Only One Man Would Dare Give Me the Raspberry...

Lonestarr!!

I commissioned the best damn nerd in the blogsphere to create an original sketch of Junior on the back of his Dad's 1989 Topps Traded card. 

I figured it could make for a cool art project, but I lack the artistic ability to make something like this happen.  Plus it always bothered me that Ken didn't get a card in the regular set, and I've always wanted more of Griffey in that swoosh design. So I sent CC my Topps Traded Tiffany Senior card.

Here's what he sent back:

It's a double-sided 1/1 original of the Kid and his Dad! And like it or not, Senior, this is the front from now on. Hell of a job, CC. This one sits in a case with all my best Griffeys.

As if that weren't enough, Lonestarr also threw in these goodies:

A pair of Saints and a brand spankin' new Griffey insert. That Archetypes card was only weeks old when I got it in the mail from CC. He must've busted that pack on mail day. And say what you want about Prizm (I agree with most of it), but this sparkly blue number is something the kids might call hella-sick and totes poppin' fresh. Yes, we have our fingers on the pulse of American youth slang here at The Junior Junkie.

What this all comes down to is that I am way super into that Griffey sketch. Thanks a ton, CC! We should do more of these soon...

Bill Murray on Baseball Cards Part Deux

While searching for something completely unrelated I came across two Bill Murray cards I completely overlooked when making my previous post about my tiny but precious Bill Murray PC. Also don't miss Part 3 which can be found here. Enjoy!

Salt Lake Trappers (year unknown)

 

It's true - I don't know the year of this one, but an educated guess puts it in the area of 1989-1990. It was made by the same company as the better-known Trappers card, Baseball Cards, Etc. As you can see it is more narrow than standard cards like it's predecessor, but the less-grainy photography this year leads me to believe this is a slightly later card. It also appears to be far rarer than the 1988 team set card as I've only seen one for sale ever, and you're looking at it. Dig the expression on Bill's face.

2012 Charleston River Dogs Team Set Card (w/ Mayor Joseph P. Riley)

Here's Bill with the mayor of Charleston. I'd completely forgotten I had this one (The Lost Collector as a signed one!). I love this card for the fun photo and positively adorable team logo. It's also the most recent Murray card I'm aware of.

Finally, while it's not a card, it's very much in the vein of all this Minor League paraphernalia:

This t-shirt appears to have been a giveaway at a Broxton Rox game. This one is a snug XL which means it's just about right for any occasion. I don't wear it much, but I have and with pride. That's a classic Murray mug right there.

I have another Bill Murray card en route to me now, but it's less a baseball card than a celebrity swatch card. Still, clothing worn by the Murray? I almost have enough for a small altar to the guy.

Thanks for reading!

Bill Murray on Baseball Cards

Part 2 of this post along with a few more Bill Murray baseball cards can be found here. 

There is also a Part 3 which can be found here.

One of my PC's is Bill Murray. You might not think there are enough Murray cards in the World to merit something you can call a "collection," and if that's the case this post may surprise you. Bill has had a stake in several minor league ball teams, and I've acquired the card sets of every one of those teams I could find.

Here, chronologically, is my entire collection of Bill Murray cardboard.

1988 Salt Lake Trappers Team Set #29

The first BM card depicts a smiling Murray still in the beginning of his film career. Scrooged and Ghostbusters II were on the imminent horizon, and Groundhog Day was still five years away. His position of "Team Owner" would not last.

This card, his earliest I have found, seems to be the Holy Grail of Murray cards. The last team set from this year that sold on eBay went for $90.00 plus shipping. It's a tough one to track down and by far his best-looking card.

1988 Salt Lake Trappers Team Set #2

Here is Bill with his brother, Brian, who was in a ton of movies including National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (as Clark's boss) and Wayne's World (the arcade owner who "blows goats"). It seems they were actually co-owners, but Bill ended up with his own card in addition to this one.

2003 Brockton Rox Team Set

Skip forward 15 years to this card from the 2003 Brockton Rox team set. Murray, promoted from simple owner to "Director of Fun," is superimposed over the team's Brockton, Massachusetts ballpark. Murray's legendary status in Hollywood had already been assured at this point. He had shown his acting chops in more high-brow comedic roles such as Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, and Lost in Translation was about to reveal to the world his dramatic side (as well as Scarlett Johansson's booty).

Check out the units of measure for his height and weight.

This, too:

I think that's a thumbs-up.

2004 Brockton Rox Team Set

The following year's Rox set features a more muted design and a more pensive-looking Bill. I can;t say I like the cropping here, but I can't complain. There aren't enough Murray cards out there to be choosy.

Here's this guy again:

The last card I have for Murray is this card from the 2008 St. Paul Saints team set. Apparently Murray threw balls at someone named "The Sieve" who is really good at catching them? I'm not certain, but I love Bill's mug on this card. Makes me want to buy a ball team.

