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!  

Closer Look - Twins Hall of Fame Bobbleheads

So I wanted to take a closer look at the most wanted Twins bobblehead set in the history of bobbleheads.  Everyone was thrilled when the Twins announced this set was being produced and I talked it up big time.  From those with direct knowledge I was lead to believe these bobbleheads would be awesome and holy shit, they didn't disappoint.  

If I could create/design bobbleheads, the detail (to me) is what sets bobbleheads apart from one another.  As bobbleheads have gotten more and more popular and more and more teams/towns/events are doing them, the quality has suffered.  Typically not to a great degree but the detail has been minimized.  The raised lettering of a player's name or logo on their chest or number on their jersey - typically those are all stickers or decals.  

Below is the Earl Battey bobblehead, completely detailed with his catcher gear.  All of that is raised, the straps on his back and legs.  Sometimes nowadays those are just a different color.  The TC is also raised on his helmet as is his jersey number.  The detail is just amazing.  And while there are little paint issues, to me thats what reminds all of us that these things are hand painted - and I would never say a bobblehead is in "mint" condition.  

Next, the quality of the box, maybe not a big deal to some, but I absolutely love the graphics boxes that most teams use these days.  Thats something that has come along way and from what I know, isn't a significant expense over the plain white box.  Also each bobblehead has its own full styrofoam holder - which is something I like more than the plastic clamshells. Yes - its messier but I think in the long run, it keeps much better than plastic and in general I believe it protects the bobblehead better.  The bottom of the base has a nice touch with the Twins 20th Anniversary logo stamped on it!  

Lastly, the overall appearance and quality of the bobblehead.  You can see that the name is raised on the front (and even tho I didn't picture it) the Twins HOF induction year on the back is also raised.  One of my favorite pieces of detail is on the base of the bobbles - the HOF logo, which is on a raised little block and then the decal is slid onto the block.  

All of this begs to ask one simple question.  What happens when the 2021 inductees are named.  I can only hope/beg the Twins will release bobbleheads of them that will slide right next to these 34 marvelous bobbleheads.  Joe Mauer is a lock and his bobblehead absolutely belongs next to this group.  I'd also say TC Bear should be a lock at some point.  TC is an iconic mascot (no matter who is inside the bear suit).  I can only imagine how sweet a TC Bear bobblehead would be sitting alongside the other HOF members.