1996 Pinnacle Aficionado

Description

1996 Pinnacle Aficionado was a 200-card set released in August 1996. The set was produced for "fans with a passion for the game" and marketed as a "premium" release, but only lasted for a single year. All base cards featured a sepia-toned player photo, a wood grain-type background for the gold foil nameplate, and a player portrait that utilized what Pinnacle dubbed as "Heliogram" printing (spot holographic foil with black ink) on a 24-point thick cardstock. This thick card stock combined with the black finish on the card backs resulted in a very condition sensitive set. Further, all base cards except for the Global Reach subset, were printed in landscape orientation.

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

• Global Reach
• Rookies

There were no notable Rookie Cards in this set.

All packs, cards, and display boxes were sprayed with a bubble gum scent for distribution.

Distribution

16 packs per box, five cards per pack (MSRP $3.99). 24 boxes per case.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	200	-	?
Artist's Proof	200	-	1:35
Slick Picks	32	-	1:10
Rivals	24	-	1:24
Magic Numbers	10	-	1:72

Checklist

Promos

These three cards were sent to Hobby dealers to promote the upcoming Aficionado set.

• 9 Roger Clemens
• 107 Ryan Klesko
• MN7 Albert Belle

First Pitch Preview

This promo set parallels the first 100 cards in the base set and was available through a promotion. Collectors on Pinnacle's mailing list were sent a letter detailing the upcoming Aficionado set and the opportunity to receive a First Pitch Preview card. Participants had to answer five baseball trivia questions and submit their answers online through the Pinnacle Brands website - three of the questions were listed in the letter but had to obtain the other two from a participating local Hobby store. If one answered all five questions correctly (which could be found on the backs of the relevant Aficionado cards), he/she would receive one randomly selected First Pitch Preview card via mail and become eligible to win a trip to a spring training trip of their choice as a grand prize. The three questions listed in the letter were:

• Mo Vaughn says this player is "like E.F. Hutton; when he speaks, we all listen." Who is this player? (Answer: Ted Williams)
• We all know the Cubbies selected lanky left-hander Drew Hall with their first choice in the '84 draft, but who did they pick second that year? (A: Greg Maddux)
• This slugging first baseman delayed his pro career to bat cleanup for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team. Who is he? (A: Tino Martinez)

First Pitch Preview cards are similar to the base cards in design except for the holographic player nameplate and "First Pitch Preview" stamp along the short edge of the cards are in bronze.

The official print run of the set or individual print run for specific players is unknown. However in 2008, a private collector confirmed the existence of a full set (cards 1-100), meaning that all 100 FPP cards were printed at least once. Further, this same private collector confirmed the existence of at least seven other sets, resulting in a total of eight sets in existence. Collectors speculate that print run varies by player as FPP cards of certain players have appeared more frequently than others. Additionally, all FPP cards printed entered the secondary market, either through the trivia promotion or other unofficial means.

Base Set

Veterans

NOTE: The first 100 cards feature players with a minimum of five years Major League experience.

