1998 Pinnacle Epix

Description

1998 Pinnacle Epix is a multi-tiered, multi-fractured, 96-card, cross-brand insert set. Randomly inserted into packs of 1998 Score, 1998 Pinnacle, 1998 Zenith, 1998 Score Rookie/Traded, and 1998 Pinnacle Plus, the 24 players included in this set were featured on four different cards to commemorate (in ascending order of scarcity) their greatest Play, Game, Season, or Moment. Each card was specific to a particular brand. To obtain all the cards for each player in this fractured insert set, one had to open Pinnacle, Score, Zenith, Score Rookie/Traded, and Pinnacle Plus packs.

A final selection of 24 Epix cards was slated for inclusion in 1998 Pinnacle Certified, but the manufacturer went bankrupt before that product shipped. However, a full set of Epix cards from the Pinnacle Certified set emerged on the secondary market nearly 20 years after Pinnacle's bankruptcy. A set is considered complete without the Certified cards.

A additional set of "All-Star Epix" inserts, separate from the regular Epix set, was released in packs of 1998 Score Rookie/Traded and 1998 Pinnacle Plus.

Printing plates for some cards also exist but it is unclear how these were distributed.

Checklist

Promo

In September 1997 Pinnacle Brands distributed promo cards previewing the upcoming 1998 Epix inserts. There is no player depicted and the front merely has Pinnacle's "Icon" logo. Like the regular Epix inserts, there are three different versions of the card: Orange, Purple, and Emerald. Like the regular Epix inserts, ten percent of the total production run is in Emerald, twenty percent in Purple, and the remaining seventy percent in Orange.

The back of the promo card incorrectly states that the first series of Epix inserts would be released in October 1997. The first batch of Epix would not be released until December.

Inserts

NOTES:

• Cards marked with an "S" were inserted into 1998 Score packs at the rate of 1:61 -- but NOT All-Star Edition packs.
• Cards marked with a "P" were inserted into 1998 Pinnacle packs at the rate of 1:21.
• Cards marked with a "Z" were inserted into 1998 Zenith packs at the rate of 1:11, and were embedded inside a 5" X 7" jumbo card which had to be torn open to reveal the smaller, standard-sized card.
• Cards marked with a "C" were scheduled for insertion into packs of 1998 Pinnacle Certified at the rate of 1:7, but were never officially released due to Pinnacle's bankruptcy. In October 2017, a full set of Certified series Epix cards emerged on the secondary market, with some players having multiple copies surface.
• For the All-Star Epix, cards #E1-E12 were inserted into packs of 1998 Score Rookie/Traded (S R/T), while #E13-E24 were in 1998 Pinnacle Plus (P+). Score R/T and Pinnacle Plus packs contained only All-Star Epix, and no other Epix cards.
• Each 1998 Score and Pinnacle wrapper deceptively states that there is an "EPIX INSIDE." The actual insertion ratios are 1:61 and 1:21/packs, respectively.

Player	Card Number	Play	Game	Season	Moment	All-Star
Ken Griffey, Jr.	E1	S	P	Z	C	S R/T
Juan Gonzalez	E2	S	P	Z	C	S R/T
Jeff Bagwell	E3	S	P	Z	C	S R/T
Ivan Rodriguez	E4	S	P	Z	C	S R/T
Nomar Garciaparra	E5	S	P	Z	C	S R/T
Ryne Sandberg	E6	S	P	Z	C	S R/T
Frank Thomas	E7	C	S	P	Z	S R/T
Derek Jeter	E8	C	S	P	Z	S R/T
Tony Gwynn	E9	C	S	P	Z	S R/T
Albert Belle	E10	C	S	P	Z	S R/T
Scott Rolen	E11	C	S	P	Z	S R/T
Barry Larkin	E12	C	S	P	Z	S R/T
Alex Rodriguez	E13	Z	C	S	P	P+
Cal Ripken, Jr.	E14	Z	C	S	P	P+
Chipper Jones	E15	Z	C	S	P	P+
Roger Clemens	E16	Z	C	S	P	P+
Mo Vaughn	E17	Z	C	S	P	P+
Mark McGwire	E18	Z	C	S	P	P+
Mike Piazza	E19	P	Z	C	S	P+
Andruw Jones	E20	P	Z	C	S	P+
Greg Maddux	E21	P	Z	C	S	P+
Barry Bonds	E22	P	Z	C	S	P+
Paul Molitor	E23	P	Z	C	S	P+
Eddie Murray/Hideo Nomo	E24	P	Z	C*	S	P+*

* Hideo Nomo replaced Eddie Murray on card E24 in the Season and All-Star Epix cards.

Parallels

Each Epix is also available in the following parallels.

• Purple
• Emerald

According to Pinnacle Brands, seventy percent of all Epix cards were the base version, or "Orange," with the remaining thirty percent split between Purple (20%) and Emerald (10%). Also, according to Pinnacle Brands, each Emerald Moment card would be limited, but NOT serial-numbered, to 30 copies. By extrapolation, there are 60 copies of each Purple Moment and 210 of each Orange Moment.

Despite the large number of rare and unreleased cards that have emerged in the decades after Pinnacle Brands' 1998 bankruptcy, Moment cards have remained rather scarce.