File:1998pinnaclecertifiedsellsheet (1).jpg1998 Pinnacle Certified Sell Sheet

Description

1998 Pinnacle Certified was supposed to be a 150-card release, intended for release in early August, 1998. The product was never released due to Pinnacle Brands' bankruptcy in July, 1998. However, in October of 2017, a full base set along with a complete set of Certified Red, Mirror Red, Mirror Blue, and Mirror Gold parallels emerged on the secondary market, which some have dubbed the "Pinnacle Baseball Find" (PBF). While many players had base or parallel versions surface since 1998, the emergence of these sets marked the first time copies of certain players were confirmed:

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/previously-unknown-1998-pinnacle-certified-cards-emerge/

According to the sell-sheets issued by Pinnacle Brands, parts of the Totally Certified product introduced the previous year were to have been absorbed into 1998 Pinnacle Certified as parallels. The final batch of Epix inserts were also to have been included in this set.

Over the years since Pinnacle's bankruptcy, a number of cards from this set, especially from the Mirror Red and Totally Certified Platinum Gold parallel sets made their way into the secondary market. Just like with most 1998 Select, Donruss Signature, and high-numbered Donruss Crusade cards, they were likely "backdoored."

Distribution

Sell-sheets stated that a pack of six cards would have retailed for $4.99.

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	150	-	?
Epix	24	-	1:13
Certified Destiny	10	-	1:9
Certified Team	20	-	1:19
Certified Gold Destiny	10	-	1:59
Certified Gold Team	20	-	1:119
Certified Red	150	-	1:3
Mirror Red	150	varies	1:39
Mirror Blue	150	varies	1:149
Mirror Gold	150	varies	1:299
Totally Certified Platinum Red	150	4,999	?
Totally Certified Platinum Blue	150	2,499	?
Totally Certified Platinum Gold	150	30	?
Mirror Black	150	one-of-one	?

Checklist

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The following was the provisional checklist provided by Pinnacle Brands before their bankruptcy. This full checklist (1-150) has since been fully confirmed and at least one copy of every card in the base set exists. Cards 100-135 were part of the "Certified Future" subset and cards 136-150 were part of the “Certified Legends” subset.

