Former Gopher Bobblehead

I had heard of this bobblehead giveaway a couple months ago.  In that time I had to think about whether or not I was going to try to get one.  Kyle Okposo played for the Gophers and I figured, if I could find it for a decent price, I'd pick it up.  I searched for it a few different times on eBay and I never saw it for less than $50.  At that price and since he's wearing his Islanders jersey, I wasn't too interested.  I got lucky tho and emailed a New York seller to see if he was going to have any.  We made a deal and I had my bobblehead.

I believe this was a special giveaway.  First, season ticket holders had the chance to get them and then they sold special tickets (I'm guessing similar to that of the Sid Hartman bobbleheads that were given away last year a Twins game) that fans were able to purchase.

Whew...it's been a while!

I haven't had much time to update the blog the past week or so.  Maui was wonderful, but coming back, work was piled up and I needed to catch up on that as well as get back on a normal sleeping schedule.  Jet lag is a bitch.

I think the next several posts will be new additions.  This is the first of the group.  My buddy Dan was able to help me out with this one.  I've been looking for it for a while.  I don't know a ton about it, but I think it's pretty apparent what the bobblehead is celebrating.  Simply put, 125 years.  Here it is, Tommie from St. Thomas.

This week in...Maui!

Jess and I have been in Maui since the 9th of February.  I expected to have a little downtime here and there and I bought my laptop with me.  The first couple of days were rainy so we stayed in a bit more than we would have liked.  Then a couple days ago there was a huge storm so that also delayed our "beach time" a little bit.

But even while in Maui, it's been a good time for the Bobble Hunter.  I've made a couple deals since I've been here - I'll share those once I get home and receive the bobbleheads!  I've also learned quite a bit from the Twins about the 2015 bobbleheads and received pictures of them all, except Manager Molitor!  Check out this link for updated pictures.  I've also sold several bobbleheads since I've been here.  That was completely unexpected, but anything to help off-set the cost of a Maui vacation is good with me!

What's also good with me...the views.  We drove up to watch the sunset last night from the top of Mount Haleakala.  At just over 10,000 feet we saw a pretty amazing sunset.  What sucks...we were absolutely freezing...when the temp was a balmy 52 degrees.  What sucks even more...we leave in 2 days and have to go back to the frigid temps of Minnesota...where as I write this, its a whopping 8 degrees...but hey, at least its 8 above zero!

Again, with views like this...and weather mainly in the 70s and low 80s...I wish our vacation wasn't ending but!

2015 Minnesota Twins Bobblehead Giveaway Days!

Earlier today the Twins released their full promotional schedule, including all giveaway days for the bobbleheads!  Click the link above to be redirected directly to the full schedule.  Without further ado, here they are!

Paul Molitor - Friday, June 19th (10,000)

No Picture Available

Phil Hughes - Saturday, July 11th (10,000)

Brian Dozier - Saturday, July 25th (10,000)

Twins 1965 Vintage - Saturday, August 1st (10,000)

I believe Molitor, Hughes and Dozier will all be produced by Success Promotions and the 1965 Vintage style will be made by BDA.  Once I get a picture of the Molitor bobblehead, I'll be sure to post it!  

Surprise addition to the Twins 2015 Bobblehead Lineup

Today the Twins announced another one of their 2015 promotions.  For the 2nd day in a row, its a bobblehead.  Yesterday I blogged about the Brian Dozier bobblehead.  I figured Phil Hughes and Paul Molitor would get some Twitter love when the Twins did their TweetPeek of their bobbleheads, but so far, they haven't.  Today's TweetPeek is a Vintage style looking bobblehead boy.  Several other MLB teams have done this vintage style giveaways in years past, but the Twins haven't, until now. Here's the picture!

Also, after sending a couple emails I have a bit more information on the Brian Dozier bobblehead.  The look of it made it appear to be a Forever Collectibles bobblehead.  Good news (at least for me) it's not!  It's from Success Promotions.  They also did the Dozier STH bobble and the Wild set from last year.  I'm a fan of their work and am glad the Twins used them for Dozier again in 2015.  I'm not sure who did the Vintage bobble, it looks like a TEI (Twins Enterprises) but I have a feeling, its not.  Once I get more info on that...I'll let you know!

Oh and this was my view last night...and hopefully will be the same exact view for the next 10 evenings.  Maui Sunset...nothing better.  

Brian Dozier SGA Bobblehead

It's 10:17 where I'm at right now (Maui)...rainy but beautiful.  Doing a little work at the moment and got this picture that my buddy Zane sent me.  It's the first bobblehead the Twins have released.  Brian Dozier giveaway on July 25th.  It certainly appears to be a Forever Collectibles bobblehead, the base is a dead giveaway.  I've sent a couple emails to try to confirm that.  I'll update the blog once I learn more.  Here's the picture!

Oh...and I'm not missing the snow that Minneapolis is getting right now one bit.  I might not blog much over the next 10 days...and there is good reason for it.  I'm on vacation right now, but I will be working a little bit and on rainy days...I'll try to blog now and then.  Back to regular blogging on February 23rd.  

