Man in the Mirror: 1997 Pinnacle Certified and Totally Certified

Pinnacle Certified is insane. Even...certifiable? Not proud of that particular pun, but it’s completely true here.

Now, I love Pinnacle, and it seems everybody else does, too. My Pinnacle posts tend to be relatively popular, and for good reason: their cards are incredibly cool. Unfortunately what they did in 1997 was downright shady.

So to set the tone, I’m going to give you a one-paragraph story about this poster that hangs in my garage above the bar next to the pool table:

I bought this poster in 2009. The artist, Ben Swift, created it following the unbelievably successful and popular Shepard Fairey Obama posters. I have no doubt you recognize the aesthetics here – it’s been copied a bunch. As a Lebowski fan this particular print struck a chord with me as well as a lot of other collectors. Demand spiked to the point that the artist decided to make a SECOND edition. This does not happen a lot in the limited edition art community because the people who bought the first edition were under the impression that they got a cool limited print that would increase in value. Creating a second edition had the opposite effect, reducing the perceived value of the existing limited run by a LOT. On top of that, the second edition was more than double the size of the first, further reducing the first edition’s inherent value and pissing off a lot of print collectors. Some didn’t care as they didn’t buy the print to make money – they wanted to display the poster (mine is hanging in the man cave to this day); but a lot of other folks were fuming. In art collecting circles it was just a whole big thing.

I’m sorry to say that my beloved Pinnacle did something VERY SIMILAR to this. The original run was a huge hit, and since they never gave a stated run for the Mirror parallels, technically they could print as many as they wanted and continue to sell packs as long people were buying. And that is exactly what they did.…four times over. That made for a total of FIVE print runs of 1997 Certified.

It could be argued that since they never numbered the cards, what they did was perfectly acceptable. It could also be argued that since these were their cards/designs, they could do whatever they wanted with them and print more and more runs until the cows come home. But in a market where scarcity is the defining characteristic of the collectible, does any of this seem right to you?

They were hurting financially so it made sense for them, but the collectors are the ones who paid the price here; and they’re kind of still paying it – to this day no one seems to have any idea how many of these Mirror parallels exist. That combined with a plethora of backdoored and unnumbered specimens has thrown the market into utter turmoil. I thank my lucky stars this blog is not a price guide because I could not begin to guess the values of the myriad variations of Pinnacle Certified Griffeys. It’s all a big damn mess.

1997 Pinnacle Certified #53

You can’t fault the cards, though. They are reasonably nice - super thick with a mirror finish that comes out best in the Mirror parallels. There's a lot of back-and-forth that goes on about this set more than most regarding whether or not to peel the protective layer. Chromium sets like Finest can get away with it because the layer doesn't affect their look quite as much as it does these. Personally I'm a strict no-peeler, but they really do look better without it.

1997 Pinnacle Certified #53 (peeled)

Here it is peeled. It should be noted that scans do not do this card justice, especially my scans. This also shows just how prone to damage and general smudging that delicate mirror finish is.

The back gives a team-specific breakdown of Junior's offensive stats that I think is just the best. Junior hit well against the Rangers but never got one over the fence. Dude smoked the Red Sox, though, didn't he?

1997 Pinnacle Certified #53 Certified Red

The most accessible parallel is this Certified Red. At 1:5 they rarely cost much more than the regular base card.

The back is identical for our purposes, but I'm showing it because allegedly the little box on the bottom right is a way to check for authenticity if you hold it in a mirror? Or something? I don't know I've never done it.

On to the Mirror parallels where this set kicks into gear. Like in the previous set the parallel has three tiers: Mirror Red (most common), Mirror Blue, and Mirror Gold (rarest). From Baseballcardpedia:

“Unlike the announced production figures of 90, 45, and 30 copies of each 1996 Select Certified Mirror Red, Blue, and Gold cards, the production figures for the '97 Mirrors were never publicly stated by Pinnacle Brands.

Initially, however, collectors assumed that the production figures were the same as the '96 Mirrors, as the insertion ratios were roughly the same. Many collectors familiar with the '97 Mirror sets note that because Pinnacle made additional print runs both before and after the official release of the product, the actual production runs were higher than initially assumed. Further, Mirrors may also have been "backdoored" after Pinnacle Brands' 1998 bankruptcy filing. Thus, it is unknown how many of each Mirror exists for each player. For reference, there are at least 50 Tony Clark Mirror Golds.”

