Twin Peaks Collectible CardArt By Star Pics – Julee Cruise

At the end of April 1991, Star Pics, Inc of West Bloomfield, Michigan released “Twin Peaks Collectible CartArt trading cards.” David Lynch and Mark Frost granted an official license to create these baseball-like cards based on characters, places and icons from the show. While I’m planning a longer feature on this iconic card set, I’m turning the spotlight on Julee Cruise’s card in this set as part of the Julee in June takeover this month on Twin Peaks Blog.

WHAT ARE TWIN PEAKS COLLECTIBLE CARDART BY STAR PICS?

Around April 11, 1991, Twin Peaks co-creators David Lynch and Mark Frost licensed trading cards with images and facts from “America’s most talked about TV show.”

“The cards are mighty cool,” said Lynch. “It’s going to be a really nifty set.”

In a May 1991 article by Bill Anderson for “The Canadian Press”, Julie Yolles, Star Pics’ director of media and advertising, explained Lynch-Frost Productions “were involved every step of the way” in assembling the set, which included cards for 34 characters as well as pictures of recurring scenes, key dialogue and assorted others.

Supposedly some randomly selected cards in the Star Pics sets were signed by members of the cast (though I never found any autographed cards).

These Twin Peaks cards were available only in complete sets and sold for about $20. A mock-up of for individual foil packs was created but they were never sold.

TWIN PEAKS COLLECTIBLE CARDART BY STAR PICS – JULEE CRUISE

The front of the Julee Cruise Collectible CartArt by Star Pics contains a close up the angelic singer framed by tree bark.

This is a slightly cropped image from the card art which contains Julee’s face and a leather jacket with a zipper along the sleeve.

Julee wears a similar leather jacket while playing the “Girl Singer” at The Roadhouse in the pilot episode. My gut says the photo is a college of two images taken during production – one of her face and one of her arm bent with her jacket sleeve unzipped.

The back of the card lists Julee Cruise as number 76 in the set. Her profile was “compiled by Lynch/Frost Productions” in 1991.

Accomplishments:
Performed in many theatrical productions, including performances at Des Moines Playhouse, Music Theatre of Wichita, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Has been featured on television in Twin Peaks, Alice in Wonderland, Puss in Boots, and Wind in the Willows, to mention a few, and on Saturday Night Live. Recently completed her first film, Industrial Symphony No. 1, directed by David Lynch. Her album Floating Into the Night is produced by David Lynch. Her single “Falling,” from this album, can also be found on the Twin Peaks soundtrack.

Strengths:
Sense of humor.

Birth date: 12/1/56

Sign: Sagittarius

Likes: Loves to cook

Education: Drake University

Julee Cruise’s actual birthday is December 1, 1956 making her a Sagittarius. She attended Drake University and majored in music playing the French Horn. I’m still looking for the reference to her interest around cooking but no interview has turned up where she mentioned it.

TWIN PEAKS COLLECTIBLE CARDART BY STAR PICS – JULEE CRUISE – LIMITED EDITION

There is a second card created featuring Julee Cruise that was part of a “Limited Edition” set from Star Pics. The front image is the same as the original card.

The text on the back is exactly the same with one exception – the words “Limited Edition” were printed above Julee Cruise’s name. I picked up this set from the “Twin Peaks Guy,” long-time fan and collector Bruce Phillips.

The back of the card contained a reverse black and white image of Julee, so I inverted it to see how the image looked. It’s the same image as used on the card front.

Look for a longer article about the Star Pics trading cards that’s currently in development. It will be the definitive article about this early licensed merchandise item featuring my favorite show, Twin Peaks.