Coom-Dog bobblehead

Ron Coomer, former third baseman for the Twins has a bobblehead from when he played for the Joliet Jackhammers in the Frontier League.  It's from 2004 and as is the case - not many of these were given away.  They aren't super popular or valuable, but pretty hard to find, strictly because of the small giveaway numbers.  My buddy Zane told me about this one a long time ago. Figured I'd put it on my "semi-want" list, which basically means...if I can get it for a pretty cheap price, I'd buy it.  I came across it a few weeks ago.  After a shipping mix-up I just received it in the mail about 10 days ago.  Glad I can add this one to my collection!

Malik Sealy Bobblehead

One of my recent additions is a Malik Sealy bobblehead.  This was a giveaway, kind of (more on that later) from St. Johns University where he played collegiate basketball.  If you weren't aware, Sealy played for the Wolves before he tragically died in a car accident in 2000.  Read more about Sealy at his Wikipedia page.

So about the giveaway.  It was scheduled to be a game giveaway on February 21st.  However they weren't shipped  in time for the game.  This brought one huge issue - how were they supposed to still give them to the fans that were in attendance on the night of the 21st?  St Johns decided to have fans stop by the ticket office and use their game ticket to redeem a bobblehead.  I was able to connect with a guy that had tons of Sealy bobblehead night tickets.  He figured he'd ask people for their tickets as they were leaving the game - knowing full well that plenty of fans didn't care for the bobblehead in the first place!

Hughes the Force

Well, well, well...the Twins announced today that they are doing a special ticket bobblehead giveaway in May!  I don't think many people thought this was coming as the Twins haven't been one of the teams to do many of these "Special Event" giveaways.  It's a pretty cool bobblehead tho.

Many teams do special events giveaways based on themes.  The Twins did one last year, on Sid Hartman Day, check it out here & here!  Phil Hughes has a Star Wars themed bobblehead now, complete with lightsaber.  The bobble is named "Hughes the Force."  This is also one of the few bobbleheads that has something "unique" about it.  Obviously thats the lightsaber, compared to most other Twins bobbleheads, they are more classic poses.  This looks to be pretty cool.  And I believe it might be by Success Promotions.  So, if you want one of these, you have to purchase a special ticket package for the game on May 4th.

Minnesota Renaissance Festival Bobblehead

Even the Minnesota Renaissance Festival capitalized on the bobblehead craze in the mid 2000s.  I picked up this bobblehead over the weekend (which I briefly mentioned in my previous blog that you can read here).  I hadn't seen this one before and I still haven't been able to come up with much data surrounding it.  As usually, if any readers know anything about this one, please pass it along so the rest of us can get smarter!

Ratcatcher.  Yep, that's his name.  I haven't been to the Renaissance Festival before so I don't know anything about this guy.  Any information is helpful!

Helping a fellow collector!

Saturday was a fun day for me.  I was able to help out a fellow collector and add a couple bobbleheads to my collection at the same time.  My buddy Joe texted me last week.  He had been in contact with a guy that was looking to sell some bobbleheads.  Joe is a collector first, but secondly, very similar to me, he'll sell items that don't grab his interest.  I'm sure the money he makes from selling goes right back into the collection - huh...sounds exactly like me.  

Anyway, he was curious if I'd help him out with this lot of bobbleheads.  He sent over some pictures and we both tried to determine which bobbleheads were all there and figure out the random ones the best we could.  We met the seller on Saturday and started going through all the bobbleheads.  Each pointing out specific items of note - some had damage, (some fixable, some are better served to be a paper weight...in the bottom of the trash) while others happened to be autographed and then there were the randoms that neither of us had a clue about.  

Joe bought the lot, I bought a handful and we packed them up and were on our way.  I'm glad Joe asked me to help out as it really was a fun day for me.  Anytime I can look at bobbleheads (even if they are bobbles I've seen countless times) it's fun!  And the fact that I was able to help out a little too, made it even better.  I'll post a few more of my new additions this week!  

Collectors Helping Collectors!  

Willmar Stingers Bobbleheads

Another Northwoods League set of bobbleheads.  The Stingers usually do 1 or 2 bobblehead giveaways per season.  These bobbleheads are all from the past few years.  Jordan Smith, Hunter Dozier and Barry the mascot.  I haven't been able to confirm if these are giveaways or retail versions of the bobbleheads...I'm guessing retail tho.  All are great looking bobbleheads!  I don't think Hunter is related to Twins star, Brian Dozier.

