The Set That Killed Pinnacle

[OhioLawyerF5]

Well, not specifically, but was symbolic of the death of Pinnacle.

Pinnacle had been an innovative brand from the very beginning. In 1986 they began producing Sportsflics cards with lenticular design that allowed for multiple images depending on the angle you looked at a card. At the time, the company was called Optigraphics. In 1988, they introduced the Score brand and rebranded to Pinnacle Brands. Even then, the Score brand was introducing new things to the baseball card market. Score cards were the first to have full color photographs on the back of cards, and their "trash bag" wrappers were the first tamper resistent packaging for cards.

By 1992, card manufacturers began competing with each other to make more premium brands and the arms race was on. Pinnacle released their high-end brand "Pinnacle" along with another premium brand called "Select."

1993 was a turning point in the hobby. Topps changed the game with the chromium technology of their Finest brand, and included an ultra-rare chase in the form of the first Refractors. The hunt for more captivating card design was in full swing. Pinnacle contracted with the FJ Warren company to exclusively produce cards using the British company's innovative printing technology called Dufex.

Dufex was a labor intensive and multi-step process that required printing images onto special aluminum foil-lined wax paper, running them through a conventional or UV litho-press that sprayed the foil paper with special ultraviolet transparent inks (which allowed the reflective shine of the aluminum foil to be retained), then engraving the design by hand after the ink dried on a master engraving that was used to create the finished product for individual player cards.

Because of the intricate and time consuming nature of the hand engraving necessary for each individual player's card with a Dufex design, the entire process took up to 6 months to complete for a given set and was very expensive. Pinnacle tended to order cards in bulk to try to keep costs down. This worked in the 1993 world as print runs for cards were very high. So a dufex insert set with a print run of 3 or 4 thousand cards was still considered ultra-premium.

But by the mid-90s, every company was trotting out multiple super-high-end brands with lower and lower print runs, using more and more innovative designs. The cost of Pinnacle's hot technology was becoming cost prohibitive.

After acquiring Donruss in 1996, Pinnacle was well on its way to dominating the market. They had a whole litany of brands to choose from and continued to pump out innovation after innovation in the card hobby. That same year they changed the game again. With the Select Certified brand, they introduced the first true "chase the rainbow" experience for colectors which included multi-level parallel cards with extremely low print runs for the very first time (the Mirror Gold parallels having a miniscule print run of just 30 cards each).

The next year, in 1997, they tried to build off that success. They once again rolled out the Certified brand (this time Pinnacle Certified rather than Select), replete with the Mirror Golds and the rest of the rainbow. But they took it one step further. They introduced an even more premium brand in Totally Certified where they merged the ultra-rare parallels of Certified with the ultra-expensive technology of etched foil. Even the "base" cards in Totally Certified were serial numbered, with the Platinum Gold parallels being serial numbered to just 30.

By 1998, it was a different world. As the post-strike collector market had dwindled, card companies were still in the middle of a heated war of brands to see who could make the most innovative and expensive cards out there. Pinnacle was both winning and losing at the same time. They were dominating on the innovation front, but were also dominating on the expensive front. The cost to produce their ridiculously low numbered and technologically advanced cards was staggering. Their desire to compete blinded them to the cliff they were about to fall off of.

In comes 1998 Pinnacle Certified. After continuing to roll out high end set after high end set to begin the year, they attempted to combine both Pinnacle Certified and Totally Certified into one major ultra-premium chase set. It would contain both the Mirror Red/Blue/Golds of Certified and the Platinum Red/Blue/Golds of Totally Certified, the Platinum cards still using the stunning, but expensive etched foil technology. And since they weren't producing the cards in bulk, the cost to produce the Totally Certified Platinums was astronomical.

1998 Pinnacle Certified was supposed to be released in August of 1998. However, Pinnacle filed bankruptcy in July, and the set was never released. Thankfully, these gorgeous cards eventually made their way out of bankruptcy prison and into the hands of collectors. And I am proud to add this Platinum Gold Larkin to my collection.

