2014 TC Bear Bobbleheads

Back in 2014, the Minnesota Twins hosted MLB's All Star Game.  It was a week long party and plenty of stuff for fans to enjoy and see.  Of course there were bobbleheads.  3 mini bobbleheads were given away on 3 different mornings at Fanfest.  Joe Mauer, Tony Oliva and TC Bear.  TC was only given to kids under 13 (maybe 14) and they were pretty strict about that.  1000 bobbles of each were produced.  Mauer and Oliva were gone within 20-30 minutes of Fanfest opening.  There were plenty of TC's leftover.  And the TCs you found on eBay sold pretty quickly.  Ultimately the Twins sold the rest of them at Twinsfest a couple years later.  

What is unknown, by many collectors is the full version of TC that was sold during All Star Week.  These bobbleheads weren't numbered but I have a feeling that less than 300 were produced, most likely either 144 or 288.  I never saw one that week and I went to a few different events, including the ASG itself (thanks to one of my best friends, Matt).  

I've meant to show the difference of these 2 bobbles for a while.  As I know several people are looking for the full version and usually the mini version comes up.  So here is a picture showing both!  As you can see they are quite similar, for the most part, the same pose, but a different base and obviously different height.  The full version is definitely one of the harder to find TC Bear bobbleheads!  

Twinsfest & more

Twinsfest has come and gone.  I'm not the type of collector that waits in lines for autographs or to meet current, former or future Twins.  I do enjoy the crowd that packs Target Field, everyone rushing this way or that to get into a line for a favorite of theirs.  I think its pretty amazing to see some collector's "maps" of how they get to as many lines as they can.  The memorabilia area was typical for Target Field, not a ton, but several good booths.  The yard sale was also typical...plenty of "stuff" and I found a few gems.  I actually think the new area for it worked out well and it wasn't as much of a clusterfuck as it has been in the past. 

As for new stuff...I am planning on blogging more often/frequently than I have been.  Usually the end of the year is pretty slow, which it was for 2017 but I did find out a few things that I'll start blogging about soon. 

I'll also update the upcoming 2018 bobbleheads as well. 

Michael Cuddyer Bobblehead Day

Last night was Carew bobblehead day and today is Michael Cuddyer bobblehead day at Target Field. Cuddyer is depicted saluting the fans at Target Field, also a fan favorite and the most recent inductee into the Twins Hall of Fame, this is a great looking bobblehead.  Success Promotions has had an excellent run with their Twins bobbles this year (no surprise to me).  

Rod Carew Bobblehead Day

Tonight is Rod Carew bobblehead day at Target Field.  It's the beginning of a very busy and fun giveaway/promo weekend for the Twins.  Carew is a fan favorite and the bobblehead (produced by Success Promotions) is one of the best yet!  The powder blue jersey, the iconic batting stance and the silver bat - one word...superior!

New Addition - TC Bear 2010 Edition

Here's one of my latest new additions.  TC Bear.  This is a Target Field exclusive.  It was sold at the Majestic team store during during the inaugural season of Target Field in 2010.  Definitely the hardest TC Bear bobblehead to find.  The team usually has a variety of Twins bobbles available for purchase and in 2010 they did a set of 3 of them.  Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer also had bobbles that year.  Their bases are all the same too which is why I wanted the set, plus the rarity adds to it!

TC Bear Bobblehead Day

It's hear!  TC Bear Bobblehead day at Target Field.  Today the Twins will giveaway 10,000 bobbleheads of their beloved mascot, TC Bear.  This is sure to be a popular giveaway with all fans because everyone loves the bear!  As I mentioned previously, Success Promotions did the bobble and its awesome!

Sneak Peek - TC Bear Bobblehead

The Twins are giving away a TC Bear mascot bobblehead on August 6th!  It's a great looking bobblehead, which shouldn't be surprising since Success Promotions is producing it!  First 10,000 fans get one and I'm sure the kids will love it!  Check out the picture below!

New Addition - Rocket Raccoon

One of the newest of new additions to my collection.  I've blogged about this one a couple times. The Twins (along with a handful of other MLB teams) gave away Rocket Raccoon bobbleheads last Saturday.  The new Guardians of the Galaxy movie dropped last weekend and the Twins (and Marvel) celebrated that with this Guardians of the Galaxy themed bobble.  It does have a nice sturdy base but wouldn't be surprised if we hear about some breakage with his tiny little ankles.