Rochester Honkers - Slider Bobbleheads

This isn't a typo and you don't have double vision...well at least I'm guessing you don't.  From what I've been able to tell, many Northwoods League teams do 2 very similar bobbleheads.  This is one of them from the Rochester Honkers and their mascot Slider.  I believe the Slider on the left (in the box) was a retail version.  Usually the giveaways or promotional bobbleheads have some sort of sponsor, which you can see the one on the right has 2 plaques - KROC & Midwest Wireless.  I'm guessing they sponsored the giveaway.  Other than that, its the same exact bobblehead.

Another Sand Gnats Bobblehead!

A few days ago I wrote about a Frank Viola bobblehead that the Savannah Sand Gnats gave out. Read about it here! I know these aren't exactly Minnesota related bobbleheads but since there aren't many Viola bobbleheads out there, I liked the Savannah one quite a bit.  I knew of a Johan Santana bobblehead the Sand Gnats gave out and I recently added it to my collection!  As most of us know, the Twins traded Santana to the Mets in 2008.  Read more about the Santana and the trade here.  Like Viola, the Twins haven't done many Santana bobbleheads and since I had the Viola one, I wanted to add this one so they'd be displayed together!

Free Agency in the Bobblehead World

Question for my loyal readers, I suppose the casual reader can answer this too!  Do you collect a specific team or player?  As you all know, I collect anything Minnesota related.  That means, I collect all bobbleheads of players that have played for Minnesota teams (with Minnesota jerseys) and their minor league affiliates.  Since its the NFL Free Agency frenzy today, it made me think about this question.  For instance, I just added a Kyle Okposo bobblehead that the New York Islanders gave away.  Since he's a former Golden Gopher...and that truly is my passion, I decided to look for giveaways that fall into this category.  For instance, if Eric Decker gets a bobblehead thru the Jets, I might add that one to my collection.  However, if Kevin Love has a Cavs bobble - I will not add that one to my collection.  Perhaps its something with growing up in Minnesota?  I'm not sure what it is, but I certainly lean more towards Gophers and former Gophers than anything else.  What about you?  

Zach LaVine Bobblehead

A few days ago, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum announced it was taking pre-orders for a Zach LaVine bobblehead, celebrating his slam dunk championship at NBA All-Star Weekend.  I know one of the Co-Founders of the Hall, Phil Sklar.  Once I saw the announcement, I immediately emailed him to ask him some questions.  Obviously LaVine has given Timberwolves fans plenty to talk about since his Slam Dunk Championship and apparently the Hall heard much of this talk.  Phil told me they had several inquires for a LaVine bobblehead and decided why not give fans what they want.  Click here to order a LaVine bobblehead!  It's a limited production run of only 144, so get them while you can.  I believe they'll be shipping at some point in July.  Stay tuned for more cool bobbleheads the Hall will be producing.

Now, a little more about the Hall itself...Phil and a buddy of his started this venture about 2 years ago.  They had a vision of creating a bobblehead paradise.  They've made great strides but there is still work to be done.  Eventually the Hall will be located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  It'll house the world's largest collection of bobbleheads and will host several special events and exhibits during the year.  Check out the first link of the blog to learn more about the Hall.

Below are a couple images of the LaVine bobblehead that Phil shared with me.

Gus McDonald Bobblehead

In 2002 Stillwater Motors celebrated their 80th anniversary.  Of course, 2002 was the the height of the bobblehead craze and they decided to dedicate a bobblehead for a long term employee named Gus McDonald.  Gus is the service manager and has been with the dealership since 1949.  Quite an impressive resume and one that is completely deserving of a bobblehead.  Check it out!

High School bobbles? Yes please!

I know there are a handful of Minnesota High School bobbleheads.  There has to be.  I haven't seen many, but since a couple schools have done them, I'm sure a few more have as well!  

I recently added a couple of these to my collection.  I don't know much about either.  The first is from Apple Valley.  I haven't really found any information on this one. The second is Elk River, I know it comes from their football booster club.  Their hockey program also did a bobblehead!  As always, if you know anything about either of these or know other High Schools who have made bobbleheads, please let me know!!  Much appreciated!

Sweet Music

It baffles me why the Twins  haven't done a Frank Viola SGA bobblehead.  The only Viola bobblehead is from the 1987 World Series set.  The Savannah Sand Gnats did a Viola giveaway a couple years ago.  The Sand Gnats are a minor league affiliate for the New York Mets, where Viola was the pitching coach.  But a strange thing happened.  The Sand Gnats didn't get the bobbleheads in time for the giveaway game.  Because of that these are pretty rare and I'm excited I could add one to my collection!

A Loon? Yep...Loony in Minnesota

This one I'm pretty baffled on.  I had seen it once before.  It's Minnesota related, so obviously if I found it, I'd like to add it to my collection.  Since I had only seen on picture of it, I didn't think I'd find it again.  And I wouldn't have been upset by that.  It's a random bobblehead, kinda weird, but still...MN related.  Just a loon.