Bobblehead buys...gone wrong!?! Suspicious to me!

I don't buy a ton of bobbleheads - at least not compared to some collectors out there but this has happened to me, and I'm sure to some of you at some point in the past.  It's beyond frustrating and to me, just downright wrong.  

I was recently reading posts on a bobblehead group and one of them was about this exact situation. 

Here's the background...You bid on a bobblehead on eBay, watch it until the item ends.  eBay says you won the bobblehead.  You pay for it and wait for the seller to update the item with shipping and tracking information.  That doesn't happen for a day or 2.  You get an email from the seller saying something along the lines of "sorry but the bobblehead fell off the counter and broke, I'll refund you your money."  At which point, you probably aren't happy and probably somewhat frustrated.  You get your refund and move on with life.  

My question - did the dog really eat the seller's homework?  I'm 100% confident in saying that at times, yes, the dog did eat the homework.  I'm also 100% confident in saying, quite often that homework, err...the bobblehead (that you won) is in perfectly fine condition and in the hands of someone else or in a box heading somewhere else.  Some seller's on eBay (and Craigslist too) make this move.  Another buyer comes along within 12-24 hours of the auction ending on eBay and offering a price above the one you won the bid at.  Seller sees more money, takes more money, refunds you your money and everyone...but the buyer, is happy. 

But, at least you got your money back, right?  Frustrating tho, right?  It happens.  I completely sympathize with any buyer that goes through this.  And I completely despise any seller who does. I've had multiple opportunities to sell something for a higher price, but I've never done it and never will do it.  Once I make a deal, in my mind, it's a done deal.  Story closed, that bobblehead is no longer for sale.  I've held bobbleheads for months for guys that I've done deals with in the past.  I have no problem doing that.  If I haven't dealt with someone before, they don't get the same type of treatment. But I'll never make that type of play.  

I've also had similar things happen.  For instance, guy responds to craigslist ad, says he wants items A, B and 4.  (like what I did there?) :)  We agree on price.  He says he's not local and he doesn't have paypal (suspicious in this day and age, especially when you are looking at other state's craigslist ads). I tell him thats fine, send me a check.  I'll hold the bobbleheads for a few days (giving the post office a day or 2 extra).  Check never arrives.  I email potential buyer, tell him, he says it went out on a specific day.  I wait 3 business days from then.  At this point, 95% chance he's lying.  100% chance I'll never do business with him again.  

Just some food for thought on a sunny Friday in Minneapolis.  Try not to get too offended or frustrated when this happens...but know that most of us sympathize with you!  Happy Friday!  

Couple new finds

If you haven't checked out the "New Additions" slideshow in the past week or so, do it!  Just click on the link.  I plan on blogging about a few of things in more detail over the next couple of weeks. Mainly just doing a bit more research on a few of them now.  Honestly, I didn't think I'd find much until baseball season starts...as the winters in Minnesota usually keep people inside.  But over the last few weeks, I've had a pretty good run!  Below are 2 different Sliders from the Rochester Honkers in the Northwoods League!

Bad call?

Since most of the sports world is talking about the horrendous call that Seattle made...to lose the Super Bowl, I thought it would be fun...err...interesting...err...well we've all made bad calls and I'm going to share a couple of mine.  Hindsight is 20-20 but dammit sometimes it'd be nice to know what's really sitting in front of you.

2 situations stand out for me.  If I knew what I knew now...at the time I was in this situation, my collection would have an additional 120-130 bobbleheads!  This happened early on when I was collecting.  I had responded to a craigslist ad for Twins bobbleheads.  If you've read previous blog posts, you'll know my passion started with Goldy bobbleheads but quickly moved to Twins bobbleheads.  The guy selling them had several and invited me over to look over them and pick out the ones I wanted.  I had no idea what I was getting into.  He had lots of Twins and a ton of other random bobbleheads, many Minnesota related.  Since I didn't know, at the time, that I was going to end up collecting all these random Minnesota ones, I focused solely on the Twins.  The prices were extremely fair too as he was just happy they were going to another collector.

I'm sure my wife doesn't mind that I missed out on this opportunity.  She'll probably smile and say "Thank God" under her breath or something...when she reads this.  That is...if she ever reads this thing!  And yes...I did go back to the guy and see if he had any of those still available and unfortunately he told me he sold all of them to a local dealer.

My second bad call has a very similar feel to the first.  I was a newbie at garage sales.  I noticed one that wasn't that much out of the way for me, so I stopped by on my way home from work.  I scoured their entire sale and only came across 2 bobbleheads.  The ad said "tons of bobbleheads."  Obviously they were genius marketing wizards, right?  Wrong...I asked about the bobbleheads.  The lady chuckled and responded with..."oh, most of them were sold this morning, when they are all under $5 each, they go quick!"  I pretty much kicked my own ass on the way back to my car.  The 2 that were left...Delmon Young, both versions (SGA & STH), I figured he deserved to sit on that table a while longer.