1997 Zenith

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Description

1997 Zenith is a 50-card set, released by Pinnacle Brands in the Summer of 1997. In a radical departure for the brand, each pack contained five standard-size base cards and two 8" X 10" parallels with a suggested retail price of $9.99.

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

Due to the high price, puny base set, lack of collectible inserts, and the unpopularity of the over-sized cards, '97 Zenith was not well received by collectors and 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 $19.99 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 - one-per-pack
8 X 10 Dufex 24 - one-per-pack
V-2 8 - 1:47
Z-Team 9 1000 1:99

Checklist

Promos

The Big Picture

Frank-Thomas.jpg?id=04c7992e-f3e9-4460-8ab0-3b1e2f146fb9&size=original&side=front&.jpg Frank-Thomas.jpg?id=04c7992e-f3e9-4460-8ab0-3b1e2f146fb9&size=original&side=back&.jpg

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

Deion-Sanders.jpg?id=b94373b0-24d9-47aa-893e-6b9b3d97d3b4&size=original&side=front&.jpg Deion-Sanders.jpg?id=b94373b0-24d9-47aa-893e-6b9b3d97d3b4&size=original&side=back&.jpg

  • 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

Derek-Jeter.jpg?id=e0ccbe80-228d-4998-9748-19a9fcc82275&size=original&side=front&.jpg Jeff-Bagwell.jpg?id=c1698075-4717-4306-b2ac-9619156e1329&size=original&side=front&.jpg

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

  • 1 Frank Thomas
  • 2 Tony Gwynn
  • 3 Jeff Bagwell
  • 4 Ken Griffey, Jr.
  • 5 Mike Piazza
  • 6 Greg Maddux
  • 7 Ken Caminiti
  • 8 Albert Belle
  • 9 Ivan Rodriguez
  • 10 Sammy Sosa
  • 11 Mark McGwire
  • 12 Roger Clemens
  • 13 Alex Rodriguez
  • 14 Chipper Jones
  • 15 Juan Gonzalez
  • 16 Barry Bonds
  • 17 Derek Jeter
  • 18 Hideo Nomo
  • 19 Cal Ripken, Jr.
  • 20 Hideki Irabu
  • 21 Andruw Jones
  • 22 Nomar Garciaparra
  • 23 Vladimir Guerrero
  • 24 Scott Rolen

Inserts

V-2

Frank-Thomas.jpg?id=82ca4953-64c0-4d05-b029-abcd71ef3e5a&size=original&side=front&.jpg Frank-Thomas.jpg?id=82ca4953-64c0-4d05-b029-abcd71ef3e5a&size=original&side=back&.jpg

This eight-card, over-sized, set is produced using Lenticutar motion technology -- similar to that of Sportflix. It's unclear what "V2" means or represents.

  • 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

Derek-Jeter.jpg?id=94dc0abd-ceea-4562-8195-c787acf3e7aa&size=original&side=front&.jpg Derek-Jeter.jpg?id=94dc0abd-ceea-4562-8195-c787acf3e7aa&size=original&side=back&.jpg

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