Collector's Corner #5: Joe's Larry Murphy Super Collection

Back again with another Collector's Corner post! This week I am featuring Joe's extraordinary Larry Murphy collection. I've known Joe for awhile on Hobby Insider and he can always be your go-to guy on there to talk cards. I mean, we all talk about cards, but Joe's just really shines through when he speaks about his collection or encouraging your own collecting habits, so I was more than happy to help feature his collection when he inquired about it.

Let the Larry Murphy show and tell begin...

Leaf Lumber Kings Nameplates - Larry Murphy 1/1

Introduction:

​My name is Joe Pawich, 40 years old, Manitoba born and raised but living in Calgary since 2007.

Who/What do you collect?

Larry Murphy.

Why did you start collecting Larry Murphy's cards?

​I remember it vividly. 91/92 Score had come out, and I was looking over cards I'd bought with my friends at school. This was back in the time when cards often had interesting info on the back, and when youths would sometimes be inclined to actually read it. My almost-teenaged self studied the back of Murphy's card and was struck by his career stats at the time. I knew the Bourques and Coffeys of the world, but who was this Larry Murphy? He had comparable stats to those guys, yet I'd never heard of him. Thinking the world revolved around me, I deduced that if I'd never heard of Larry Murphy, nobody else could have either. So right then and there, I decided to carry the banner for him. If nobody else was going to cheer for Larry Murphy, damnit, I was going to.  My efforts to hype him up and tout him among my friends fell on deaf ears. They laughed it off and considered it a joke. I came from a farm outside a small community of only a few hundred people, so the only way you could get older product was to get to a city with a card shop. One time, one of my friends did and came back with, among other things, a Murphy OPC RC. I was jealous (and confused as to why he would get a Murphy RC, but no matter). Not long after, my friend went digging for sales to make a quick buck and asked if I wanted to buy the Murphy. $8 later, I did. I still have it.

We grew up, and for many, the hobby eventually died off in favor of other pursuits. I still carried a torch for it though, and when I started university in 1997, I suddenly had access to a card shop. Then Ebay came along and blew my mind. Cards I never had access to were suddenly at my fingertips.  I'm pretty sure “Larry Murphy” was one of my first Ebay searches. I was curious what would be out there for him, and this first search turned up a Canadian seller listing, among others, a signed Murphy OPC RC. There was no picture of it, but I thought it sounded like a cool concept; I mean, where else was I going to get a card signed by Murphy? Manitoba didn't even have an NHL team anymore. On a wing and a prayer, I bought it, and it was better than I could've imagined, with a beautiful, clean signature in blue ink. I was hooked, and couldn't leave well enough alone. If having 1 signed Murphy card was cool, surely having more would be even MORE cool,right?

It became a challenge – how many different signed Murphy cards could I get? I whittled away at it and continued it out of boredom after I graduated from university and returned home for a stint. At first my collection was limited to autographs, but the release of 04/05 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia 5 and a Murphy Complete NHL Logo 1/1 changed that. (*see attached photo) I saw the merit of GU cards and added those to the list. I took my collecting habits with me when I moved to Calgary in 2007,and when the well started to dry up, I even added PSA GEM MT graded 10 cards. When THAT well dried up, I finally stopped resisting the suggestion of my hobby friend Tim and decided to go for ultimate completion.

My collection has evolved quite a bit over time.  A few years ago, I purchased my first home of my own, a condo.  Consequently, my savings went into that and I could no longer sustain collecting as I was.  That and the increasing number of parallels that started becoming the norm forced me to abandon my foolish goals of player completion.  I liquidated a few higher-end pieces from my collection to make ends meet but found I still had a love of the hobby and still wanted to be involved.  I thought maybe I could be if I was smarter about things, so here I am.  I've kept my best unique GU pieces.  I've kept my autographs.  I've kept my base and base parallels.  The rest is fair game to move.  I'm still looking to add for the right price, and I still make exceptions for the right unique pieces, but if a card has no autograph or is otherwise made redundant by another card (or cards) already in my PC, they are no longer a priority. This tunnel vision has allowed me to streamline my collection and focus on only the most unique and diverse GU cards, including as many different types of GU cards as possible from each of the teams Larry Murphy played for.

