1991 Bowman the Purple Dinosaur

In my collection: 1 regular

Griffey looks: gazing Northwest

Is this a good Griffey card? Yes.

The set: When it comes to innovation, Bowman was still lagging when this set was made.  Bowman made some big changes to their cards in 1992, making this the last year before most of those changes took place.  The result is that apart from the stat box and the lack of a Tiffany set this set isn't very different from any other.  '91 was Bowman's stepping stone to greatness, but not its arrival.

The design itself is an improvement over the "Rasta" set of the previous year, but it wasn't quite at the level of aesthetic subtlety they would produce in '92.  First, it's still on cardboard.  The green back looks great despite having nothing in common with the front.  I think they got the bar across the bottom right, but the borders feel a bit confining.  Then again, I am a sucker for purple split-fades.  Anyone else on that trolley?

Besides its drawbacks, Chipper Jones, Jeff Bagwell, Jim Thome and Pudge Rod all had rookies in this set.  I think I have one of them:



Yep, here it is.


There's also this bad boy:

 

This is probably my favorite card in the set outside of my Griffey fandom.  Bobby Thompson knocking Ralph Branca's fastball out of the park to win the pennant for the Giants - a great moment in Baseball history.

There's not much else worth mentioning in the base set beside the fact that there are a few gold foil-stamped subsets. The above card is one of these.

Here's Mr. Griffey:

A great candid shot of the Kid gazing Northwest.  Perhaps it's a nod to all that Seattle has given him, perhaps there was an attractive redhead waving to him from the stands - we may never know.

One great thing about this card is that it demonstrates perfectly the function of a baseball cap on the guy renowned for wearing it backwards.  Isn't it ironic, dontcha think?

This is a relatively overlooked set despite the great rookies, but it is still one of my personal favorites of that year which isn't saying very much.  Topps was the only real standout set of '91 with Bowman, in my opinion, at a distant second.

This has been another one of those "one-Griffey sets," meaning a nice, short post.  I suggest you use the extra time you had set aside today for reading The Junior Junkie to better yourself in some way.  Read a book, do some pushups, or go hug a loved one.

The Junior Junkie: we care.