Sunday, November 1, 2020

One card only: Summit going on

Pinnacle already had a range called Zenith. It seems only natural that they would have a range called Summit as well. In fact, Summit cards were released as Score Summit in 1995, but in 1996 the range was released as a Pinnacle set.

Card Number 451: Pinnacle Summit, 1996; #134

Look at this card and explain to me why anyone would refer to cards from 1996 as "junk wax". This is class.


This has got to be a contender for Best Tony Gwynn Smile on a Baseball Card, were such an award category to exist. The outer frame is naturally quite dark and the name and logo are foil so scan poorly. 

The back is innovative in its design lay-out as well. it shows Tony's monthly stats for 1995, overlaid on a baseball diamond. (Ignore the brown outfield!)


Overall, this card illustrates, again, just how creative Pinnacle were in the mid-90s. With unique design on both the front and back of the card front, it feels like there is more flair in this one card than in Topps' entire output over the last couple of years. 

Total: 451 cards


2 comments:

  1. I realize that the Junk Wax Era varies from collector to collector. Personally... I think it's late 80's to early 90's. There might be a lot of 1996 Pinnacle Summit floating around out there... but it's nowhere near the amount of 1988 Topps or 1991 Fleer. :D

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    1. I think it's Jeff who talks about the OPE (over-production era), which I think is a better term for the mid-90s as sets proliferated separate from the junk wax era when huge quantities of a few sets were produced. I've been thinking about how to categorise the different eras.

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