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Henry’s Random Thoughts
2019 Cincinnati Reds SGA Bobbleheads
Eight Bobbleheads Given Away in 2019
Fans went into the 2019 season
with a bit more optimism than they had in the previous few years, as there was
an attempt in the offseason to improve the team. They unloaded the unpopular
Homer Bailey and the last year of his contract, and they picked up some
veterans in the process. While some of the veterans didn’t work out, they wound
up with Sonny Gray and the fan favorite Yasiel Puig. When it came to the bobbles, though, they are leaning
heavily on their past this year, with six former players, a mascot, and only
one current player, the aforementioned Puig. The
all-time great bobbles are in recognition of the 150th anniversary
of the 1869 Red Stockings, although you will have to go to the Reds Hall of
Fame to get a bobblehead of anyone actually on the
Red Stockings. The past player bobbles will line up to form a common
background. All in all, this is the best selection of bobbles since 2015, when
they did the Stars of the Queen City series. 2016 to 2018 were lukewarm years
to put it kindly, but on the field and in the promotions department, a comeback
seems to be in the offing.
The giveaways are packed
into May and June, then another burst of them in late
July, followed by one each in August and September.
May 4-Mr. Redlegs Bobblehead
The first bobblehead os of Mr. Redlegs decked out in 1969 style, or at least he is in
terms of shirt and pants. The hat isn’t quite a match, but I can’t quibble too
much. The 1869 hat would have probably looked kind of plain on Mr. Redlegs. This one was sponsored by Skyline and was quite
popular, drawing more interest other mascot bobbles have.
May 18-Ernie Lombardi Bobblehead
The first bobble of an
actual player was given out two weeks later, and was of the Reds’ only Hall of
Famer from the thirties and forties, Ernie Lombardi. It’s nice to see them reach
back in time to find someone from before the Machine days, as they have seldom
done so. The number of people alive today who saw Lombardi play is small and
getting smaller by the day, but Reds fans have been told about his exploits by
our grandparents. My personal favorite story is that when he was upset with
what some pitcher was doing, he’d catch a pitch bare-handed to show his
disgust.
June 1-Joe Morgan Bobblehead
The second player bobble was
the ever-popular Joe Morgan in a fielding pose. You can begin to see how the
backgrounds come together, looking at this one and the previous one. You can
also see that there’s a brief summary of the player’s career with the Reds on
the back.
June 15-Barry Larkin Bobblehead
June 18-Yasiel Puig Bobblehead
The photos here are ones
that a friend sent me. I was on vacation when this one came out and had to rely
on some other friends to get some of them. These were very strong sellers on
eBay. Generally speaking, it’s the weirder the better when it comes to bobbles,
so a guy sitting on a horse and flexing is going to be a winner, especially
when most of the others this year are bland standing poses that might as well
be statues of saints in church. Puig was traded July
31 after less than a season with the Reds, but this bobble was still quite
popular afterwards. He’s sure to get a few cheers if he comes back to the
stadium in a new uniform.
July 20-Eugenio Suarez Funko Pop
Sorry for the stock-type
photo here, I lost the photo I took originally and didn’t keep one of these for
myself. Nothing against these things, but everything takes up some space, so
you can’t keep ‘em all. These are interesting because
they passed one of these out in 2018 and one in 2019, and they had two planned
for 2020. These may not replace bobbleheads as
giveaways, but they might stand side-by-side with them at the top of the heap
of most popular giveaways someday. One gimmick with these is that they produce
several hundred gold versions of them and randomly insert them. The gold ones
draw pretty solid money on eBay, so there’s a dedicated collecting base out
there somewhere. Your odds of getting a gold one are something like 1 in 40 or
1 in 50, but there are plenty of bad gamblers out there who will be drawn to
this promo by the idea that it is surely they who will beat the odds.
July 27-Tony Perez Bobblehead
August 17-Johnny Bench Bobblehead
September 7-Ken Griffey Jr. Bobblehead
