1997 Pinnacle Certified

Description

Renamed from "Select Certified," 1997 Pinnacle Certified was a 150-card set released in the summer of 1997. This set was designed to continue to compete with Topps' Finest brand -- so much so that this year's iteration, like Finest, featured chromium-stock cards with a removable protective "peel". Pinnacle Certified was available exclusively in Hobby stores.

The set included a 30-card rookie subset and a 15-card Certified Stars subset. Randomly seeded into packs as a late addition is an exchange card good for a card of Jose Cruz, Jr. Although this card is numbered as part of the base set (#151), it is not considered a "true" rookie card nor is it considered part of a complete set.

Due to the popularity of this product in the secondary-market (which may have been driven by the previous year's set) and the company's financial troubles, Pinnacle Brands made five separate print runs of '97 Certified. After the first run sold out, Pinnacle produced an additional two runs before Certified went live. Afterward, another two press runs were ordered. It is believed that the Mirror Gold Certified Team inserts were exclusive to press runs 2 & 3 and the mysterious Mirror Blacks were only in the fifth and final run.

The only significant "true" rookie card is Brian Giles.

Distribution

Pinnacle Certified: Six cards per pack, 20 packs per box. (MSRP $4.99) Hobby exclusive.

Inserts and parallels were usually the 4th card in the pack.

Insertion Ratios

Pinnacle Certified	Total Cards	Stated Production Run	Odds
Base	150	-	?
Jose Cruz, Jr. Exchange Card	1	-	?
Certified Red	150	-	1:5
Mirror Red	150	-	1:99
Mirror Blue	150	-	1:199
Mirror Gold	150	-	1:299
Mirror Black	?	?	?
Certified Team	20	?	1:19
Gold Certified Team	20	475	1:119
Mirror Gold Certified Team	20	25	1:1800
Lasting Impressions	20	?	1:19

Checklist

Base Set

• 1 Barry Bonds
• 2 Mo Vaughn
• 3 Matt Williams
• 4 Ryne Sandberg
• 5 Jeff Bagwell
• 6 Alan Benes
• 7 John Wetteland
• 8 Fred McGriff
• 9 Craig Biggio
• 10 Bernie Williams
• 11 Brian Hunter
• 12 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
• 13 Ray Lankford
• 14 Ryan Klesko
• 15 Jermaine Dye
• 16 Andy Benes
• 17 Albert Belle
• 18 Tony Clark
• 19 Dean Palmer
• 20 Bernard Gilkey
• 21 Ken Caminiti
• 22 Alex Rodriguez
• 23 Tim Salmon
• 24 Larry Walker
• 25 Barry Larkin
• 26 Mike Piazza
• 27 Brady Anderson
• 28 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 29 Charles Nagy
• 30 Paul Molitor
• 31 Darin Erstad
• 32 Rey Ordonez
• 33 Wally Joyner
• 34 David Cone
• 35 Sammy Sosa
• 36 Dante Bichette
• 37 Eric Karros
• 38 Omar Vizquel
• 39 Roger Clemens
• 40 Joe Carter
• 41 Frank Thomas
• 42 Javy Lopez
• 43 Mike Mussina
• 44 Gary Sheffield
• 45 Tony Gwynn
• 46 Jason Kendall
• 47 Jim Thome
• 48 Andres Galarraga
• 49 Mark McGwire
• 50 Troy Percival
• 51 Derek Jeter
• 52 Todd Hollandsworth
• 53 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 54 Randy Johnson
• 55 Pat Hentgen
• 56 Rusty Greer
• 57 John Jaha
• 58 Kenny Lofton
• 59 Chipper Jones
• 60 Robb Nen
• 61 Rafael Palmeiro
• 62 Mariano Rivera
• 63 Hideo Nomo
• 64 Greg Vaughn
• 65 Ron Gant
• 66 Eddie Murray
• 67 John Smoltz
• 68 Manny Ramirez
• 69 Juan Gonzalez
• 70 F.P. Santangelo
• 71 Moises Alou
• 72 Alex Ochoa
• 73 Chuck Knoblauch
• 74 Raul Mondesi
• 75 J.T. Snow
• 76 Rickey Henderson
• 77 Bobby Bonilla
• 78 Wade Boggs
• 79 Ivan Rodriguez
• 80 Brian Jordan
• 81 Al Leiter
• 82 Jay Buhner
• 83 Greg Maddux
• 84 Edgar Martinez
• 85 Kevin Brown
• 86 Eric Young
• 87 Todd Hundley
• 88 Ellis Burks
• 89 Marquis Grissom
• 90 Jose Canseco
• 91 Henry Rodriguez
• 92 Andy Pettitte
• 93 Mark Grudzielanek
• 94 Dwight Gooden
• 95 Roberto Alomar
• 96 Paul Wilson
• 97 Will Clark
• 98 Rondell White
• 99 Charles Johnson
• 100 Jim Edmonds
• 101 Jason Giambi
• 102 Billy Wagner
• 103 Edgar Renteria
• 104 Johnny Damon
• 105 Jason Isringhausen

