the elusive king of junk wax

about three years ago, i decided to try to finish my 1989 dodger wants. not any particular team set, but all the team sets from that year. i figured it was a good year to choose, given the fact that they were the reigning world champions.

i came pretty close. outside of an oddball box bottom card (my most wanted card!), some sticker related items and a couple of those weird doubleheader things, i've pretty much exhausted the checklist. there are some minor league cards that i don't really consider part of the quest, but there is one specific card that has eluded me.  it's the topps active career batting leader card of eddie murray.

that card was issued as an insert of sorts to blister packs of 1989 topps cards sold at kmart.  it was issued late enough so that murray could be airbrushed into a dodger uniform rather than that of an oriole which is a blessing and a curse for dodger collectors like me.  i'm still on the lookout for that card, but i did find a reasonably priced copy of the 1990 version recently:

night owl blogged about this same card a couple of years ago.  it's such a simple card, and you would think there would be a glut of these on the market like other kmart or retail outlet cards. the difference, i think, is that these were issued one per blister pack as opposed to full sets in their own little box.  here's some more info courtesy of sportscollectorsdaily.com.

i didn't know anything about these cards until i undertook that 1989 completion effort, and it looks like i'll be waiting a little while longer to get it done.  at least i won't have the same problem if i try to tackle the remainder of my needs from the 1990 dodger checklist!