Description

1998 Pinnacle Plus is a 200-card set printed on foil-board and released in August, 1998. Like most Pinnacle Brands sets of the era, it follows the same formula of other mid-level Pinnacle sets of the era: The same 150 players with the super stars doubled-up in a pointless subset or two mixed in with a couple dozen of non-rookie "rookies"; boring inserts; and a $3/pack price point. Not surprisingly, this was the last baseball card set Pinnacle Brands would release, as they went out of business just a few weeks later.

Distribution

24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack (MSRP: $2.99).

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds
Base	200	-	?
Artist's Proof	60	-	1:35
Gold Artist's Proof	60	100	?
Mirror Artist's Proof	60	one of one	?
Lasting Memories	30	-	1:5
Yard Work	15	-	1:9
Piece of the Game	10	-	1:19
Team Pinnacle	15	-	1:71
Gold Team Pinacle	15	-	1:199
Mirror Gold Team Pinnacle	15	25	?
All-Star Epix Orange	12	-	1:24
All-Star Epix Purple	12	-	1:120
All-Star Epix Emerald	12	-	1:240
Nolan Ryan Autographed Baseball Redemption	1	1000	?
Interleague Game-Used Baseball Redemption	1	100	?

Checklist

Promos

Six "Sample" cards were distributed in two-card sealed cello packs within dealer order forms and in Hobby media releases about four to six weeks prior to the release of 1998 Pinnacle Plus baseball.

NOTE: The samples are similar in design, but not completely identical, to the regular issue Pinnacle Plus cards. The samples share the same photographs, but the cards are printed on basic four-color UV coated cardstock. The actual Pinnacle Plus base set was printed on silver foil board.

