

SET: 2021 Topps Complete Set Shimmer Foilboard

ODDS: 5 cards per factory set

Why can’t they put parallels like this in the regular set?

SET: 1998 Topps Minted in Cooperstown

ODDS: 1 in 8 packs

This set was unique because the cards actually had the bronze logo minted on the card in Cooperstown, NY. It wasn’t a piece of cake to pull as they are 1 in 8 packs. 

We are down to the top 4. 

SET: 1998 Bowman’s Best Atomic Refractor

ODDS: 1 in 82 packs

Numbered to 100, these beauties were tough pulls. I love the crackle of the design and the rainbow sheen. They are also serial numbered on the back, an uncommon practice back in the late ‘90’s. 

SET: 1997 Topps Stadium Club Matrix

ODDS: 1 in 12

These cards have it all. A design that mimics Dufex, a cool logo, and rainbow sheens. Wish I could’ve found packs of this set when it was out. 

SET: 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary Platinum

ODDS: 1 in 4

These cards wowed when they first came out. Just a beautiful technology over the whole card. If only it would have a rainbow sheen on the whole card. Some people have tried to build a complete set. 

SET: 2025 Topps Diamonte

ODDS: 1 per hanger box

When I first saw these on a blog, I was impressed. They were even better in hand. The technology with the triangles looks very cool. If only it had a rainbow sheen on the card. It still looks like some cool ice kind of thing. I really hope Topps keeps this technology in the future. 

That does it for my favorite parallels. I’m sure there are a few that I’ve missed, but hopefully it gives you some ideas for some new cards to add to your collection. I might stop at K n T’s Sportscards tomorrow and hunt for more. At the very least, hopefully they will have the missing 2025 Topps base cards and I can finish up the set. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy