Back in 1996 I took my first foray into the one-autograph-per-pack realm. The set was 1996 Leaf Signature Series Baseball. The pack set me back $15 and all I got to show for it was a scrub signature whose name I have long forgotten. I tried my luck again with the follow-up series with similar results. So ended my pack ripping of these sorts of products. Or so I thought.
Browsing around websites a couple weeks ago I found a local site that offered a box of 1997-98 Pinnacle Be a Player Series A Hockey for the low cost of $20. Each box held 16 packs with one autograph per pack. The quick math in my head calculated $1.25 per autograph and a bunch of base cards left over. Why not?
Granted, there is a reason this stuff is so cheap. The majority of the players are commons, so finding a “superstar” autograph is unlikely. Even still, at a buck and couch change, I knew I’d be happy to rip the box and find one or two familiar faces from a decade ago.
As promised, each pack did indeed yield an autograph. Three packs even had autographs with a foil finish and the brand name cut out. Cool. The packs offer little information so I don’t know what that’s all about with all of my hockey reference materials filed away for the time being. As expected, no superstars, although I was able to add a Gary Roberts signature and Dave Babych’s mustache to my autograph collection. Nothing big, but I was nonetheless pleased with the low-key result. One thing that did confuse me was that I pulled a couple of “Rookie” autographs numbered in the 200s. So much for those coming in Series B, unless of course Pinnacle made a typical Pinnacle move and made things a whole lot more complicated than necessary.
All the other inserts are lumped together on the pack as falling 1:4 packs. These include One Timers, Stacking the Pdas and Take a Number. With only one box, I don’t know if any are rarer than the others but I do like the Dufex design of the goalie-centric Stacking the Pads set. Outside of autographs I pulled four inserts: two One Timers and one each of Stacking the Pads and Take a Number.
Where my disappointment arose with this set was with the collation of the base cards. With only 125 cards on the Series A checklist, I figured I’d make a nice dent in a set. Nope. In fact, I received 42 duplicates and only 66 singles – not even half the set.
The design itself is clean, albeit forgettable. Card fronts showcase a player action shot and large borders. Both the player’s name and the Pinnacle brand are done in silver foil (gold foil on the autographs). Card backs include a small head shot, short bio and stats for 1996-97 and their career.
Overall, 1997-98 Pinnacle Be a Player Hockey is a fun break at $20 per box. However, if it were 1998 and packs were $10-15, things could have been ugly.
1997-98 Pinnacle Be a Player Series A Box Breakdown:
Packs per box: 16
Cards per pack: 8
Total cards: 128
Cards in set: 125
Singles: 66
Doubles: 41
Triples+: 1
Inserts: 20
Autographs (overall autograph odds 1:1): 13
23. Dean Malkoc, Bruins
38. Mattias Norstrom, Kings
49. Dave Babych, Canucks
55. Gerald Diduck, Coyotes
72. Todd Marchant, Oilers
73. Gary Roberts, Hurricanes
85. Brent Gilchrist, Red Wings
99. Alexei Zhamnov, Blackhawks
114. Tim Taylor, Bruins
212. Alexei Morozov, Penguins
213. Vaclav Prospal, Flyers
214. Brad Bombardir, Devils
245. Derek Morris, Flames
Foil Autographs: 3
68. Zarley Zalapski, Flames
91. Ken Klee, Capitals
107. Jamie McLennan
Foil Prism Autographs: 0
One Timers: 2
6. Brett Hull, Blues
15. Pat LaFontaine, Rangers
Stacking the Pads: 1
7. Curtis Joseph, Oilers
Take a Number: 1
TN3. Ed Belfour, Stars
