New Addition - Nordy

As I'm watching the Wild game tonight (they are losing 2-1 right now...the streak is on the line) I figured I should blog about my most recent addition.  It was one of my biggest wants in terms of bobbleheads that I know about.  I believe this Nordy bobblehead was sold at the Hockey Lodge (inside the Xcel Energy Center) several years ago.  The weird thing (and I've always known this) is there were 2000 of these as its numbered on the bottom.  I've been looking for this bobble for well over 3 or 4 years.  Finally was able to find it and add it to the collection.  And I'm damn happy about that!  Go Wild!

New Addition - Eagan Wildcats

Yet another bobblehead I never knew existed until I saw it!  And I'm sure there are plenty of other high school related bobbleheads that are out there.  If you know of any, please let me know!! Obviously I'd love to add it to the collection.  For now, a few new high school bobbles a year will have to do!  Introducing the Eagan Wildcats High School bobblehead!  Not only is it a bobblehead, its also a bobble-belly!

Looking forward to 2017

For the most part, it's not very difficult to find most of the current MN bobbles.  Typically the hardest are theme events and season ticket hold bobbles from the Twins.  So I've been expanding the collection a bit - looking at former minor league affiliates of the Twins.  I've found a few more but a lot of minor league clubs want to promote current players or fan favorites, and lets face it...there aren't a ton of fan favorites when it comes to Twins players from minor league teams.  However, the Salt Lake Bees (formerly the Salt Lake Buzz) did a David Ortiz bobblehead this past season that I previously blogged about.  Those are exactly the kind of bobbleheads I'm adding to my collection now.

Typically the collecting year starts with Twinsfest.  However, one of my favorite days of the year is January 7th.  Also known as National Bobblehead Day.  It'll be trending on pretty much all social media sites and its pretty damn fun to see other collections and specific bobbleheads.  I believe come February the Twins will announce their promotional schedule and we'll learn more about the bobbleheads they plan on doing in 2017!  Their minor league affiliates will most likely start announcing their promos in February or March.

Year in Review

I use to keep a list of goals or wants when it comes to my own bobblehead collection.  That didn't really happen this year.  I continue to want any and all Minnesota related bobbleheads.  I also continue to find new unknown Minnesota related bobbleheads.  I hope that continues for years to come.  I'm positive there were plenty of Minnesota based companies (big and small) that made bobbleheads in the early to mid 2000s.  Those are truly hidden treasures in my mind...not because they are all that valuable, but because they fit exactly what I'm looking for in my collection.

I also find quite a bit of joy from helping others.  There have been a handful of other collectors that I've helped find specific bobbleheads to complete specific sets in their collections (and actually helping a couple right now complete bigger sub-sets in their collections).  I don't find many that I need anymore (just the random ones like I mentioned above) so when I do find something someone wants, I get the same excited feeling I got when I found a bobblehead for my collection!

So if you are looking for something specific, let me know!

Twins 2017 Bobbleheads

The past several years the Twins have sent out emails to season ticket holders regarding giveaway packages they can purchase.  I use to get them through my boss so have known about this opportunity for a while.  It's a great idea for the Twins, selling items that would be given away for free.  Many other pro teams do the same thing.  They usually share a few specific items that are part of the package and that's where bobbleheads come in.

For 2017 there are bobbleheads (yes, plural - which means at least 2) so I'm happy already but based on recent history my hunch is between 3 and 4.  There will also be a theme night Star Wars edition bobblehead.  And lastly there will be another Sweet Spot edition bobblehead.  These are the hardest to come by and usually have a production run between 1000 and 1500.  They are only given to select season ticket holders - making them valuable, hard to find, and of course - expensive.  

Plenty of collectors have discussed possible candidates for the bobbleheads this year.  I really have no clue.  The current team is tough because they are so many unproven players scattered with a few veterans who have recently had bobbles.  For whatever reason the Twins don't like to do bobbles of the same players in consecutive years.  Joe Mauer and Byron Buxton are 2 good bets.  Personally I'd love to see someone like Frank Viola get a bobble, wouldn't a Sweet Music bobble be awesome?  It'll be interesting to see who they come up with!  

Twinsfest 2017

It's that time of year again that the Twins announce details surrounding Twinsfest.  Twinsfest 2017 will be held from January 27th through January 29th.  No surprise there as its typically at the end of January.  More details can be found here.  They'll update that more page with info over the next several weeks and then probably a week or so before the event, they'll release the map and details surrounding the player autograph sessions and other events they have during the weekend.  I typically try to hit up the Friday session with a buddy of mine.  We've had good luck in the past and it should be another fun time.  I was somewhat hoping they'd move to a different location.  Personally, I think its hard for Target Field to handle the event since its not an all enclosed stadium like the dome was. The memorabilia and collectors showcase use to be really good (tons of vendors) but had dropped significantly the past few years because of limited space.  

New Addition - Casey Blake Bobblehead

Here's another new addition I recently picked up for a pretty good price.  Casey Blake (briefly played for the Twins) depicted here in his Indianola High School jersey.  Blake was a stud high school athlete that the Iowa Cubs recognized with a bobblehead (pretty much the ultimate honor, right)!  It's not exactly a Minnesota themed bobble, but since I knew about this one for a while, I've always kept my eyes open for it, tho it was only limited to 1500 and many Iowa fans Im sure have this one sitting on a display because of his local popularity!  

Puckett Autographed Bobblehead

Sometimes you search for specific things and find exactly what you want, sometimes you just get plain lucky (aka - Ploehn luck).  A recent lot of bobbleheads I purchased were several Puckett bobbles.  I think 6 total, but many several were the same one.  From the pictures I received, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Most times when I buy lots of bobbles I spend more time talking to the seller than actually looking at the bobbles.  I know enough about bobbles that after a quick glance I can tell if there is any damage (thats usually the only thing I look for).  For novice collectors, the main things you want to focus on when inspecting a bobblehead is the neck area and base for any chips or cracks.  If its a newer bobble where its not a standard player/mascot standing straight up, you'll want to look at any area that sits further away from the body of the bobble (the more distance the better chance of possible damage).

Once I got them home, I put them on a shelf and didn't think about them for a few weeks.  Then as I was looking thru them, taking a closer look at them...magic happened.  One was autographed.  Even tho I'm not an autograph guy, I know a decent amount about Puckett signatures and also have 2 buddies who know a ton about Puckett auto's.  So, Im pretty sure it's a legit signature and will be staying in my collection.  I believe thats a total of 3 Puckett bobbleheads that I have autographed!