1 Vladimir Guerrero
2 Andruw Jones
3 Paul Molitor
4 Jose Cruz
5 Edgar Martinez
6 Andy Pettitte
7 Darin Erstad
8 Barry Larkin
9 Derek Jeter
10 Rusty Greer
11 Brady Anderson
12 Tony Clark
13 Manny Ramirez
14 Jim Thome
15 Matt Williams
16 Ivan Rodriguez
17 Scott Rolen
18 Gary Sheffield
19 Dave Justice
20 Roberto Alomar
21 Ken Caminiti
22 Sammy Sosa
23 Albert Belle
24 Chuck Knoblauch
25 Mo Vaughn
26 Raul Mondesi
27 Tim Salmon
28 Bernie Williams
29 Tony Gwynn
30 Pedro Martinez
31 Roger Clemens
32 Craig Biggio
33 Randy Johnson
34 Tino Martinez
35 Chipper Jones
36 Kenny Lofton
37 Greg Maddux
38 Hideo Nomo
39 Andres Galarraga
40 Nomar Garciaparra
41 Juan Gonzalez
42 Mark McGwire
43 Mike Piazza
44 Jeff Bagwell
45 Barry Bonds
46 Larry Walker
47 Alex Rodriguez
48 Frank Thomas
49 Cal Ripken, Jr.
50 Ken Griffey, Jr.
51 Todd Walker
52 Jose Guillen
53 Vinny Castilla
54 Shannon Stewart
55 Jim Edmonds
56 Bob Higginson
57 Jay Buhner
58 Mike Mussina
59 Todd Greene
60 Chan Ho Park
61 Livan Hernandez
62 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
63 Fred McGriff
64 Travis Fryman
65 Jaret Wright
66 Bobby Bonilla
67 Moises Alou
68 Rafael Palmeiro
69 Charles Johnson
70 Ray Lankford
71 Kevin Brown
72 Neifi Perez
73 Rondell White
74 Bartolo Colon
75 Bob Abreu
76 Eric Young
77 Jason Giambi
78 Edgardo Alfonzo
79 Dante Bichette
80 Eric Karros
81 Matt Morris
82 Tom Glavine
83 Todd Hundley
84 Jason Dickson
85 Ryan Klesko
86 Mark Grace
87 Brett Tomko
88 Kevin Orie
89 Robin Ventura
90 Jose Canseco
91 Brian Jordan
92 Jason Kendall
93 Mike Cameron
94 Curt Schilling
95 Carlos Delgado
96 Garret Anderson
97 John Smoltz
98 Wade Boggs
99 Javy Lopez
100 Juan Encarnacion
101 Travis Lee
102 Todd Helton
103 Mark Kotsay
104 Fernando Tatis
105 David Ortiz
106 Paul Konerko
107 Miguel Tejada
108 Derrek Lee
109 Jacob Cruz
110 Randall Simon
111 Kerry Wood
112 Ricky Ledee
113 Eli Marrero
114 Brad Fullmer
115 Bobby Estalella
116 Carl Pavano
117 Mike Lowell
118 Brian Rose
119 Ben Grieve
120 Wes Helms
121 Enrique Wilson
122 Donnie Sadler
123 Frank Catalanotto
124 Richie Sexson
125 Russell Branyan
126 Kevin Millwood
127 Ron Wright
128 Derrick Gibson
129 Magglio Ordonez
130 Michael Coleman
131 Danny Clyburn
132 Sean Casey
133 Dave Dellucci
134 Jeff Abbott
135 Lou Collier
136 Scott Rolen
137 Nomar Garciaparra
138 Juan Gonzalez
139 Derek Jeter
140 Roger Clemens
141 Chipper Jones
142 Hideo Nomo
143 Mark McGwire
144 Alex Rodriguez
145 Jeff Bagwell
146 Greg Maddux
147 Frank Thomas
148 Ken Griffey, Jr.
149 Mike Piazza
150 Cal Ripken, Jr.

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File:CLfront.jpgFile:CLback.jpg

Parallels

Certified Red, Mirror Red/Blue/Gold

All 150 base cards have the following parallels that have been confirmed to exist (i.e., at least one copy has surfaced on the secondary market):

Certified Red

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Mirror Red

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Mirror Blue

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Mirror Gold

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Certified Red, Mirror Red, Mirror Blue, and Mirror Gold parallels are not serial-numbered. It is not known how many of each Certified Red, Mirror Red, Blue, or Gold sets were printed. However, for each of these parallels, cards 101-150 were to have half of the production run as cards 1-100.

Totally Certified

According to the original sell sheet, only cards 1-10 of the Totally Certified Platinum Red, Blue, and Gold parallels were available in 1998 Pinnacle Certified (as inserts). This could be why the only Platinum Gold parallels that have emerged on the secondary market were cards 1-10 and why the select few of Platinum Blue and Red parallels that have surfaced were also only of the first ten players in the set.

Original sell sheet also stated, "Totally Certified will not ship until February" which suggests that 1998 Totally Certified was planned to be released as a separate set (as in 1997) or that cards 11-150 had Platinum Red, Blue, and Gold parallels to be released separately.

However, due to Pinnacle's bankruptcy in July/August 1998, it is possible that the Totally Certified Parallels of cards 11-150 were never produced or were produced but have yet to surface on the secondary market.

Totally Certified Platinum Red

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Only 3 players from the Totally Certified Platinum Red parallel set have surfaced. The Vladimir Guerrero is sheet cut/factory cut while the Jeter and Greer that surfaced are a "panel" that has been cut from a sheet but are still attached to each other. Further, a Vladimir Guerrero executive promo has surfaced with "XXXX - 4999" printed on the back.