8 Nomar Garciaparra
9 Ken Griffey, Jr.
24 Frank Thomas
33 Mike Piazza
56 Chipper Jones
72 Larry Walker

Base Set

1 Roberto Alomar
2 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
3 Brady Anderson
4 Albert Belle
5 Jeff Cirillo
6 Roger Clemens
7 David Cone
8 Nomar Garciaparra
9 Ken Griffey, Jr.
10 Jason Dickson
11 Edgar Martinez
12 Tino Martinez
13 Randy Johnson
14 Mark McGwire
15 Dave Justice
16 Mike Mussina
17 Chuck Knoblauch
18 Joey Cora
19 Pat Hentgen
20 Randy Myers
21 Cal Ripken, Jr.
22 Mariano Rivera
23 Jose Rosado
24 Frank Thomas
25 Alex Rodriguez
26 Justin Thompson
27 Ivan Rodriguez
28 Bernie Williams
29 Pedro Martinez
30 Tony Clark
31 Garret Anderson
32 Travis Fryman
33 Mike Piazza
34 Carl Pavano
35 Kevin Millwood RC
36 Miguel Tejada
37 Willie Blair
38 Devon White
39 Andres Galarraga
40 Barry Larkin
41 Al Leiter
42 Moises Alou
43 Eric Young
44 John Jaha
45 Bernard Gilkey
46 Freddy Garcia
47 Ruben Rivera
48 Robb Nen
49 Ray Lankford
50 Kenny Lofton
51 Joe Carter
52 Jason McDonald
53 Quinton McCracken
54 Kerry Wood
55 Mike Lansing
56 Chipper Jones
57 Barry Bonds
58 Brad Fullmer
59 Jeff Bagwell
60 Rondell White
61 Geronimo Berroa
62 Magglio Ordonez RC
63 Dwight Gooden
64 Brian Hunter
65 Todd Walker
66 Frank Catalanotto RC
67 Tony Saunders
68 Travis Lee
69 Michael Tucker
70 Reggie Sanders
71 Derrek Lee
72 Larry Walker
73 Marquis Grissom
74 Craig Biggio
75 Kevin Brown
76 J.T. Snow
77 Eric Davis
78 Jeff Abbott
79 Jermaine Dye
80 Otis Nixon
81 Curt Schilling
82 Enrique Wilson
83 Tony Gwynn
84 Orlando Cabrera
85 Ramon Martinez
86 Greg Vaughn
87 Alan Benes
88 Dennis Eckersley
89 Jim Thome
90 Juan Encarnacion
91 Jeff King
92 Shannon Stewart
93 Roberto Hernandez
94 Raul Ibanez
95 Darryl Kile
96 Charles Johnson
97 Rich Becker
98 Hal Morris
99 Ismael Valdes
100 Orel Hershiser
101 Mo Vaughn
102 Aaron Boone
103 Jeff Conine
104 Paul O'Neill
105 Tom Candiotti
106 Wilson Alvarez
107 Mike Stanley
108 Carlos Delgado
109 Tony Batista
110 Dante Bichette
111 Henry Rodriguez
112 Karim Garcia
113 Shane Reynolds
114 Ken Caminiti
115 Jose Silva
116 Juan Gonzalez
117 Brian Jordan
118 Jim Leyritz
119 Manny Ramirez
120 Fred McGriff
121 Brooks Kieschnick
122 Sean Casey
123 John Smoltz
124 Rusty Greer
125 Cecil Fielder
126 Mike Cameron
127 Reggie Jefferson
128 Bob Higginson
129 Kevin Appier
130 Robin Ventura
131 Ben Grieve
132 Wade Boggs
133 Jose Cruz, Jr.
134 Jeff Suppan
135 Vinny Castilla
136 Sammy Sosa
137 Mark Wohlers
138 Jay Bell
139 Brett Tomko
140 Gary Sheffield
141 Tim Salmon
142 Jaret Wright
143 Kenny Rogers
144 Brian Anderson
145 Darrin Fletcher
146 John Flaherty
147 Dmitri Young
148 Andruw Jones
149 Matt Williams
150 Bobby Bonilla
151 Mike Hampton
152 Al Martin
153 Mark Grudzielanek
154 Dave Nilsson
155 Roger Cedeno
156 Greg Maddux
157 Mark Kotsay
158 Steve Finley
159 Wilson Delgado
160 Ron Gant
161 Jim Edmonds
162 Jeff Blauser
163 Dave Burba
164 Pedro Astacio
165 Livan Hernandez
166 Neifi Perez
167 Ryan Klesko
168 Fernando Tatis
169 Richard Hidalgo
170 Carlos Perez
171 Bob Abreu
172 Francisco Cordova
173 Todd Helton
174 Doug Glanville
175 Brian Rose
176 Yamil Benitez
177 Darin Erstad
178 Scott Rolen
179 John Wetteland
180 Paul Sorrento
181 Walt Weiss
182 Vladimir Guerrero
183 Ken Griffey, Jr. NAT
184 Alex Rodriguez NAT
185 Cal Ripken, Jr. NAT
186 Frank Thomas NAT
187 Chipper Jones NAT
188 Hideo Nomo NAT
189 Nomar Garciaparra NAT
190 Mike Piazza NAT
191 Greg Maddux NAT
192 Tony Gwynn NAT
193 Mark McGwire NAT
194 Roger Clemens NAT
195 Mike Piazza FV
196 Mark McGwire FV
197 Chipper Jones FV
198 Larry Walker FV
199 Hideo Nomo FV
200 Barry Bonds FV

Parallels

Artist's Proofs

Artist Proof is a 60-card partial-parallel of the Pinnacle Plus base set printed on dot-matrix holographic foil.

Each card is also available in the following parallels.

Gold Artist's Proofs (serial-numbered to 100 copies)

Mirror Gold Artist's Proofs (one-of-one)

AP1 Roberto Alomar
AP2 Albert Belle
AP3 Roger Clemens
AP4 Nomar Garciaparra
AP5 Ken Griffey, Jr.
AP6 Tino Martinez
AP7 Randy Johnson
AP8 Mark McGwire
AP9 Dave Justice
AP10 Chuck Knoblauch
AP11 Cal Ripken, Jr.
AP12 Frank Thomas
AP13 Alex Rodriguez
AP14 Ivan Rodriguez
AP15 Bernie Williams
AP16 Pedro Martinez
AP17 Tony Clark
AP18 Mike Piazza
AP19 Miguel Tejada
AP20 Andres Galarraga
AP21 Barry Larkin
AP22 Kenny Lofton
AP23 Chipper Jones
AP24 Barry Bonds
AP25 Brad Fullmer
AP26 Jeff Bagwell
AP27 Todd Walker
AP28 Travis Lee
AP29 Larry Walker
AP30 Craig Biggio
AP31 Tony Gwynn
AP32 Jim Thome
AP33 Juan Encarnacion
AP34 Mo Vaughn
AP35 Karim Garcia
AP36 Ken Caminiti
AP37 Juan Gonzalez
AP38 Manny Ramirez
AP39 Fred McGriff
AP40 Rusty Greer
AP41 Bob Higginson
AP42 Ben Grieve
AP43 Wade Boggs
AP44 Jose Cruz
AP45 Sammy Sosa
AP46 Gary Sheffield
AP47 Tim Salmon
AP48 Jaret Wright
AP49 Andruw Jones
AP50 Matt Williams
AP51 Greg Maddux
AP52 Jim Edmonds
AP53 Livan Hernandez
AP54 Neifi Perez
AP55 Fernando Tatis
AP56 Richard Hidalgo
AP57 Todd Helton
AP58 Darin Erstad
AP59 Scott Rolen
AP60 Vladimir Guerrero