Rocket Raccoon Twins Bobblehead

Remember the first Twins giveaway bobblehead is in a couple weeks.  Rocket Raccoon in Twins colors will make his appearance on May 6th.  10,000 of these will be handed out to fans who walk through the Target Field gates that day.  See my previous blog post here!

Complete List of Twins 2017 Bobbleheads

I posted individually about the bobbles the Twins are doing this season.  Here's the complete list of giveaway bobbles.

Rocket Raccoon (Guardians of the Galaxy) - May 6th
Brian Dozier Storm Trooper (Star Wars Night) - June 21st
TC Bear Bobblehead - August 6th
Rod Carew Bobblehead - August 18th
Michael Cuddyer HOF Bobblehead - August 19th

I'll update the blog as soon as I can once more details (and pictures) are revealed.  Typically pictures aren't available until closer to the giveaway date as I'm sure the Twins are only in initial stages right now of developing and creating each bobblehead with the vendor.  I believe (and I'm very happy to have this belief) Success Promotions will be doing several of the bobbles, I can't say for certain that it'll be all of them, but at least a few!

Twinsfest 2017

Twinsfest came and went with little fanfare, unfortunately.  I saw a report that only about 14,000 people gathered this past weekend (total of all 3 days)!  I know the Twins hope for many more people than that, especially during a 3 day event.  They did announce that Twinsfest 2018 will also be held at Target Field but could be a week earlier than normal (due to the Super Bowl being in town).  And then the event could shift to a different venue.  I do think attendance could grow if the venue is changed.  Target Field is a beautiful ballpark but its not a great venue to host such an event (since its in the winter).

I was able to buy a few things this year, nothing great tho.  The best part of the trip was bumming around with my buddy Killer for the night on Friday.

Twinsfest

Oof!  It's been a while since I blogged.  That's kinda what happens when there is a 6 month old at home.  Lots of time for her and not much for most other things.  The countdown to Twinsfest has begun.  I know a lot of collectors are excited for it...I see posts daily in various facebook groups. Most of those posts entail autographs, and from my point of view, thats a huge part of Twinsfest (probably the sole reason that many people go).  Fortunately for me, I'm not an autograph guy and therefore don't have to stand in various lines for hours upon hours.  I'll bum around with a buddy of mine, have a couple beers and just walk around one of the best stadiums in MLB.  I've never been a huge fan of Twinsfest at Target Field, but its also cool to be at Target Field in the middle of winter.

New Addition - Target Field Replica

I've been hunting for this stadium replica for quite a while.  I've known about it for a long time but have only seen it in pictures.  I thought I was possibly going to acquire it through a friend of a friend who has connections with the Twins, but the Twins employee who owned it couldn't part with it.  This is not the SGA version.  You'll notice 2 main differences, the first is on the outside base - it says "Target Field Inaugural Season 2010" in gold and the second difference is on the bottom where its numbered out of 1122.  There is 1 more difference, but hard to tell through pictures, it's actually significantly bigger than the SGA replica.  The story behind this is that the Twins had these made and gave them to Twins employees during the 2010 season.   

New Addition - Justin Morneau Target Field Exclusive

One of my latest additions is a Justin Morneau bobblehead.  I actually didn't know about this bobblehead until I found it.  I knew about its "set-mates" (Joe Mauer and TC Bear) as the Bear is one of my most wanted (yeah yeah, I'll update my want list at some point soon).  I believe this is a set of 3 that was only available at the Majestic Team Store at Target Field in 2010.  Pretty sweet bobble and I specifically like it because of the base!

Torii Hunter Bobblehead Day

The Twins are giving away 10,000 Torii Hunter Hall of Fame bobbleheads today!  Torii is a big time fan favorite and I'm guessing people will be down at Target Field a bit early today.  This one will be especially collectible for a variety of reasons.  Let's start with the obvious - it's Torii.  People love him.  Second, its known as a "wall catch" bobblehead.  Plenty of collectors of subsets in their collection for specific types of bobbleheads, the "wall catch" bobbles fit that subset.  Another subset that some collectors love is a the "hall of fame" aspect.  Even tho its just the Twins Hall of Fame, it's still an HOF and other collectors will want it for this.  A third subset category is the "Gold Glove" touch.  Hunter was a wonderful defensive center fielder and won 9 consecutive Gold Glove awards and several collectors love their "Gold Glove" subset!  Lastly, Torii has been a fan favorite everywhere he's went, so he has plenty of fans outside of Minnesota.  I think the Twins did a really good job with this bobble!