1 Vladimir Guerrero

9 Derek Jeter

10 Rusty Greer

Totally Certified Platinum Blue

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Totally Certified Platinum Blue parallels exist but only a few players have surfaced. A miscut sheet portion of Platinum Blues surfaced that featured Vladimir Guerrero, Andruw Jones, and Paul Molitor. However, a sheet cut/factory cut Platinum Blue parallel of Vladimir Guerrero and Andruw Jones (but not Paul Molitor) has surfaced. Further, a Vladimir Guerrero executive promo has surfaced with "XXXX - 2499" printed on the back.

The following players have a Platinum Blue parallel that has emerged on the secondary market:

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1 Vladimir Guerrero

2 Andruw Jones

3 Paul Molitor

Totally Certified Platinum Gold

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Totally Certified Platinum Gold parallels have surfaced, but only for the first ten cards in the set.

These are serially numbered to 30, although a Darin Erstad, Edgar Martinez, and Vladimir Guerrero with "XXXX - 0300" printed on the back have also surfaced. While it is unknown if all 30 sets were produced, one collector [1] has documented the existence of 14 Darin Erstad Platinum Golds, with serial numbers ranging from 2/30 to 30/30. The following players are confirmed to have a Platinum Gold parallel:

1 Vladimir Guerrero

2 Andruw Jones

3 Paul Molitor

4 Jose Cruz

5 Edgar Martinez

6 Andy Pettitte

7 Darin Erstad

8 Barry Larkin

9 Derek Jeter

10 Rusty Greer

Mirror Black

Each card in the base set (1-150) was supposed to have a Mirror Black parallel that was to be numbered 1 of 1. However, no Mirror Blacks have surfaced and thus it is unknown if they were even printed, let alone distributed.

Inserts

Certified Destiny & Certified Gold Destiny

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This 10-card set was printed on mirror mylar with foil stamping and featured the game's future superstars. Each Certified Destiny insert featured a Certified Gold Destiny parallel. Neither version was serially numbered.

In 2014, an uncut sheet containing 6 Certified Gold Destiny copies of each player in the set emerged on the secondary market. In 2018, individual singles of the Certified Destiny Gold set emerged on the market through private sales and thus all 10 players in this set have a confirmed copy that exists. However, no copies of the Certified Destiny "base" inserts have surfaced.

1 Jaret Wright

2 Travis Lee

3 Jose Cruz, Jr.

4 Ben Grieve

5 Todd Helton

6 Nomar Garciaparra

7 Paul Konerko

8 Scott Rolen

9 Vladimir Guerrero

10 Andruw Jones

Certified Team & Certified Gold Team

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This 20-card set was printed on micro-etched mirror mylar foil and featured the top superstars in the game. Each Certified Destiny insert featured a Certified Gold Destiny parallel. Neither version was serially numbered.

The same uncut sheet referenced above also contained 2 Certified Gold Team copies of each player in the set. In 2018, individual singles of the Certified Team Gold set emerged on the market through private sales and thus all 20 players in this set have a confirmed copy that exists. Similar to the Certified Destiny insert, no copies of the Certified Team "base" inserts have surfaced.

1 Juan Gonzalez

2 Mark McGwire

3 Albert Belle

4 Cal Ripken, Jr.

5 Chuck Knoblauch

6 Jeff Bagwell

7 Roger Clemens

8 Barry Bonds

9 Ken Griffey, Jr.

10 Greg Maddux

11 Derek Jeter

12 Frank Thomas

13 Mo Vaughn

14 Hideo Nomo

15 Mike Piazza

16 Darin Erstad

17 Tony Gwynn

18 Alex Rodriguez

19 Chipper Jones

20 Larry Walker

Epix

Because 1998 Pinnacle Certified was never officially released, each player in the Epix set had a missing version that was supposed to be inserted in Pinnacle Certfied packs. However, the PBF introduced these missing Epix Moment, Season, Play, or Game versions that people believed to have never been produced, printed, or distributed. Please see our separate article on 1998 Pinnacle Epix for a checklist of these cards.

Certified
Pinnacle Brands Era:
Select Certified: 1995 - 1996
Pinnacle Certified: 1997 - 1998
Donruss-Playoff Era:
Leaf Certified Materials: 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005
2004 Leaf Certified Cuts

Parallel Brands
Totally Certified: 1997 - 1998