As I was going through some boxes of my bobbleheads I came across this one and had to grab a couple pictures. Its a prototype from the 2004 NHL All Star Game that was held at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul Minnesota. Several teams had bobbleheads produced, similar to the 2003 MLB ASG Bobbles on Parade. This one depicts the ASG with its surroundings, the Xcel Energy Center as well as other Minnesota themed things. Probably one of the hardest Minnesota related bobbleheads out there.
One of my focuses lately has been on retail bobbleheads. Its hard to know what retail bobbleheads were available 15-20 years ago when all of this took off. Once it did, retail vendors, namely Forever Collectibles (FOCO) grabbed the market and hasn't looked back. Here's a Mauer mini Big Head that I hadn't known about til I saw it.
When it comes to retail bobbleheads in present day, they are fairly easy to get (some are quite limited, but you can find them). Back then I'm unsure how retail bobbleheads hit the market as websites were fairly new at the time and the online space was just getting started in the collecting world.
But a fun new add to the collection!
