1996 Pinnacle

Pinnacle was always in love with gold foil. The 1996 edition was no different. The Pinnacle logo is just gold colored, but the bottom of the card is a mass of gold foil.

At least the shape of the foil makes sense. The cards are called Pinnacle. Pinnacle means a high, pointed piece of rock. It has also come to mean, the top, the best, which is probably what Pinnacle Brands meant by their name. But going to the original meeting, a sharp, pointed slab of gold foil fits the name.

But take a close look at the foil. You may have to click on the card to see the larger image. There is some texture to the foil. Why, it looks like a spider web! And what's that stuck in the spider web? Oh my God, there's a baseball player stuck in the web! He's trying to bash his way out with his bat!

I've had these cards for years (will, since 1996) and I never noticed that poor batter there until I scanned this card. What was Pinnacle trying to tell us?

1996 Pinnacle Christie Brinkley Collection

After a very long and very successful career, Greg Maddux has announced his retirement. There have been a few card postings (most notably this one by Cardboard Junkie) but I thought I'd post my favorite Maddux card. This card is my favorite for a few reasons:

1. It's Greg Maddux
2. It features Christie Brinkley in the back
3. It's the very first card I bought on eBay
4. Once I knew I could find a card like this my baseball card collecting was rejuvenated.

This 16-card insert set was available in 1996 Pinnacle Series 2 packs. It was inserted at the rate of 1 in 23 packs so it's not incredibly rare.

I assume that the frame Greg is holding onto must be sitting on something. Or he's very strong. That thing must weigh 50 pounds.

1998 Pinnacle Dare to Tear - Really, I dare ya!

Over on "A Pack A Day," I posted an article that talks a little bit about these gems. I first heard about these cards on "Cardboard Junkie" and knew I had to create an article, as it were, for TDTC! I mean, come on - cards inside cards!? What crazy fool would buy a baseball card only to rip it open and see what was inside!? Evidently, a lot of us!

Each pack has three 5x7 cards. The cards feature player pictures, a Zenith logo, the player's name in foil (gold/silver), and the team name. On the back is a different player pose, the card number, player's position, a short 'greatest stats' paragraph and some bio info. There is also an instruction sheet on how to best rip the card without ripping the little guy inside.

So what happens when you rip one?


Well, I tore off Ken Caminiti's head to find that inside Ken was Juan Gonzalez "Raising the Bar" insert. It's shiny!

Since my ultimate goal is to see which Tribers I can pull from these cards, I have a whole box that I'll be tearing into... Well, unless I save a few for trade fodder....

1992 Pinnacle

This card is part of a subset of the 1992 Pinnacle set called "The Technician".

The card appeals to me on two levels. As an engineer, I like the way that a portion of the card is turned into an engineering drawing. The back is made to look like the title block of a blueprint.

As a baseball fan, I like how the drawing and the explanation of what the drawing illustrates work together to explain a baseball concept.

Sandberg was to play only 57 games in 1994 as he announced his retirement on June 13. Of course he came back in 1996 and played another 2 years.

Sandberg is one of those 'what-if' players for me. He was the 20th round draft pick of the Phillies in 1978. He actually appeared in 13 games for the Phillies in 1981 as a September call-up. I have no memory of this. In January 1982, the Phillies traded him and Larry Bowa to the Cubs for Ivan DeJesus. DeJesus was coming off a year where he batted just 0.192 in 106 games, so the Phillies couldn't have been expecting much offense from him. He lasted with the Phillies until 1985 when they traded him to the Cardinals for Dave Rucker. Sandberg went on to have a great career with the Cubs and get voted into the Hall of Fame in 2005. This was one of those one-sided trades that happen once in awhile. So what if the Phillies had kept Sandberg...