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Henry’s Random Thoughts
2002-The Best Year Ever!
There have been many good bobbles since 2002, but
nothing will ever come close to the choice of players that year or the buzz they
created. For the first time, they created a shortage and the inevitable mad
scramble and conflict that go with such a shortage. This year put bobbles on
the map in
Johnny Bench
Saturday, May 31 was the first attempt by the team at
giving away an all-time great. With a ban on any Pete Rose memorabilia, they
chose the player that rivals Pete in this town, two-time MVP and Hall of Famer
Johnny Bench. They stuck to the 10,000 quantity, and the fans were hip to the
fact that only ¼ the capacity of the stadium would walk out with the goods.
They showed up in droves before the gates opened.
For whatever reason, the 10,000 vanished before even
some of the early arrivers could get one. Perhaps some employees held some back
for friends. Perhaps not knowing how strong demand would be, they allowed those
at the front of the line to get several at a time for multiple tickets. Perhaps
there were just more than 10,000 people down there. Whatever happened, people
got very upset, fights broke out, and it was a major local news story and topic
of call-in radio shows for a week. I believe that over the long haul, this will
be the most valuable Reds SGA, due to difficulty in obtaining it and the player
depicted.
A retail version of this one exists, and it comes in
the same box as the SGA. The retail version does not have the Pepsi logo on the
base. It was sold through Johnny Bench’s own website.
Chris Sabo
They stuck with the 10,000 quantity for this June 14
giveaway, since it was only two weeks after the Bench giveaway and there was
nothing else they can do. Demand was somewhat less than the Bench one, since
Sabo was a good player but not a HOFer. Sabo’s distinctive goggles are the
major feature of this one. It is not exactly easy to come by, nor was the Eric
Davis one given out five weeks later.
Eric Davis
Another one given away in a quantity of 10,000. They
got some details right, like the gold chains and the wristbands. One major
thing was incorrect.
Adam Dunn
The Reds and Pepsi finally realized the value of the
promotion and loosened up on the quantities, issuing 20,000 of youngster Adam
Dunn on August 10. Dunn was an excellent choice, since in spite of striking out
a lot, he’s been the Reds’ most productive hitter over the ensuing years. Dunn
was wearing an up-to-date uniform in this one, with a patch for the final
season at Riverfront/Cinergy.
Pete Rose
This one was not an official Reds event. But since the
Reds had abandoned Cinergy Field at the end of the season, the county was free
to stage an event involving the banned Rose a few days later. They passed out
40,000 bobbles, meaning that essentially every ticket holder was guaranteed
one. The event was a celebrity softball game involving many of the old Big Red
Machine players. Tickets were not exactly cheap, and the concept was kind of
lame, but fans sold the place out in appreciation of everything Pete
accomplished on the field. After all, he never got a good send-off from the
Reds.
There were a lot of these on the secondary market, since
so many were given out, and a lot were given out to ticket scalpers who had
unsold tickets and were desperate to get something in return for them. But
Pete’s popularity keeps these getting decent prices even today. A retail
version exists without the “Farewell to Cinergy” inscription on the back of the
base. Pete also sold a handful of ones identical to the giveaway on his
website. He asked a lot of money for those, so this sale did not affect the
value and probably came from leftovers from the stadium, not a new “batch.”
Notice the lack of a Reds logo due to the ban.