• 1 Jack McDowell
• 2 Jay Bell
• 3 Rafael Palmeiro
• 4 Wally Joyner
• 5 Ozzie Smith
• 6 Mark McGwire
• 7 Kevin Seitzer
• 8 Fred McGriff
• 9 Roger Clemens
• 10 Randy Johnson
• 11 Cecil Fielder
• 12 David Cone
• 13 Chili Davis
• 14 Andres Galarraga
• 15 Joe Carter
• 16 Ryne Sandberg
• 17 Paul O'Neill
• 18 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 19 Wade Boggs
• 20 Greg Gagne
• 21 Edgar Martinez
• 22 Greg Maddux
• 23 Ken Caminiti
• 24 Kirby Puckett
• 25 Craig Biggio
• 26 Will Clark
• 27 Ron Gant
• 28 Eddie Murray
• 29 Lance Johnson
• 30 Tony Gwynn
• 31 Dante Bichette
• 32 Darren Daulton
• 33 Danny Tartabull
• 34 Jeff King
• 35 Tom Glavine
• 36 Rickey Henderson
• 37 Jose Canseco
• 38 Barry Larkin
• 39 Dennis Martinez
• 40 Ruben Sierra
• 41 Bobby Bonilla
• 42 Jeff Conine
• 43 Lee Smith
• 44 Charlie Hayes
• 45 Walt Weiss
• 46 Jay Buhner
• 47 Kenny Rogers
• 48 Paul Molitor
• 49 Hal Morris
• 50 Todd Stottlemyre
• 51 Mike Stanley
• 52 Mark Grace
• 53 Lenny Dykstra
• 54 Andre Dawson
• 55 Dennis Eckersley
• 56 Ben McDonald
• 57 Ray Lankford
• 58 Mo Vaughn
• 59 Frank Thomas
• 60 Julio Franco
• 61 Jim Abbott
• 62 Greg Vaughn
• 63 Marquis Grissom
• 64 Tino Martinez
• 65 Kevin Appier
• 66 Matt Williams
• 67 Sammy Sosa
• 68 Larry Walker
• 69 Ivan Rodriguez
• 70 Eric Karros
• 71 Bernie Williams
• 72 Carlos Baerga
• 73 Jeff Bagwell
• 74 Pete Schourek
• 75 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 76 Bernard Gilkey
• 77 Albert Belle
• 78 Chuck Knoblauch
• 79 John Smoltz
• 80 Barry Bonds
• 81 Vinny Castilla
• 82 John Olerud
• 83 Mike Mussina
• 84 Alex Fernandez
• 85 Shawon Dunston
• 86 Travis Fryman
• 87 Moises Alou
• 88 Dean Palmer
• 89 Gregg Jefferies
• 90 Jim Thome
• 91 Dave Justice
• 92 B.J. Surhoff
• 93 Ramon Martinez
• 94 Gary Sheffield
• 95 Andy Benes
• 96 Reggie Sanders
• 97 Roberto Alomar
• 98 Omar Vizquel
• 99 Juan Gonzalez
• 100 Robin Ventura

Young Stars

• 101 Jason Isringhausen
• 102 Greg Colbrunn
• 103 Brian Jordan
• 104 Shawn Green
• 105 Brian Hunter
• 106 Rondell White
• 107 Ryan Klesko
• 108 Sterling Hitchcock
• 109 Manny Ramirez
• 110 Bret Boone
• 111 Michael Tucker
• 112 Julian Tavarez
• 113 Benji Gil
• 114 Kenny Lofton
• 115 Mike Kelly
• 116 Ray Durham
• 117 Trevor Hoffman
• 118 Butch Huskey
• 119 Phil Nevin
• 120 Pedro Martinez
• 121 Wil Cordero
• 122 Tim Salmon
• 123 Jim Edmonds
• 124 Mike Piazza
• 125 Rico Brogna
• 126 John Mabry
• 127 Chipper Jones
• 128 Johnny Damon
• 129 Raul Mondesi
• 130 Denny Neagle
• 131 Marc Newfield
• 132 Hideo Nomo
• 133 Joe Vitiello
• 134 Garret Anderson
• 135 Dave Nilsson
• 136 Alex Rodriguez
• 137 Russ Davis
• 138 Frank Rodriguez
• 139 Royce Clayton
• 140 John Valentin
• 141 Marty Cordova
• 142 Alex Gonzalez
• 143 Carlos Delgado
• 144 Willie Greene
• 145 Cliff Floyd
• 146 Bob Higginson
• 147 J.T. Snow
• 148 Derek Bell
• 149 Edgardo Alfonzo
• 150 Charles Johnson

Global Reach

• 151 Hideo Nomo
• 152 Larry Walker
• 153 Bob Abreu
• 154 Karim Garcia
• 155 Dave Nilsson
• 156 Chan Ho Park
• 157 Dennis Martinez
• 158 Sammy Sosa
• 159 Rey Ordonez
• 160 Roberto Alomar

