The world of trading cards, particularly sports cards, is yuge. At the heart of the hobby lies a diverse range of refractors, parallels, and variants.
This guide is your definitive resource for understanding and identifying every type of refractor and variant in the trading card hobby.
Whether you’re chasing a silver refractor, a gold wave parallel, or an ultra-rare one-of-one superfractor, this guide will equip you with the knowledge to navigate the trading card market.
Note that between sports & brands the same pattern type may be called different things. This is noted where possible.
Note: This list of trading card refractors and holographic/hologram cards or special editions and parallels will be updated regularly.
Click next to each card type to create a direct link.
Pattern Types #
Checkerboard / X-Fractor #
Cracked Ice / Atomic #
Disco / Fast Break / No Huddle #
Flash / Shock #
Mojo / Mega #
Pulsar #
Scope #
Shimmer #
Wave / Multi Wave Prizm #
Carved in Time (wood) #
Lenticular (multiple dimension 3D) #
Synthesis (plexi material) #
Outburst #
Electric Ice #
Ellipse #
Color Wheel #
Color Blast #
Die-cut #
National Landmarks #
Stained Glass #
Lava Lamp #
Dazzle #
Refractor Types #
Base Card Example #
Refractor #
Prism Refractor #
Pink Refractor #
Sepia Refractor #
X-Fractor #
Negative Refractor #
Purple Refractor #
Blue Refractor #
Green Refractor #
Green Wave Refractor #
Blue Wave Refractor #
Gold Refractor #
Gold Wave Refractor #
Orange Refractor #
Orange Wave Refractor #
Red Refractor #
Red Wave Refractor #
Black Refractor #
White Refractor #
Superfractor #
Cherry Blossom Refractor #
Super Glow Superfractor #
Raywave Refractor #
Chrome Gold Refractor #
Night Vision Refractor #
Speckled Refractor #
Comes in Green, Gold, Orange, Black, Red and Superfractor
Foilboard Cards #
Green Foilboard #
Orange Foilboard #
Red Foilboard #
Vintage Stock #
Red Stars #
Independence Day #
Father’s Day Powder Blue #
Mother’s Day Hot Pink #
Memorial Day Camo #
Mosaic #
Camo Pink Mosaic #
Choice Peacock Mosaic #
Fast Break Silver Mosaic #
Genesis Mosaic #
Green Mosaic #
Reactive Blue Mosaic #
Reactive Orange Mosaic #
Red Mosaic #
Blue Mosaic #
Choice Red Fusion Mosaic #
Fast Break Blue Mosaic #
Fast Break Purple Mosaic #
Purple Mosaic #
Orange Fluorescent Mosaic #
White Mosaic #
Fast Break Pink Mosaic #
Blue Fluorescent Mosaic #
Pink Swirl Mosaic #
Fast Break Gold Mosaic #
Gold Mosaic #
Green Swirl Mosaic #
Pink Fluorescent Mosaic #
Choice Black Gold Mosaic #
Black Mosaic #
Choice Nebula Mosaic #
Fast Break Black Mosaic #
NBA Hoops #
Black Pulsar Prizm #
Blue Prizm #
Blue Cracked Ice Prizm #
Blue Pulsar Prizm #
Blue Wave Prizm #
Flash Prizm #
Gold Pulsar Prizm #
Green Prizm #
Green Cracked Ice Prizm #
Green Pulsar Prizm #
Green Shimmer Prizm #
Pulsar Prizm #
Purple Disco Prizm #
Red Prizm #
Red Cracked Ice Prizm #
Red Flash Prizm #
Red Pulsar Prizm #
Red Wave Prizm #
Silver Prizm #
Silver Laser Prizm #
Silver Mojo Prizm #
Silver Scope Prizm #
Teal Prizm #
Teal Wave Prizm #
Premium Set Checkerboard Prizm #
Blue Laser Prizm #
Blue Mojo Prizm #
Green Flash Prizm #
Blue Flash Prizm #
Purple Flash Prizm #
Purple Cracked Ice Prizm #
Pink Flash Prizm #
Gold Cracked Ice Prizm #
Gold Flash Prizm #
Gold Laser Prizm #
Gold Mojo Prizm #
Black Flash Prizm #
Black Laser Prizm #
Black Mojo Prizm #
Gold Vinyl Premium Set Prizm #
Topps Heritage #
100th Anniversary #
Black Border #
Flip Stock #
Magenta #
Mini Parallels #
Chrome #
Chrome Refractor #
Purple Refractor #
Black Bordered Refractor #
Gold Bordered Refractor #
Superfractor #
Animal Prints #
(Currently being added to)
Zebra Prizm #
Dragon / Dragon Scale #
Red Dragon #
Peacock Prizm #
Tiger Prizm #
Giraffe Prizm #
Elephant Prizm #
Tiger Eyes (Origins) #
Snake Eyes (Origins) #
Donruss & Donruss Optic #
Donruss Optic – Blue Velocity #
Donruss Optic – Purple Pulsar #
Donruss Optic – Hyper Pink #
Donruss Optic – Red Dragon Prizm #
Donruss – Laser #
Donruss Liberty #
Donruss – Diamond Marvels Blue Ice #
Donruss – On Fire #
Donruss – Voltage #
Donruss – Career Stat Line #
Printing Plates #
Comes in Black, Cyan, Yellow, and Magenta.
Leaf Exotic #
Images TBC
Alligator Crystal
Alligator Kaleidoscope
Alligator Mojo
Alligator Prismatic
Butterfly Crystal
Butterfly Kaleidoscope
Butterfly Mojo
Butterfly Prismatic
Chameleon Crystal
Chameleon Kaleidoscope
Chameleon Mojo
Chameleon Prismatic
Clown Fish Crystal
Clown Fish Kaleidoscope
Clown Fish Mojo
Clown Fish Prismatic
Deer Crystal
Deer Kaleidoscope
Deer Mojo
Deer Prismatic
Dragon Crystal
Dragon Kaleidoscope
Dragon Mojo
Dragon Prismatic
Elephant Crystal
Elephant Kaleidoscope
Elephant Mojo
Elephant Prismatic
Giraffe Crystal
Giraffe Kaleidoscope
Giraffe Mojo
Giraffe Prismatic
Leopard Crystal
Leopard Kaleidoscope
Leopard Mojo
Leopard Prismatic
Parrot Crystal
Parrot Kaleidoscope
Parrot Mojo
Parrot Prismatic
Peacock Crystal
Peacock Kaleidoscope
Peacock Mojo
Peacock Prismatic
Snake Crystal
Snake Kaleidoscope
Snake Mojo
Snake Prismatic
Tiger Crystal
Tiger Kaleidoscope
Tiger Mojo
Tiger Prismatic
Zebra Crystal
Zebra Kaleidoscope
Zebra Mojo
Zebra Prismatic