Ervin Santana Bobblehead

Remember the Twins are giving away an Ervin Santana bobblehead tomorrow!  Even tho the team isn't very good, the bobblehead itself is pretty cool.  Their new "red jersey" looks super sweet.

It's real - Joe Mauer & Justin Morneau Dual Bobblehead - Red Base

I've had a few people inquire about this bobblehead over the past month or so and have seen several others chat about it on various forms of social media, specifically Facebook.  I've been meaning to take some pictures of mine and blog about it, but this just ramped up my willingness to dig mine out.

I'll start by saying I don't know a ton about this bobblehead.  I've only heard stories and haven't been able to get second and third confirmations of said stories.  Since its a red base bobblehead, I'm pretty confident that these were only given to season ticket holders.  That's where my confidence ends in accurately sharing the story behind this bobble.  I've been told 2 different stories - both relating to the purchase of season tickets.  I believe these were given to season ticket holders in 2009 (to those renewing their seats for the first season at Target Field) or in 2010.

Story 1 - Twins gave this rare bobblehead set to people who had season tickets either for a long long time or purchased season tickets in some of the most expensive locations at Target Field.

Story 2 - The Twins gave the bobble to new season ticket holders who purchased their ticket plan at "The Great Minnesota Get-Together" (Minnesota State Fair).

I tend to believe the 2nd story more as I'm sure during a day 10 period, near the end of the baseball season, not many fans were thinking about purchasing season ticket plans.  No matter where this bobble came from, its definitely one of my favorite bobbleheads the Twins have done!

Twinsfest 2016

Twinsfest 2016 has come and gone.  I wasn't nearly as fortunate as I was last year or even the year prior (it's first year at Target Field).  It was still fun and I took advantage of a few decent deals.  I went into it thinking about different things I'd do, but the major focus of Twinsfest is the autograph seekers, the lines they stand in and the areas the players sit in, ready to scribble their name hundreds of times.

I have to think, even tho the Twins would love to keep Twinsfest at Target Field for several more years, the whole 3 day event would be much better served at a larger venue.  I think US Bank Stadium would be a great fit.  I've been fortunate enough to see detailed plans and maps of how the Vikings plan to draw larger events like Twinfest and it almost makes too much sense.  Everything is so clustered at Target Field, since the Twins can only truly use the space behind the dugouts and the Club level as everything else is outside.  And moving this event to a bigger space such as the Vikings stadium would help solve several issues.

Twitter & Facebook lit up with pictures and posts from the weekend and it was fun to see a lot of baseball related stuff in January!

TwinsFest 2016

A little over a month ago it was announced via Twitter that TwinsFest would be held at Target Field the last weekend of January.  Friday the 29th through Sunday the 31st.  There is always plenty to do and see at TwinsFest.  This will be it's 3rd year at Target Field.  I believe the Twins want to make it an even bigger event than it already is.  Unfortunately Target Field can't take much more, although I'd move some of the events and and autograph signings to different areas within the stadium.  I believe certain areas could be better utilized.  As we get closer, I'm sure the Twins will make a formal announcement and share more and more information about the weekend, with of course the autograph signings being the main thing people (except, yours truly) are most interested in!

Remember, the event provides a huge charitable donation to the Twins Community Fund!

Joe Mauer Target Field Exclusive Bobblehead

I had seen this bobblehead before...a while ago, its a Forever Collectibles bobblehead, which if you are an avid reader of mine...you'll know I'm not a huge fan of FC bobbles.  I believe (and readers, correct me if I'm wrong) this Joe Mauer bobblehead was sold at Target Field in 2010.  I've asked people at the team store and other Twins officials and nobody really knows anything about it.  But using my wonderful Jackson Minnesota math education, I'm putting 2 and 2 together and getting 4. Usually Forever Collectible bobbleheads are retail bobbles.  The fact that the base reads "Inaugural Season 2010 Target Field" leads me to believe that its certainly a Target Field exclusive or perhaps a Target (store) exclusive to MN.  Feel free to reply to the post with more information if you have it!