Inserts

Lasting Memories

1 Nomar Garciaparra
2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
3 Livan Hernandez
4 Hideo Nomo
5 Ben Grieve
6 Scott Rolen
7 Roger Clemens
8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
9 Mo Vaughn
10 Frank Thomas
11 Mark McGwire
12 Barry Larkin
13 Matt Williams
14 Jose Cruz
15 Andruw Jones
16 Mike Piazza
17 Jeff Bagwell
18 Chipper Jones
19 Juan Gonzalez
20 Kenny Lofton
21 Greg Maddux
22 Ivan Rodriguez
23 Alex Rodriguez
24 Derek Jeter
25 Albert Belle
26 Barry Bonds
27 Larry Walker
28 Sammy Sosa
29 Tony Gwynn
30 Randy Johnson

Yardwork

1 Mo Vaughn
2 Frank Thomas
3 Albert Belle
4 Nomar Garciaparra
5 Tony Clark
6 Tino Martinez
7 Ken Griffey, Jr.
8 Juan Gonzalez
9 Sammy Sosa
10 Jose Cruz
11 Jeff Bagwell
12 Mike Piazza
13 Larry Walker
14 Mark McGwire
15 Barry Bonds

Piece of the Game

NOTE: Despite the name, none of the cards in this set feature any game-used material.

1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
2 Frank Thomas
3 Alex Rodriguez
4 Chipper Jones
5 Cal Ripken, Jr.
6 Mike Piazza
7 Greg Maddux
8 Juan Gonzalez
9 Nomar Garciaparra
10 Larry Walker

Team Pinnacle

A continuation of the insert set begun in 1992 Pinnacle, this 15-card set features Pinnacle's choice for the best player at each position in the American and National League. Half the cards feature the American League player's side printed on foil board, and the other half have the NL player's side on foil. In addition, each card is also available in the following parallels.

Gold

Mirror Gold (serial-numbered to 25 copies)

NOTE: Since the Mirror Gold cards have holographic foil on BOTH sides of the card, only one version of each card exists.

1 Mike Piazza / Ivan Rodriguez
2 Mark McGwire / Mo Vaughn
3 Roberto Alomar / Craig Biggio
4 Alex Rodriguez / Barry Larkin
5 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Chipper Jones
6 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Larry Walker
7 Juan Gonzalez / Tony Gwynn
8 Barry Bonds / Albert Belle
9 Kenny Lofton / Andruw Jones
10 Tino Martinez / Jeff Bagwell
11 Frank Thomas / Andres Galarraga
12 Roger Clemens / Greg Maddux
13 Pedro Martinez / Hideo Nomo
14 Nomar Garciaparra / Scott Rolen
15 Ben Grieve / Paul Konerko

All-Star Epix

All-Star Epix is a 24-card set released in both 1998 Score Rookie/Traded and Pinnacle Plus. Similar to the Epix inserts, All-Star Epix showcases All-Star Game highlights on holographic matrix cards.

The first twelve cards were seeded in Score Rookie and Traded packs while the final 12 cards were inserted in Pinnacle Plus packs.

Unlike the first batch of Epix inserts, only one All-Star Epix card per player was produced.

70% of the total production of all All-Star Epix inserts were printed on Orange foil; 20% on Purple foil; and the remaining 10% on Emerald foil.

Autographs & Game-Used

Nolan Ryan Autographed Baseball

Randomly inserted into packs of 1998 Pinnacle Plus were 1000 exchange cards good for a baseball autographed by Nolan Ryan. Unfortunately, with Pinnacle Brands going out of business just weeks after the release of the product, none of the exchange cards were ever fulfilled. In fact, it is unclear if Ryan ever signed any baseballs for this promotion.

Interleague Game-Used Baseball

Randomly inserted into packs of 1998 Pinnacle Plus were 100 exchange cards good for a baseball used in a 1997 Major League Interleague game. Like with the Nolan Ryan autograph, none of the exchange cards were ever fulfilled.