That's the final Bill Murray card, but this set was full of fun treats.

As you can see, this is a set that any Darryl Strawberry collectors out there just have to get a hold of. Here's the back of that Straw just for fun:

That's it for now. I don't know of any other Bill Murray cards out there. As far as I'm concerned I have every one. If you spot any that differ from these, let me know!

P.S. In case you missed it, here is Part 2 of my Bill Murray PC, and here is Part 3. Thanks for reading!

Wallet Card Booty Breakdown: A Custom-Crammed Trade Post

Gavin, revered inventor of Wallet Card and blogger's blogger, sent me a package loaded with some truly amazing original creations for my Wallet Card exploits.

The first was this original 1/1 sketch card of one of my lesser-known PC's, Bryan Clutterbuck. Sadly there are not many Clutterbucks to be had in this world, so Gavin's was extremely welcome.

I had to giggle a little when I saw it. How many people get excited over a new Clutterbuck? And how many Clutterbucks are glow-in-the-dark? I think the answer to both questions is the same.

On top of that there was this trio of unspeakably awesome original Griffey card magnets. Each is numbered to 5. Gavin made a load of different ones including one for Mad Men and Firefly bombshell Christina Hendricks who looks like this:

If she doesn't deserve a magnet, I don't know who does.

The minute I saw the magnets on Gavin's blog I knew I had to get in on that, but he had already beaten me to the punch and dropped them in the mail. They're an excellent homage to the Simpsons baseball episode, and the photo from the '89 Upper Deck rookie looks surprisingly at home on the '89 Fleer design.

You really outdid yourself, Gavin. Thanks a million. I know we're all looking forward to seeing more original creations soon!

I Just Want to Show You This One Thing...

This is a receipt from the Post Office where I held up the line for a good half hour on Tuesday mailing trade packages. I have stuff going out to about 60 bloggers in three countries. I still have ten packages for which I need addresses and another half dozen I have not yet prepared, but I just had to show you this insane receipt. It's 7 1/2 feet long. The total was $179.14.

The postal worker who helped me was a trainee under supervision. Now she's an expert.

Wallet Card Goes to St. Patrick's Day

While today is St. Patrick's Day as observed by the majority of Irish and wanna-be Irish revelers the world over, it doesn't feel like it where I am. We celebrated over the weekend, and we did so the same way we celebrate everything else: parades and alcohol. Cue the Wallet Card.

On Saturday we made it to the Irish Channel parade uptown. It was still early in the St. Patrick's Day season, so everyone's costumes and tolerance for partying were still intact. I doubt all those giant coins made it through to tonight.

This man's tongue was...I mean, look at it. Is that an Irish thing?

As you may remember from my previous #WalletCard posts, parades are made up of marching groups and floats, and St. Paddy's parades here have far more of the former. These guys carry huge foam cylinders packed with flowers which they trade for kisses. All in good fun, of course. I went home with six flowers myself.

Not Irish, per se, but worth a look.

The mayor of Kenner, La., Mr. Mike Yenni. Is this the first #WalletMayor?

The perfect beer for St. P.....wait....

There. That's the stuff.

We passed the old bead tree on our way to the restroom. Over a month later and it's still all beaded up!

See that guy in the front of the float with the white hat? He called me over for a look at the card after this picture was taken, and upon realization what card it was he dropped several dozen green beads on me. At that moment everyone in the crowd wished they had brought their Griffey rookies from home.

The floats are re-purposed from Mardi Gras, some more cleverly than others.

This is one of my good friends, Tony, who marches with the Lyons Club. I see him in a lot of parades.

We finished up the day with a few pounds of boiled crawfish on the lakefront. This is the sunset over "the Point" at Lake Pontchartrain.

Some unique parking outside the restaurant.

We were up early the next morning for the Metairie St. Patrick's Day Parade (rarely on St. Patrick's Day), my favorite parade all year long.

Everybody wears green, but some people only have one green shirt. This is Jason's only green shirt.

#WalletCop is back!

Everyone outside of the New Orleans metropolitan area thinks we have a Southern accent. We do not. Oh, we have an accent, don't get me wrong, but it's not that drawl you may be imagining. It's difficult to describe. We call it the "yat" accent. Hence this band, the Yat Pack.

I should have mentioned that in lieu of beads and trinkets (of which there are still plenty to be had), the majority of throws in these parades are carrots, onions, potatoes, and some very coveted heads of cabbage. That young lady above is about to launch a potato into the crowd.

By the time we made it home we had six heads of cabbage, a half dozen carrots, a few onions, potatoes, and oranges. Oh, and three bars of Irish Spring.

I'm not kidding, They throw bars of Irish Spring. None of this has ever seemed strange to me until I had to type it.

That girl in the middle wore a skirt so short that I could not in good conscience show it on this blog.

As you can see I did forego the plastic sleeve this weekend. May only be a BGS 9 now.

Happy St.Patrick's Day, everybody!