Revision as of 16:11, 23 January 2012

Description

1998 Zenith is a 100-card set released by Pinnacle Brands in May, 1998. Dubbed the "Dare to Tear" set, each pack had three 5" X 7" cards with one 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" standard-sized card embedded inside. In one of the stupidest gimmicks ever conceived, collectors were faced with the dilemma of having to choose to keep their jumbo 5" X 7" card in-tact, or to tear open (and thus physically destroying) the jumbo card to get to the standard-sized card. Ultimately, collectors by and large chose to perform "Cardboard Caesarians" by slice the backs of the jumbo cards with a razor blade to remove the smaller card.

Based on reports from collectors who opened large amounts of '98 Zenith packs, the middle jumbo card in each pack usually has a standard-sized insert embedded in it.

Distribution

12 packs per box, three 5" X 7" cards with 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" cards embedded inside per pack (MSRP: $5.99)

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	100	-
5 X 7	80	-	3:1
Z-Silver	100	-	?
Z-Gold	100	100	?
5 X 7 Impulse	80	-	?
5 X 7 Gold Impulse	80	100	?
Epix	24	-	1:11
Raising the Bar	15	-	1:25
Rookie Thrills	15	-	1:25
Z-Team (1-9)	9	-	1:35
Z-Team (10-18)	9	-	1:58
Z-Team Gold	18	-	1:175
Z-Team 5 X 7	9	-	1:35

Checklist

Promos

Nine 5" X 7" samples was inserted into dealer order forms to preview the upcoming 1998 Zenith baseball release. Each large sample card also has one of six standard-sized sample cards embedded inside. The cards were sent out around April, 1998, and are identical to regular issue large Zenith cards except for the bold "SAMPLE" text running diagonally across the back of the card.

5 X 7

Z1 Nomar Garciaparra
Z3 Greg Maddux
Z4 Frank Thomas
Z9 Andruw Jones
Z15 Derek Jeter
Z21 Mike Piazza
Z22 Tony Gwynn
Z35 Ivan Rodriguez
Z40 Ken Griffey, Jr.

Standard-sized

2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
12 Greg Maddux
14 Mike Piazza
17 Derek Jeter
18 Nomar Garciaparra
19 Ivan Rodriguez

Base Set

5 X 7

1 Nomar Garciaparra
2 Andres Galarraga
3 Greg Maddux
4 Frank Thomas
5 Mark McGwire
6 Rafael Palmeiro
7 John Smoltz
8 Jeff Bagwell
9 Andruw Jones
10 Rusty Greer
11 Paul Molitor
12 Bernie Williams
13 Kenny Lofton
14 Alex Rodriguez
15 Derek Jeter
16 Scott Rolen
17 Albert Belle
18 Mo Vaughn
19 Chipper Jones
20 Chuck Knoblauch
21 Mike Piazza
22 Tony Gwynn
23 Juan Gonzalez
24 Andy Pettitte
25 Tim Salmon
26 Brady Anderson
27 Mike Mussina
28 Edgar Martinez
29 Jose Guillen
30 Hideo Nomo
31 Jim Thome
32 Mark Grace
33 Darin Erstad
34 Bob Higginson
35 Ivan Rodriguez
36 Todd Hundley
37 Sandy Alomar
38 Gary Sheffield
39 Dave Justice
40 Ken Griffey, Jr.
41 Vladimir Guerrero
42 Larry Walker
43 Barry Bonds
44 Randy Johnson
45 Roger Clemens
46 Raul Mondesi
47 Tino Martinez
48 Jason Giambi
49 Matt Williams
50 Cal Ripken, Jr.
51 Barry Larkin
52 Jim Edmonds
53 Ken Caminiti
54 Sammy Sosa
55 Tony Clark
56 Manny Ramirez
57 Bernard Gilkey
58 Jose Cruz, Jr.
59 Brian Jordan
60 Kevin Brown
61 Craig Biggio
62 Javy Lopez
63 Jay Buhner
64 Roberto Alomar
65 Justin Thompson
66 Todd Helton
67 Travis Lee
68 Paul Konerko
69 Jaret Wright
70 Ben Grieve
71 Juan Encarnacion
72 Ryan McGuire
73 Derrek Lee
74 Abraham Nunez
75 Richard Hidalgo
76 Miguel Tejada
77 Jacob Cruz
78 Homer Bush
79 Jeff Abbott
80 Lou Collier

Standard-Sized

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

5 X 7 Impluse

All 80 5 X 7 cards are available in the following Impulse parallels.

Impulse

Gold Impulse (serial numbered to 100 copies)

Z

Each of the 100 standard-sized cards are available in the following "Z" parallels.

Z-Silver (1:7/packs)

Z-Gold (serial-numbered to 100 copies)

Inserts

Epix

See 1998 Pinnacle Epix

Raising the Bar

This 15-card, standard-sized, set features players with only a couple of years of big-league experience.

1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
2 Frank Thomas
3 Alex Rodriguez
4 Tony Gwynn
5 Mike Piazza
6 Ivan Rodriguez
7 Cal Ripken, Jr.
8 Greg Maddux
9 Hideo Nomo
10 Mark McGwire
11 Juan Gonzalez
12 Andruw Jones
13 Jeff Bagwell
14 Chipper Jones
15 Nomar Garciaparra

Rookie Thrills

This standard-sized set has 15 of the top rookies from the 1998 season.

1 Travis Lee
2 Juan Encarnacion
3 Derrek Lee
4 Raul Ibanez
5 Ryan McGuire
6 Todd Helton
7 Jacob Cruz
8 Abraham Nunez
9 Paul Konerko
10 Ben Grieve
11 Jeff Abbott
12 Richard Hidalgo
13 Jaret Wright
14 Lou Collier
15 Miguel Tejada

Z-Team

Z-Team is an 18-card set featuring nine of the top players (cards #1-9), and nine of the top rookies (10-18). The odds of finding a 5 X 7 card with a standard-sized Z-Team embedded inside of it are 1:35/packs for the veterans and 1:58/packs for the rookies. The standard-size cards are also available as a Gold parallel. The odds of finding a 5 X 7 card with a Gold Z-Team card embedded inside of it ate 1:175/packs.

The first nine cards are also available in the 5" X 7" format.

1 Frank Thomas
2 Ken Griffey, Jr.
3 Mike Piazza
4 Cal Ripken, Jr.
5 Alex Rodriguez
6 Greg Maddux
7 Derek Jeter
8 Chipper Jones
9 Roger Clemens
10 Ben Grieve
11 Derrek Lee
12 Jose Cruz, Jr.
13 Nomar Garciaparra
14 Travis Lee
15 Todd Helton
16 Paul Konerko