Yikes, okay. So you'll never know how many of your card exists. This is a bad place to start.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Javy Lopez #42 Mirror Red, Mirror Blue, & Mirror Gold

This is a good time to recommend to my fellow Griffey collectors (or those of any popular player) that it's a good idea to also collect other players. Now hear me out. I know it's a strange concept for some of us (especially the Griffey guys - we are a stubborn, loyal bunch), but it's a great way to get a hold of some really cool parallels (and inserts, depending on who you pick) you may never otherwise get to see. The disparity in cost between the stars and not-so-stars is super high for practically every set of cards with very few exceptions. These three Javy's combined were less than a third the cost of just one Griffey Mirror Red, the most common of the Mirror parallels.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Marquis Grissom #89
Mirror Gold

And this Mirror Gold was less than five bucks. The Griffey is over a thousand. For a card no one knows the production figures for.

I'll admit I shy away from this set because of all the mystery surrounding the production, but the Mirrors are so nice that I did spring for one:

1997 Pinnacle Certified #53 Mirror Blue

It really is a stunner, too.

Now about the Mirror Golds: 27 have been graded by PSA and 11 by BGS. And I have seen them in SGC slabs as well, so we know there are at least 39 Mirror Golds out there. Only 23 of the Mirror Blues have been graded. I assume these have a higher ratio of graded versus ungraded specimens just for being a high-end set, but it can't be astronomically high. I still think there are more of these out there than the market apparently does, and I'm someone who usually takes the opposite stance.

1997 Pinnacle Certified #53 Mirror Gold (not mine)

This is Magicpapa's Mirror Gold which he forgot he even had. Dude's got some cards, amirite?

So while Mirror Golds are certainly on my radar, I just don't see pulling the trigger any time soon. But if you want one, here's what eBay has to offer as of this writing:

This one is $3700.

And this one is a bargain at $3375.

And once again:

Five bucks.

There's also yet another parallel called Mirror Black that I can't leave out because it's (allegedly?) part of the set; but it's also a total freakin' mystery, and I resent it for myriad reasons. I mean, is it a 1/1? It's definitely more scarce than the Mirror Golds, but how much more scarce? Let's check Baseballcardpedia:

“This mysterious parallel carries a lot of speculation about its origin, Pinnacle Brand's intentions, and scarcity as Pinnacle never officially referenced this parallel set prior to the product's release. It is unknown if this parallel was planned to be released into packs or if these were inserted into packs was a mistake. It is also unknown if this parallel was intended to be a "stealth" insert/parallel like the 1998 Donruss Crusades or Certified Mirror Gold Teams. Many collectors (appropriately) assume these were supposed to be a "one-of-one" parallel but it is not known for sure if Mirror Blacks for all 150 cards exist; however, Beckett Baseball Card Monthly reported in 1997 that at least two Mirror Blacks of Jay Buhner were pulled from packs."

Here's one of those:

So on the surface it's simply an uncolored refractor of the base card; but being that these are unnumbered and utterly unacknowledged by Pinnacle, I don't think it's a stretch to call it an error. Just a base card that mistakenly got the refractor treatment. Just a hunch.

All that being said, this card is a gimmick at best and probably ungettable. I'm including it on the checklist of Griffeys, but come on. I mean, come on.

The last 15 cards in the base set make up this Certified Stars subset. I continue to be a total sucker for foil script nameplates. The field of stars spiraling around the player photo is unique but comes off a bit heavy-handed on this base version. The parallels do 'em right, tho. Also, #focustongue.

The backs are literally just a photo and nothing else. Part of me finds this refreshing and the other part would rather be humored with an abbreviated stat box or two-sentence blurb. Great picture, though.

1997 Pinnacle Certified #136 Certified Stars
Certified Red

These are also available in the same four parallels but tend to sell for less than the regular base cards across the board.

1997 Pinnacle Certified #136 Certified Stars Mirror Red

Again the Mirror parallels really hammer home how good the design could be. I only have this one in Mirror Red, but they do look really good. Maybe I'll pick up a blue someday. The Mirror Gold you can keep, though - I'd prefer something cool like a 3D printer or 450 boxes of Triscuits.

Got to admit - that is pretty.

I guess there's a Mirror Black, too? Maybe? Maybe not? Doesn't matter. Unacknowledged gimmicks don't matter. Ugh. What a mess.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Team #13

Certified also got two inserts, this first of which is a personal favorite. At 1:19 with a big checklist they are not the easiest pulls. They do this sweet yin-yang thing with etched and mirror chromium that frankly I'd have liked to see on more cards. And green foil is always welcome on a Seattle-era Griffey insert. Yeah, bring it.

Surprisingly we got what appears to be a pretty standard insert back from this one. A one-sentence blurb, but what a sentence.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Gold Team #13 #/500

Of all my '97 Certified Griffeys, this is my favorite. The gold really makes that etched/mirror combo pop. This one will almost certainly make the Top 30 list this year.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Gold Team #13 #/500
Mirror Gold #/25

The first 25 of the 500 numbered cards got the refractor treatment and are the rarest of all the '97 Certified Griffeys by the numbers. The Gold Team Mirrors are also the only parallels for which I've never seen a sample or promo version which is a shame because they look damn good and I would totally want one. This particular one was Joe Lagreca's, but he sold it (shame on you, btw). If I could only have one 1997 Pinnacle Certified Griffey, it would be this one right here. But at only 25 produced AND NUMBERED TO THAT EFFECT, it's probably the most expensive damn one.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Gold Team #13 Executive Sample

Also there's this thing. This one is Rick Seifert's and oh yeah I totally want it, too.