There are some crazy asking prices out there, so looking for value pickups can make for some lean months and uninspiring hauls.  However, since I have to be picky with my hobby dollars now, I feel it helps my premium pieces stand out more and gives more importance to those pickups I make exceptions for as they become fewer in number.

​What’s Your Favourite Card or Item(s)?

​04-05 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia Complete Logo #17 Larry Murphy 1/1 - the card that turned me onto GU cards
​
-2017 Leaf In The Game Superlative Shield Signatures #SSSLM Larry Murphy 1/1 - a classic NHL shield, signature (albeit on a sticker), nice headshot and incredibly glossy in-hand, this card checks all the boxes.  When Leaf previewed this card on their Twitter account, it jumped to #1 on my wantlist and I was thrilled to reel it in when it finally hit Ebay.  If I could only keep one of my cards, this might be the one.

-05-06 The Cup Emblems of Endorsement #EELM Larry Murphy 2/15 and 4/15 - beautiful cards featuring emblems from Murphy's early playing days with LA, these never fail to impress in hobby circles, whether a collector liked Murphy or not as a player.
-12-13 ITG Forever Rivals Stick Rack #SR33 Larry Murphy /10 Autograph - a bonus autograph took what should have been a basic stick card to the next level.  A great collector named Ray pulled this card himself, and being a sucker for autographs, I obviously fell in love with it when I saw it.  After I badgered him into agreeing to sell it to me, Ray sent it my way from Expo via a great hobby friend and wouldn't take anything for it.  I had not dealt with Ray before and he didn't owe me a thing, so it was a random act of hobby kindness I still treasure and the best example of how great the card community can be.
​
-12-13 Custom Cut Signature Larry Murphy - this was a card I dreamed up out of boredom to fill a niche in my PC.  I had approached a hobbyist known for their customs with this concept, but they didn't think it was feasible given the quality of the limited photos I had available.  Luckily I found another custom-maker, DnJcards Jon, who was up to the challenge.  Jon isn't really active on the boards anymore, but if you've seen his work, it speaks for itself.  I provided the vision and the photos, and Jon worked quickly with my feedback to make it a reality.  One of the few times where reality lived up to my imagination.  I'm proud of myself for sticking with it and thankful for Jon bringing it to life.  Would anybody be disappointed at pulling a card like that from a pack?

Feel free to view the rest of my stuff on my Flickr site at: 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/41468449@N04/albums

​What's On Your Current Wantlist? Are there any ‘White Whales’ you’d like to add one day?

​My wantlist is too big to list here, but there are a few standouts.  I won't mention cards if I know where they reside, as I know they either won't be moving or it may just be a matter of time.  I will mention the 17-18 Ultimate One-Timer Jumbo #OT47 (Editor's Note: Depicting the "M" Letter) Larry Murphy 1/1 though because it sold on Ebay and I have no idea to whom. 

​Most importantly, I need the following:

2012-13 ITG Motown Madness Nameplates #NP63 Larry Murphy 1/1
2012-13 ITG Motown Madness Nameplates #NP68 Larry Murphy 1/1
2012-13 ITG Motown Madness Nameplates #NP71 Larry Murphy 1/1

I haven't seen these, don't know if they've been pulled and are sitting in random collections somewhere or if they're in sealed product still.  Either way, they would mark a major achievement and complete the nameplate for me.

Just 3 pieces remain in Joe's quest for a complete 12-13 ITG Motown Madness Larry Murphy Nameplate.

​Contact Info: How can other collectors reach out to you about Larry Murphy cards?

​HobbyInsider/SportsCardForum: primetimepawich
Ebay: jpawich
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.pawich
E-mail: primetimepawich@hotmail.com

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​If you want to get in contact with me about getting ​YOUR COLLECTION featured on my blog, feel free to leave a comment on this post below, fill out a contact form on my Contact Page, or send me an email at creasecollector@gmail.com and we will be in touch very soon. :)

​Happy Collecting,

​- Crease