1996 Pinnacle

Description

1996 Pinnacle was a 400-card set that featured 200 cards in Series 1 and 2. Similar to the previous year's release, each base card featured a borderless color photo with a gold foil design at the bottom or side (for landscape-oriented cards) portion of the card front - this year, the design resembled a triangle and housed the player name plate. Cards were also printed on a thicker 20-point cardstock, in an effort to improve brand reputation and again featured the unique anti-counterfeit bar codes were again featured on the back.

There were 4 subsets and Checklists at the end of each series:

• The Naturals
• Rookies
• Hardball Heroes
• The .300 Series

There are no notable Rookie Cards in the set.

Distribution

Hobby/Retail: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.49).

Jumbo: 36 packs per box, 12 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99).

SuperPacks: 36 packs per box, five cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99). Series Two only. Retail only.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds	Jumbo Odds	Super Pack Odds
Base	400	-	?	?	?	?
Starburst	200	-	1:7	1:7	1:6	1:10
Starburst Artist's Proof	200	-	1:47	1:47	1:39	1:67
Cal Ripken Tribute (S1)	1	-	1:150	1:150	?	?
Power (S1)	20	-	1:35	1:35	1:29	?
Team Pinnacle (S1)	9	-	1:72	1:72	?	?
Essence of the Game (S1)	18	-	1:23	N/A	N/A	N/A
First Rate (S1)	18	-	N/A	1:23	N/A	N/A
Team Tomorrow (S1)	10	-	N/A	N/A	1:19	N/A
Christine Brinkley Collection (S2)	16	-	1:23	1:23	1:19	?
Team Spirit (S2)	12	-	1:72	1:72	1:60	?
Project Stardom (S2)	18	-	1:35	N/A	N/A	N/A
Slugfest (S2)	20	-	N/A	1:35	N/A	N/A
Skylines (S2)	18	-	N/A	N/A	1:50	1:29

Checklist

Promos

Samples

This 9-card set was issued in sealed packs to promote the Series 1 release of 1996 Pinnacle. The pack contained 7 base set reprints, a reprint of Mo Vaughn's Power insert, and an unnumbered card explaining the upcoming Pinnacle set. These promo cards are easily distinguished from their regular issue counterparts as "SAMPLE" is diagonally printed across the front and the back.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Samples') ORDER BY num ASC; </sql2wiki>

Christie Brinkley Sample

This card of Christie Brinkley was issued to promote the Series 2, which included an insert set featuring photographs Ms. Brinkley took with various Major League players.

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Base Set

Series One

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The Naturals

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Rookies

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Checklists

As with the previous year's set, the checklists are arranged by League.

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Series Two

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Hardball Heroes

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The .300 Series

NOTE: Sequential numbering for the .300 Series subset was based on a player's career batting average. At that time, both Paul Molitor and Jeff Bagwell had identical career batting averages of .305 - thus Pinnacle sequentially-numbered these .300 Series subset cards as #305.3 (for Molitor) and #305.6 (for Bagwell). Due to this, the set only runs through card #399, but actually contains 400 cards.

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Rookies

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Checklists

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Parallels

There were 3 parallels that varied in size - some players had all 3 parallel versions of their base card while other players did not.

• Starburst (100 cards; formerly known as "Museum Collection")
• Starburst Artist's Proof (100 cards)
• Foil (200 cards)

Starburst

Starburst was a 200-card partial-parallel that replaced the "Museum Collection" parallel in name. 100 cards from both Series 1 and 2 were featured in the Starburst parallel set - each Starburst card utilized the same photo and design as the base set but featured a Dufex finish that emanated from the Pinnacle logo.

Cards in the Starburst set were sequentially numbered differently as Series 1 cards were sequentially numbered "X of 100", while Series 2 cards were numbered "X of 200."

Starburst Artist's Proof

All cards in the Starburst set also had an Artist's Proof Parallel which featured the same Dufex finish but also had the words "ARTIST'S PROOF" included in the Dufex design.

Series 1

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Series 2

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Foil

This 200-card set fully paralleled Series 2 and featured a foil finish on the card front (similar to the "Chrome" finish on Topps or Bowman cards). This parallel was exclusive to Series 2 SuperPacks.

Inserts

Cal Ripken, Jr. Tribute

This 1-card set was issued as a tribute to Cal Ripken, Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak in 1995.

NOTE: This card is marked "1 of 1" on the back - this is the sequential number, not a serial number. Thus, this card is not a one-of-one.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Cal Ripken Tribute'); </sql2wiki>

Power

This 20-card set featured some of the top home run hitters in the game at the time on a black, matte background with a silver, home plate-shaped cut out in the center of the card that housed a debossed holographic foil. This set was exclusive to all Series 1 packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Power'); </sql2wiki>

Team Pinnacle

This 9-card set utilized a yellow-gold background and similar to previous years, featured Pinnacle's picks for the top players at each position with an American League player on the front and a National League player on the back. Unlike previous year's Team Pinnacle inserts, there is only one version of each card: the front of each card with the American League player featured the Dufex finish and back of the card with the National League player featured a foil finish only. There is no version featuring a Dufex finish on both sides of the card. This set was exclusive to Series 1 Hobby and Retail packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Team Pinnacle') ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Essence of the Game

This 18-card set highlighted players that encapsulated and represented the game of baseball through their play on the field. Cards were printed on clear acetate and featured a player cutout and with an etched holographic foil finish at the top of the card (front and back). This set was exclusive to Series 1 Hobby packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Essence of the Game'); </sql2wiki>

First Rate

This 18-card highlighted former 1st Round draft picks on an orange, brown, and yellow Dufex-finished design. This set was exclusive to Series 1 Retail packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle First Rate'); </sql2wiki>

Team Tomorrow

This 10-card set highlighted some of the top young players in the game on a multi-colored background design featuring a 3-dimensional representation of the Pinnacle logo and a Dufex finish. This set was exclusive to Series 1 Jumbo packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Team Tomorrow'); </sql2wiki>

Christie Brinkley Collection

This 16-card set utilized photographs taken by the famed supermodel during Spring Training of 1996. All cards featured Cleveland Indians or Atlanta Braves players. This set was exclusive to all Series 2 packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Christie Brinkley Collection'); </sql2wiki>

Team Spirit

This 12-card set highlighted players that were indispensable to their respective teams on a black matte background that featured an embossed, silver holographic foiled baseball and seams. This set was exclusive to all Series 2 packs.

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Project Stardom

This 18-card set featured some of the most promising young players in the game on a blue radiance, Dufex-finished card. This set was exclusive to Series 2 Hobby packs.

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Slugfest

This 18-card set highlighted the top power hitters in the game on a silver and black radiance design with a Dufex finish. This set was exclusive to Series 2 Retail packs.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1996) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle Slugfest'); </sql2wiki>

Skylines

This 18-card set highlighted some of the top stars in the game at the time on a clear acetate card with an etched holographic bar at the top of the card, a player portrait, and a skyline of the player's team city in the background. This set was exclusive to Series 2 Jumbo and SuperPacks.

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