Here it is, the set that killed Pinnacle:

[anusinha]

I still say Dufex makes for the best looking cards

[daveyc1]

that is a great write-up!! I love the backdoored stuff and all the secret behind the scenes type stories!

how many copies do you estimate exist of the 98 platinum golds?

[f2tornado]

Thank you for the history. I didn't realize how labor intensive it was to create those beautiful sets. Panini did recreate watered down versions of the duffex early last decade, then poof.

[corockies]

Pinnacle was operating with one foot in the grave for years and probably would have gone out of business sooner had they not bought Donruss. I'm glad they lasted as long as they did. Donruss baseball was always my favorite brand growing up, and I've kept a somewhat loyal following for it up to present day (even the unlicensed stuff).

[daveyc1]

Here is another example of a card from 1998 pinnacle certified

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Pinnacle was both winning and losing at the same time. They were dominating on the innovation front

I'm pretty sure Skybox/Fleer and Upper Deck were the most innovative companies in the industry at the time. The dufex technology was the one noteworthy thing I remember from Pinnacle at the time. Score/Pinnacle just wasn't a popular brand after the early 90s.

[daveyc1]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I'm pretty sure Skybox/Fleer and Upper Deck were the most innovative companies in the industry at the time. The dufex technology was the one noteworthy thing I remember from Pinnacle at the time. Score/Pinnacle just wasn't a popular brand after the early 90s.

the 96 mirror gold/blue/red rainbows were VERY popular at the time. a groundbreaking set

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by f2tornado

Thank you for the history. I didn't realize how labor intensive it was to create those beautiful sets. Panini did recreate watered down versions of the duffex early last decade, then poof.

Yes, 2012 Totally Certified basketball. I have a gold parallel that looks nice.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

I'm pretty sure Skybox/Fleer and Upper Deck were the most innovative companies in the industry at the time. The dufex technology was the one noteworthy thing I remember from Pinnacle at the time. Score/Pinnacle just wasn't a popular brand after the early 90s.

I was being somewhat overdramatic for the purpose of the post, as I was tongue-in-cheek attributing the cause of the bankruptcy to a single factor. Of course, not only was the bankruptcy more complicated than that (poor management, overextention in the purchase of Donruss, etc...). And was also a bit overstating the dominance of Pinnacle in innovation. I agree that Skybox/Fleer was definitely up there on the innovation front. But I disagree that Upper Deck was. Yes, the game jersey innovation was major, but I don't feel like they were doing much else, and their card technology paled in comparison to Pinnacle and Skybox. But remember, there is more to innovation than card technology. Things Pinnacle was doing like multi-product inserts (e.g. Crusades and Epix) were also innovations. The first printing plates, unique packaging such as cans and tins, and other things outside of just card technology were also innovative. But while Skybox was also doing cool things with things like layered sets like EX, Pinnacle was definitely doing unique things with cards as well. Ultimately, my point was that the innovations Pinnacle was doing were way too expensive to maintain, whereas Skybox seemed to make wiser decisions that kept them in business (at least a little longer).

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by daveyc1

how many copies do you estimate exist of the 98 platinum golds?

If I had to guess, I would assume all 30 were made. I've seen both low and high serial numbers. They seem similarly hard to find as 97 Platinum Golds where most players only have a handful that have surfaced publicly. So while they are virtual ghosts, I would be surprised if all 30 sets didn't make their way out.

[WillBBC]

Awesome write up, love this stuff!

One of my favorite '90s Vlads. 12/30

[TheVolta]

This was a really fun read. Thank you, dude.

[REGGIE206]

Good read! Brought back a lot of memories!

[creasecollector]

What a fantastic write up, thanks for posting this.

I really enjoy learning about the history of the hobby, or how specific cards came to light.

Well done!