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Henry’s Random Thoughts
About
History
Bobbleheads
originated at some point in the 50’s or 60’s. They were not given out at the
stadium like they are today. They were sold at toy stores or perhaps sold at
the souvenir stand at the stadium. They were packaged in white boxes with generic
labels on them, with a picture of a bobblehead and a
caption that read something like “My Favorite Team.” As a general rule, they
consisted of a generic player in the uniform of a specific team. There were
also ones of team mascots like Mr. Red. Most desirable of the team bobbles are
those where the generic player is black. These were made in much smaller
quantities than their white counterparts and are therefore extremely rare.
Collectors also differentiate by the different type of bases on the bottoms of
the statues, as well as variations on the captions on the bases.
A handful of bobbles were made of some of the biggest
stars of the 60’s, such as Mickedy Mantle and Willie
Mays. As you might guess, they are extremely valuable.
Through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, bobbles continued to
be made for sale as team representatives or of individuals. For the most part,
they had little collector interest, since there was no definite time where the
manufacturer felt compelled to stop making them. As a general rule, ceramic was
the primary medium for the statues, but there were also some cheap plastic
ones.
Bobbleheads
moved into the collector limelight when in 1999, the San Francisco Giants
decided to give away a Willie Mays bobblehead on
Mother’s Day. The first 10,000 fans got them, and they were quite popular. The
emergence of Ebay meant that a market for any
collectible could be made worldwide, and that anyone
could figure out about how much people were paying for it. The Mays bobble was
popular in part because there were a finite number of them.
Other teams got wind of the Giants’ idea. Most
significantly, the Minnesota Twins scheduled four dates where a bobble of a
different Twins hero would be given away in a quantity of 5,000 each. For the
first time, the items could be considered part of a complete set, adding to
their collectible appeal. With the skyrocketing cost of new baseball cards
driving many collectors away, a new collectible was born in the form of the
Stadium Giveaway bobblehead. Unfortunately, the Twins
allotted far too few bobbles for each player, and the things were gone before
most anyone got to the ballpark. Near-riots ensued, and the bobbles achieved
triple-digit prices on Ebay, prompting an even madder
rush for the next one. The level of bad feeling was similar to when tickets to
a hot concert seem unavailable, and derision is heaped upon “scalpers.”
With the dawn of the 2001 season, the Reds caught onto
the SGA bobble craze, and began planning giveaways of their own.
Collecting
The biggest problem with bobbleheads
is the fact that they are fragile. When buying them through the mail, many will
be poorly packed and arrive broken. Sometimes, they might be well-packed and
still arrive broken. Do not assume the seller is bad just because you get a
broken one in the mail. Do, however, ask for a refund or replacement in this
situation. If that isn’t worth the trouble, you can glue parts back on with
ordinary glue and they will look OK, but their value will be diminished
somewhat. If you get them by going to the stadium, be alert when you go through
the gate. Some of them get abused in transit. Look for a mashed box and give
the box a little shake. Excessive rattling could indicate a broken bobble. If
you suspect you have a broken one, ask for a new one. If a surly attendant
tries to brush you off, insist on getting a new one. You deserve it. You bought
the ticket. The team will sometimes exchange broken ones for new ones after the
fact, but this is no sure thing.
If you plan on getting more than one, they will force
you to get them one at a time, then leave via a
designated exit. This is a pain, but the rules are the rules.
Many people will keep the ticket stub from the game
with the bobble. At the very least, you should keep the box and all the packing
materials. The boxes are decorated and are considered part of the product. The
packing materials will help if you ever need to move or pack up the bobbles for
safekeeping.
Beware of “retail” versions of SGA’s.
Especially, with the early, rarer SGA’s, a similar
bobble might have been produced for sale at the team’s gift shop or website.
There are usually differences between the two versions. Typically, an SGA will
have a sponsor logo on it somewhere. For the Reds, that’s usually Pepsi or
Great American Insurance. The retail versions aren’t made in limited quantities
and are therefore less desirable.
Remember that they are not toys. If you want your son
to have a collection of bobbleheads, it is probably
best to put them up until he is in his mid-teens. If the bobbles are played
with, they will eventually break. You will also have shards of ceramic that
could cause bigger problems than a destroyed collectible. There’s the reason
porcelain dolls go up on shelves and little girls get plastic Barbie dolls to
play with.
Where do they come from?
A quick look at the typical SGA will show that a lot
of work goes into these things. They are hand-painted and more than likely are
packed by hand as well. Why would a team give something like that away for a ticket
that might be as cheap as $5? First of all, the team doesn’t pay for them.
There is a sponsor for each one, who will give these away in exchange for
getting their logo on it.
Also, making all of these things by hand isn’t quite
as expensive as you might think. They are an example of a product that takes
advantage of the global economy. The dolls are designed in the
There are a few drawbacks to making them this way.
First of all, you need to know what you need months in advance, and plans are
hard to change. Felipe Lopez was traded shortly after his bobble was passed
out. Sooner or later, a guy will be traded before his bobblehead
game. Who knows what will happen then? Also, Chinese manufacturing is not quite
up to the standards of Western countries. Sometimes, the paint colors are off a
bit or the details just aren’t very good. Finally, when you farm out your
manufacturing, you have the chance that the factory will run a few extra for
its own benefit. If one firm controls the firing of ceramics, the painting and
the printing of the boxes, they can make all the extras they want. But bobble
lovers should not complain. Were it not for cheap, third-world labor, the bobblehead hobby as we know it would not exist.