Rookies

• 106 Andruw Jones
• 107 Jose Guillen
• 108 Kevin Orie
• 109 Brian Giles RC
• 110 Danny Patterson
• 111 Vladimir Guerrero
• 112 Scott Rolen
• 113 Damon Mashore
• 114 Nomar Garciaparra
• 115 Todd Walker
• 116 Wilton Guerrero
• 117 Bobby Abreu
• 118 Brooks Kieschnick
• 119 Pokey Reese
• 120 Todd Greene
• 121 Dmitri Young
• 122 Raul Casanova
• 123 Glendon Rusch
• 124 Jason Dickson
• 125 Jorge Posada
• 126 Rod Myers
• 127 Bubba Trammell RC
• 128 Scott Spiezio
• 129 Hideki Irabu RC
• 130 Wendell Magee, Jr.
• 131 Bartolo Colon
• 132 Chris Holt
• 133 Calvin Maduro
• 134 Ray Montgomery RC
• 135 Shannon Stewart

Certified Stars

• 136 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 137 Vladimir Guerrero
• 138 Roger Clemens
• 139 Mark McGwire
• 140 Albert Belle
• 141 Derek Jeter
• 142 Juan Gonzalez
• 143 Greg Maddux
• 144 Alex Rodriguez
• 145 Jeff Bagwell
• 146 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 147 Tony Gwynn
• 148 Frank Thomas
• 149 Hideo Nomo
• 150 Andruw Jones

Jose Cruz, Jr. Redemption

Randomly inserted into packs as a late edition was a redemption card good for a card of rookie Jose Cruz, Jr. Although sequentially-numbered as part of the base set (#151) it is not considered part of the complete set. The deadline to redeem the card was March 31st, 1998.

• 151 Jose Cruz, Jr. EXCH

Parallels

All 150 base cards (except the Cruz exchange card) are available in the following parallels:

• Certified Red
• Mirror Red
• Mirror Blue
• Mirror Gold

Unlike the announced production figures of 90, 45, and 30 copies of each 1996 Select Certified Mirror Red, Blue, and Gold cards, the production figures for the '97 Mirrors were never publicly stated by Pinnacle Brands.

Initially, however, collectors assumed that the production figures were the same as the '96 Mirrors, as the insertion ratios were roughly the same. Many collectors familiar with the '97 Mirror sets note that because Pinnacle made additional print runs both before and after the official release of the product, the actual production runs were higher than initially assumed. Further, Mirrors may also have been "backdoored" after Pinnacle Brands' 1998 bankruptcy filing. Thus, it is unknown how many of each Mirror exists for each player. For reference, there are at least 50 Tony Clark Mirror Golds.