Rookies

• 161 George Arias
• 162 Jason Schmidt
• 163 Derek Jeter
• 164 Chris Snopek
• 165 Todd Hollandsworth
• 166 Sal Fasano
• 167 Jay Powell
• 168 Paul Wilson
• 169 Jim Pittsley
• 170 LaTroy Hawkins
• 171 Bob Abreu
• 172 Mike Grace RC
• 173 Karim Garcia
• 174 Richard Hidalgo
• 175 Felipe Crespo
• 176 Terrell Wade
• 177 Steve Gibralter
• 178 Jermaine Dye
• 179 Alan Benes
• 180 Wilton Guerrero RC
• 181 Brooks Kieschnick
• 182 Roger Cedeno
• 183 Osvaldo Fernandez RC
• 184 Matt Lawton RC
• 185 George Williams RC
• 186 Jimmy Haynes
• 187 Mike Busby RC
• 188 Chan Ho Park
• 189 Marc Barcelo
• 190 Jason Kendall
• 191 Rey Ordonez
• 192 Tyler Houston
• 193 John Wasdin
• 194 Jeff Suppan
• 195 Jeff Ware

Checklists

• 196 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 197 Albert Belle
• 198 Mike Piazza
• 199 Greg Maddux
• 200 Frank Thomas

Parallels

Artist's Proof

All 200 base cards were available in an Artist's Proof parallel and had the same photo and design as the base set but featured a gold foil Artist's Proof logo in the shape of an artist's pen above the wood grain-type nameplate bar.

Inserts

Slick Picks

This 32-card set honored top draft picks for their abilities on a black and grey gradient background featuring holographic "Spectroetch" (etched foil) printing technology.

• 1 Mike Piazza
• 2 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 3 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 4 Paul Wilson
• 5 Frank Thomas
• 6 Mo Vaughn
• 7 Barry Bonds
• 8 Albert Belle
• 9 Jeff Bagwell
• 10 Dante Bichette
• 11 Hideo Nomo
• 12 Raul Mondesi
• 13 Manny Ramirez
• 14 Greg Maddux
• 15 Tony Gwynn
• 16 Ryne Sandberg
• 17 Reggie Sanders
• 18 Derek Jeter
• 19 Johnny Damon
• 20 Alex Rodriguez
• 21 Ryan Klesko
• 22 Jim Thome
• 23 Kenny Lofton
• 24 Tino Martinez
• 25 Randy Johnson
• 26 Wade Boggs
• 27 Juan Gonzalez
• 28 Kirby Puckett
• 29 Tim Salmon
• 30 Chipper Jones
• 31 Garret Anderson
• 32 Eddie Murray

Rivals

This 24-card set highlighted two top stars in the game on a single card and featured quotes the two respective players shared about each other. All cards had a blue holographic foil background with embossed color player photos of the featured players.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Frank Thomas
• 2 Frank Thomas / Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 3 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Mo Vaughn
• 4 Mo Vaughn / Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 5 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 6 Frank Thomas / Mo Vaughn
• 7 Cal Ripken / Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 8 Mo Vaughn / Frank Thomas
• 9 Ken Griffey, Jr. / Mo Vaughn
• 10 Frank Thomas / Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 11 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Frank Thomas
• 12 Mo Vaughn / Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 13 Mike Piazza / Jeff Bagwell
• 14 Jeff Bagwell / Barry Bonds
• 15 Jeff Bagwell / Mike Piazza
• 16 Tony Gwynn / Mike Piazza
• 17 Mike Piazza / Barry Bonds
• 18 Jeff Bagwell / Tony Gwynn
• 19 Barry Bonds / Mike Piazza
• 20 Tony Gwynn / Jeff Bagwell
• 21 Mike Piazza / Tony Gwynn
• 22 Barry Bonds / Jeff Bagwell
• 23 Tony Gwynn / Barry Bonds
• 24 Barry Bonds / Tony Gwynn

Magic Numbers

This 10-card set highlighted some of the top players in the game and compared them to 10 retired stars from the past that shared the same jersey number. All cards were printed on actual maple wood.

• 1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 2 Greg Maddux
• 3 Frank Thomas
• 4 Mo Vaughn
• 5 Jeff Bagwell
• 6 Chipper Jones
• 7 Albert Belle
• 8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 9 Matt Williams
• 10 Sammy Sosa