Description

1997 Zenith is a 50-card set, released by Pinnacle Brands in the Summer of 1997. In a radical, and not well-recevied, departure for the brand, each pack contained five standard-size base cards and two 8" X 10" cards with a suggested retail price of $9.99.

The set contains 42 established player cards and eight rookie cards (43-50).

Perhaps due to the high price, or the unpopularity of the over-sized cards, '97 Zenith did not sell well. About five years later, long after Pinnacle had gone out of business, boxes of late-90s era Pinnacle and Donruss cards began showing up at K-Mart stores nationwide, including surplus '97 Zenith boxes for only $9.99 a box.

Distribution

10 packs per box, 5 cards plus two over-sized cards per pack (MSRP: $9.99)

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	50	-	5:1
8 X 10	24	-	1:1
8 X 10 Dufex	24	-	1:1
V-2	8	-	1:47
Z-Team	9	1000	1:99

Checklist

Promos

The Big Picture

These six 8" X 10" photos were released as promos to demonstrate what the 1997 Zenith 8 X 10's would look like. They have the notation "The Big Picture" at the bottom of the card.

A Dufex version of the Alex Rodriguez's card was also produced.

1 Frank Thomas
4 Ken Griffey, Jr.
5 Mike Piazza
13 Alex Rodriguez
17 Derek Jeter
19 Cal Ripken, Jr.
13 Alex Rodriguez Dufex

Base Set

1 Frank Thomas
2 Tony Gwynn
3 Jeff Bagwell
4 Paul Molitor
5 Roberto Alomar
6 Mike Piazza
7 Albert Belle
8 Greg Maddux
9 Barry Larkin
10 Tony Clark
11 Larry Walker
12 Chipper Jones
13 Juan Gonzalez
14 Barry Bonds
15 Ivan Rodriguez
16 Sammy Sosa
17 Derek Jeter
18 Hideo Nomo
19 Roger Clemens
20 Ken Griffey, Jr.
21 Andy Pettitte
22 Alex Rodriguez
23 Tino Martinez
24 Bernie Williams
25 Ken Caminiti
26 John Smoltz
27 Javy Lopez
28 Mark McGwire
29 Gary Sheffield
30 David Justice
31 Randy Johnson
32 Chuck Knoblauch
33 Mike Mussina
34 Deion Sanders
35 Cal Ripken, Jr.
36 Darin Erstad
37 Kenny Lofton
38 Jay Buhner
39 Brady Anderson
40 Edgar Martinez
41 Mo Vaughn
42 Ryne Sandberg
43 Andruw Jones
44 Nomar Garciaparra
45 Hideki Irabu RC
46 Wilton Guerrero
47 Jose Cruz. Jr. RC
48 Vladimir Guerrero
49 Scott Rolen
50 Jose Guillen

Parallels

8 X 10

Each pack of 1997 Zenith had two over-sized cards, which parallel the first 24 cards in the base set. One card is printed on glossy cardboard, the other on Dufex.

Inserts

V-2

This eight-card, over-sized, set is produced using Lenticutar motion technology -- similar to that of Sportflix.

1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
2 Andruw Jones
3 Frank Thomas
4 Mike Piazza
5 Alex Rodriguez
6 Cal Ripken, Jr.
7 Derek Jeter
8 Vladimir Guerrero

Z-Team

This nine-card, over-sized, set features an all-star caliber squad of players printed on full Mirror Gold Holographic Mylar foil card stock. Each card is serial-numbered to 1000 copies.

1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
2 Larry Walker
3 Frank Thomas
4 Alex Rodriguez
5 Mike Piazza
6 Cal Ripken, Jr.
7 Derek Jeter
8 Andruw Jones
9 Roger Clemens