1997 Pinnacle Certified Lasting Impressions #2

This is the last insert I would expect to find in Certified, but here it is. They were exactly as scarce as the Certified Team insert but sans-parallels. They're neat with die-cutting reminiscent of the sign on the ladies' room and some cool texturing beneath a clear, glossy layer. This is not the last time Pinnacle brands would use this shape in their die-cuts.

That would be a whole big blurb about Griffey's smile printed under the least smiley photo of the Kid ever taken. Dude looks like he's waiting on his coronavirus test to come back. In fact only one card has a smiling Griffey in it in all of '97 Pinnacle Certified - the Certified Stars subset - and it's on the back. They should put a "(not pictured)" right smack in the middle of that last sentence.

That's it for Certified. Overall some great-looking cards but those base parallels are a real mess. Luckily somebody at Pinnacle did notice how much they screwed the pooch here, and they even tried to fix it (er, kind of) by releasing yet another Certified set.

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #53 Platinum Red #/3999

Totally Certified is the kind of set a brand would release following the exact kind of backlash Pinnacle got from regular Certified. Every card was serial-numbered, so there was zero doubt as to how scarce any of the cards were. No additional runs could be created which prevented a glut of allegedly-scarce parallels making it into the market. That's improvement, I guess;

There are no regular base cards to be had - just three parallels and zero inserts. The cards are identical to the Certified base set in every way save for the photo on the front and the texturing. Even the numbering didn't change. In lieu of a mirrored surface we instead got this etched foil one Pinnacle called "Platinum." And to be "totally" honest here  this could have been just another parallel in the regular set rather than its own stand-alone one. Pinnacle loved a reboot, didn't they?

The backs are also no different from the regular Certified set save for the numbering and the different parallel name. Even the photos remained the same.

The Platinum Red is the only one of the base card that I have, but I do have buddies in the Griffey world. Here's somebody's Platinum Blue:

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #53
Platinum Blue #/1999

And Chaz Rhine's Platinum Gold:

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #53
Platinum Gold #/30

And if you're a total cheapskate like me you can also get the Sample version for slightly cheaper (also Chaz Rhine's):

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #53 Platinum Gold
Promo Sample

There are untold quantities of unnumbered versions in every colorway, especially the golds. Even these pull decent prices, but their scarcity is certainly up for debate. Additionally I’ve seen samples in every color as well as numbered and unnumbered versions in every color. The backdoored, unnumbered versions tend to carry a premium over the numbered versions in every color except the gold where the /30 numbered version is more than likely a five-figure card.

On an unrelated note, Chaz Rhine, please send me your address, your alarm code, and your schedule for the next few weeks.

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #136 Certified Stars
Platinum Red #/3999

The similarities to the regular Certified set extend to the subset, of course. I do like how the stars are left out of the etching.

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #136 Certified Stars
Platinum Blue #/1999

The blue is my favorite (of course) until I get a gold of my own. Again, Chaz Rhine to the rescue:

1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified #136 Certified Stars
Platinum Gold #/30

Still waiting on that alarm code, bro.

Here are all the Griffeys I need from 1997 Pinnacle Certified:

#53 Mirror Red
#53 Mirror Gold
#53 Mirror Black ?
#136 Stars Mirror Blue
#136 Stars Mirror Gold
#136 Stars Mirror Gold Sample
#136 Stars Mirror Black ?
Certified Gold Team #13 #/500 Mirror Gold #/25
Certified Gold Team #13 Sample

And here's what I need from Totally Certified:

#53 Platinum Red Sample
#53 Platinum Red Unnumbered
#53 Platinum Blue #/1999
#53 Platinum Blue Sample ?
#53 Platinum Blue Unnumbered
#53 Platinum Gold #/30
#53 Platinum Gold Sample
#53 Platinum Gold Unnumbered
#136 Stars Platinum Red Sample
#136 Stars Platinum Red Unnumbered
#136 Stars Platinum Blue Sample ?
#136 Stars Platinum Blue Unnumbered
#136 Stars Platinum Gold #/30
#136 Stars Platinum Gold Sample
#136 Stars Platinum Gold Unnumbered

Having finally quantified all this, I now feel very dirty and somehow far too sober for my own good. I’m off to alleviate that. Yeah, I know it's Monday morning but I'm in quarantine. Just try and stop me!