1997 Pinnacle X-Press

Description

1997 Pinnacle X-Press was a 150-card, single-series, entry-level set that only lasted one year before being re-branded the following year into 1998 Pinnacle Performers. The set was known for its "Swing for the Fences" game/contest for collectors. The majority of the base cards were printed with a landscape orientation and featured two player photos, gold-foil nameplates and Pinnacle logo, and a semi-bordered design accented with the player's team colors. The only base set cards that featured a portrait orientation were the Peak Performer subset cards.

There were 2 subsets and checklists at the end of the set:

• Rookies
• Peak Performer

Pinnacle X-Press utilized unique packaging as it was available in both a standard 24-pack box and a special home plate-shaped box, which were Hobby-exclusive. These Home Plate boxes contained one standard 8-card wax pack, an 8-card "Master Deck", a Swing for the Fences game card, and a randomly inserted Metal Works insert.

The two notable Rookie Cards in this set were of Jose Cruz, Jr. and Hideki Irabu.

Distribution

Wax: 24 packs per box, 8cards per pack (MSRP: $1.99)

Home Plate Box: One 8-card wax pack, one 8-card "Master Deck", one Swing for the Fences Base Number Home Run card, and one Metal Works insert. (MSRP: $14.99)

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Wax Odds	Master Deck Odds
Base	150	-	?	?
Men of Summer	150	-	1:7	one-per-pack
Swing for the Fences	60	-	1:2	1:2
Far & Away	18	-	1:19	1:5
Melting Pot	20	500	1:288	1:189
Bronze Metal Works	20	-	N/A	one-per-box
Silver Metal Works	20	400	1:470	1:54
Gold Metal Works	20	200	1:950	1:108

Checklist

Promos

All 20 cards from the Melting Pot insert were available as promos and were randomly sent to dealers to promote the Pinnacle X-Press product. The word "SAMPLE" is printed in large black ink on both the front and the back and are serial-numbered "000/500."

Base Set

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press') AND (num < 117); </sql2wiki>

1997 Rookie

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press') AND (num BETWEEN 117 AND 137); </sql2wiki>

Peak Performer

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press') AND (num BETWEEN 138 AND 147); </sql2wiki>

Checklists

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press') AND (num > 147); </sql2wiki>

Parallel

Men of Summer

All 150 base cards were available in a Men of Summer parallel that utilized the same photo and design as the base set but differed as the entire card was given a foil finish and any black-colored section on the base card front was replaced with gold and featured a gold twinkle. "MEN OF SUMMER" was also printed on the back.

Inserts

Far & Away

This 18-card set featured the top home run hitters in the game on a silver etched-foil background with a blue-Dufex section behind the nameplate.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press Far and Away'); </sql2wiki>

Melting Pot

This 20-card highlighted the ethnic diversity of players within MLB by featuring the national flag of each respective featured player using a variation of Pinnacle's "Heliogram" printing (spot foil printing with colored, raised ink). Each card is serial-numbered to 500 copies.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press Melting Pot'); </sql2wiki>

Metal Works

This 20-card set featured some of the top players in the game on a heavy, solid metal ingot of three different colors (not actually comprised of these metals):

• 'Bronze (base)' (not serial-numbered)

• Silver (serial-numbered to 400)

• Gold (serial-numbered to 200)

Metal Works cards were were available two ways:

1) Through a Hobby-exclusive Home Plate box, which featured one randomly-inserted Metal Works insert per box

2) Through a Redemption card. Redemptions for the Silver and Gold Metal Works parallels were were randomly inserted into packs and Master Decks.

Redemption cards for the Silver and Gold Metal Works parallels indicated the color of ingot one was to receive but did not identify the player - thus, each person that obtained a redemption card and mailed it in would receive a the color indicated on the redemption card but of a player selected at random.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press Metal Works'); </sql2wiki>

Swing for the Fences

Swing for the Fences was a game for collectors to play utilizing cards inserted into Pinnacle X-Press packs, featuring 60 of baseball's top long-distance hitters. The object of the game was to identify the 1997 Home Run Champion from either the National or American League and match it with the exact number of home runs he hit during the 1997 season by using a combination of 3 cards:

• A Swing for the Fences Player card
• One Base Number Home Run card
• Multiple Booster Number Point cards

Each 8-card wax pack contained either a Swing for the Fences Player card or a Booster Point card that carried a plus or minus point total that allowed collectors to add or subtract points to get the winning homer total.

The Base Number Home Run cards were exclusive to Master Deck packs and carried a predetermined number of Home Runs - anywhere between 20 and 42.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Pinnacle X-Press Swing for the Fences'); </sql2wiki>

Swing for the Fences Upgraded

Collectors that submitted in the Swing for the Fences Player card of either the AL or NL the Home Run King, along with a Base Number Home Run card and enough Booster Points to match the exact number of HRs that player hit in the 1997 season would win a prize:

• The first 1,000 winners received a special autographed card of Andruw Jones.
• The next 3,000 winners received random 10-card packs of Upgraded Swing For the Fences cards printed on thicker card stock featuring a special gold foil, prize-winner stamp. Curiously however, the backs of these Upgraded cards contained the same information (i.e. the guidelines explaining the contest and how to mail in winning cards) as the cards inserted into packs.

All valid entries were also entered into a drawing for the grand prize: A trip for two people to the 1998 All-Star Game in Denver, Colorado. Five runner-up winners would receive one box of all Pinnacle baseball card products released in 1998.

Ken Griffey, Jr. and Larry Walker wound up as the AL and NL Home Run Kings in 1997; however, since Mark McGwire (who was traded in mid-season from Oakland to St. Louis) led the Majors in homers, his card was also deemed to be a winner as well.