Mirror Black

This mysterious parallel carries a lot of speculation about its origin, Pinnacle Brand's intentions, and scarcity as Pinnacle never officially referenced this parallel set prior to the product's release. It is unknown if this parallel was planned to be released into packs or if these were inserted into packs was a mistake. It is also unknown if this parallel was intended to be a "stealth" insert/parallel like the 1998 Donruss Crusades or Certified Mirror Gold Teams. Many collectors (appropriately) assume these were supposed to be a "one-of-one" parallel but it is not known for sure if Mirror Blacks for all 150 cards exist; however, Beckett Baseball Card Monthly reported in 1997 that at least two Mirror Blacks of Jay Buhner were pulled from packs. Below is a list of confirmed cards.

The Mirror Blacks are similar to the base card except the card front has a holographic finish similar to a refractor.

2 Mo Vaughn

5 Jeff Bagwell

8 Fred McGriff

14 Ryan Klesko

24 Larry Walker

26 Mike Piazza

27 Brady Anderson

39 Roger Clemens

49 Mark McGwire

51 Derek Jeter

52 Todd Hollandsworth

59 Chipper Jones

61 Rafael Palmeiro

65 Ron Gant

66 Eddie Murray

69 Juan Gonzalez

82 Jay Buhner

83 Greg Maddux

88 Ellis Burks

92 Andy Pettitte

103 Edgar Renteria

106 Andruw Jones

109 Brian Giles

121 Dmitri Young

139 Mark McGwire STAR

143 Greg Maddux STAR

145 Jeff Bagwell STAR

146 Cal Ripken, Jr. STAR

150 Andruw Jones

• Ken Griffey, Jr. (confirmed, unknown if a base or STAR subset)

Totally Certified

See 1997 Totally Certified

Inserts

Certified Team

This 20-card set featured the top players in the game on a silver-mirror (non-holographic) and silver frosted-foil finish. Each Certified Team insert is available in the following parallels:

• Gold (stated production run: 475 copies)
• Mirror Gold (stated production run: 25 copies)

Originally, Pinnacle Brands stated a total production run of 500 Certified Gold Team cards. After the official release, Pinnacle revealed that the first 25 copies of each Certified Gold Team were produced with a "Mirror Gold" (i.e., refractor) finish. However, the initial secondary-market success of the product led Pinnacle to print additional runs of the set (read above). There has been no confirmation that the Certified Team insert and its Gold and Mirror Gold parallels were also included in these additional print runs and thus conservative thought would be that the stated print run announcement of 475 Certified Team Golds and 25 Certified Team Mirror Golds is accurate.

• 1 Frank Thomas
• 2 Jeff Bagwell
• 3 Derek Jeter
• 4 Chipper Jones
• 5 Alex Rodriguez
• 6 Ken Caminiti
• 7 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 8 Mo Vaughn
• 9 Ivan Rodriguez
• 10 Mike Piazza
• 11 Juan Gonzalez
• 12 Barry Bonds
• 13 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 14 Andruw Jones
• 15 Albert Belle
• 16 Gary Sheffield
• 17 Andy Pettitte
• 18 Hideo Nomo
• 19 Greg Maddux
• 20 John Smoltz

Lasting Impressions

This 20-card set featured top stars in the game on a delicate, die-cut and team-colored etched-foil card design.

• 1 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 3 Mo Vaughn
• 4 Brian Jordan
• 5 Mark McGwire
• 6 Chuck Knoblauch
• 7 Sammy Sosa
• 8 Brady Anderson
• 9 Frank Thomas
• 10 Tony Gwynn
• 11 Roger Clemens
• 12 Alex Rodriguez
• 13 Paul Molitor
• 14 Kenny Lofton
• 15 John Smoltz
• 16 Roberto Alomar
• 17 Randy Johnson
• 18 Ryne Sandberg
• 19 Manny Ramirez
• 20 Mike Mussina