There have been times in recent years where Larry Murphy appearances in new products were few and far between. Then there are times when products like the recent Leaf Metal drop, with their SIXTY solo Murphy autograph variations (not to mention the multiplayer autos that I finally just dropped from my wantlist to protect my sanity and ease my frustration) and yeah, there's no shortage of stuff for me to chase at the moment. But it comes and goes. I'm also picky about the prices I will pay for stuff, which doesn't help.
How do I combat the downtime? A few ways. Maybe I'll focus on a small side project (or start one). Maybe I'll expand the parameters of my Murphy PC to allow for other small, cheap cards that can artificially pad my stats. But the biggest method in the last few years has been isolating which PC holes I'd like to fill (which are also the least likely to be filled by an actual card company) and enlisting guys from this site at the forefront of custom card design like Glenn Conners and Richard Ho to make them a reality. They've allowed my creative juices to flow, helped keep me engaged and excited and bridged those hobby droughts.
So maybe that's an option for you too. Surely Bobby Ryan has aspects of his career that are underrepresented in the hobby - you could give representation to them with a cool custom or 2 you could be proud of that would be more personal and help bridge the gap until your next official Ryan pickup.
Food for thought anyway...
Joe
