1996 Wheels Crown Jewels Elite Racing Forum

While I was collecting in 1996 - and collected 1996 Crown Jewels Elite and Terry Labonte I have yet to this day been able to view or buy Diamond Tribute Inserts for Birthstones of the Champions or Dual Jewels Amethyst or Dual Jewels Garnet.  All cards are listed on this site as Diamond Tribute inserts but no pictures of any (1 collector says he has 1 card).  If someone in your collective body has data to share what are this cards serial numbered to?

I have Birthstones of the Champions #/599 with Treasure Chest versions #/599 (first 1-150 are TC).

I have Dual Jewels Amethyst #/799 with Treasure Chest versions #/799 (first 1-200 are TC).

I have Dual Jewels Garnet #/1499 with Treasure Chest versions #/1499 (first 1-375 are TC).

All Diamond Tribute versions should be serial numbered (if they exist?).  Anyone got an answer to this?

I have yet to see a Diamond Tribute Insert for any of the 3 insert sets listed above.  Someone has the answer to my question but it seems no one has any of the cards to view or buy or sell. 

Also a a promo collector I have 4 versions of the BL promo for this set but yet to see the PT1 version of this card. Again 1 collector has this listed on the TCDB as in their collection.  This was a terrible set to collect all the parallel versions of the sets and Terry Labonte.  This is why I stopped after 2017 collecting PANINI RACING cards.

iceiron5

1996 Crown Jewels was a very confusing product to decode after-the-fact.  Contrary to what some Beckett listings imply, there were no "Diamond Tribute" cards, per se.  "Diamond Tribute" was a limited edition box that was a special sort of Hobby product.  The base cards in the Diamond Tribute boxes were the same Topaz (blue) base cards as found in Retail boxes.  Diamond tribute boxes also shared the Citrine inserts with the retail product.  Diamond Tribute boxes shared the Garnet Dual Jewels, Amethyst Dual Jewels, and Birthstones of a Champion insert sets with hobby boxes.  The Earnhardt Seven Diamonds, Crown Signature Amethyst, and Diamonds in the Rough Sapphire insert sets were exclusive to the Diamond Tribute Boxes.  The Gemstone Redemption contest cards were inserted in all box types.

Inserts that were exclusive to Retail or Diamond Tribute boxes did not have Treasure Chest parallels.  The first 25% of Hobby boxes were "Treasure Chest" boxes.  Any base or insert cards that were available in Hobby boxes were produced in regular and "Treasure Chest" versions.  Note that the serial numbering was common between the regular and Treasure Chest versions of each card.  For example, the Sapphire and Sapphire Treasure Chest cards were numbered to 1099; but there were not 1099 of each type, there was 1099 of both combined.

This is my accounting of the various sets in the '96 Crown Jewels product:

Base/Parallel Sets:
               Ruby Base * - 78 cards - (Hobby Only)
              Topaz Base * - 78 cards - (Retail & Diamond Tribute)
                Sapphire * - 78 cards - (Hobby Only)
                 Emerald * - 78 cards - (Hobby Only)
                 Citrine * - 78 cards - (Retail & Diamond Tribute)
     Ruby Treasure Chest # - 78 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)
 Sapphire Treasure Chest # - 78 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)
  Emerald Treasure Chest # - 78 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)
      Diamond Redemption + - 78 cards - (Gemstones Redemption Only)

Insert Sets:
      Garnet Dual Jewels * -  8 cards - (Hobby & Diamond Tribute)
    Amethyst Dual Jewels * -  8 cards - (Hobby & Diamond Tribute)
    Sapphire Dual Jewels * -  8 cards - (Hobby Only)
Garnet Dual Jewels 
          Treasure Chest # -  8 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)
Amethyst Dual Jewels 
          Treasure Chest # -  8 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)
Sapphire Dual Jewels 
          Treasure Chest # -  8 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)

Birthstones of the 
               Champions * -  6 cards - (Hobby & Diamond Tribute)
Birthstones of the 
Champions Treasure Chest # -  6 cards - (Treasure Chest Only)

    Earnhardt Seven Gems * -  1 card  - (Hobby Only)
    Earnhardt Seven Gems 
          Treasure Chest * -  1 card  - (Treasure Chest Only)
Earnhardt Seven Diamonds * -  1 card  - (Diamond Tribute Only)

Crown Signature Amethyst *# - 10 cards - (Diamond Tribute Only)
  Crown Signature Garnet *# - 10 cards - (Retail Only)
 Crown Signature Peridot *# - 10 cards - (Retail Only)

Diamonds in the Rough 
                Sapphire *# -  5 cards - (Diamond Tribute Only)
Diamonds in the Rough 
                    Ruby *# -  5 cards - (Retail Only)
Diamonds in the Rough 
                 Citrine *# -  5 cards - (Retail Only)

Gemstones Interactive 
              Redemption * - 10 cards - (Hobby, Retail, & Diamond Tribute)

* Per Checklist Card
# Per Becket Catalog
+ Observed

I will submit IR's to remove the erroneous "Diamond Tribute" parallel checklists.

-Tom