Sneak Peek - Jackie Mitchell Bobblehead

The Lookouts have done it again!  Another awesome bobblehead, this year, they are giving away a Jackie Mitchell bobblehead this Saturday!  Get your tickets here!  To learn more about Jackie Mitchell, click her name.  AGP produced this bobble and as you know, I'm a fan of theirs, so I'm sure the bobble will be nice and solid!

New Addition - Rocky

Here's another recent addition.  Rocky from the New Britain Rock Cats, former Twins affiliate.  If you have read my blog for a while, you'll know that a lot of minor league teams did 2 versions of the same bobblehead.  The first is the giveaway version (which this is) and the second is the retail version. Typically the only difference is the addition of a sponsor plaque.  I've had the retail version of this one for a while, but recently was able to add the SGA version to the collection!

Nebraska Mascot Pepsi One Bobblehead

This is a recent addition to my collection, but its replacing the one I had previously.  I have one complete set of these pepsi one mascot bobbleheads.  However, since I completed it, I've always been looking to upgrade my Nebraska bobble.  The reason...he doesn't hear so well, as he's missing an ear. Now I have 1 complete set with all bobbleheads in really nice condition.  I've blogged about these Pepsi One bobbles previously, which you can check out here and here.

Twins Top 10 List - #1

For those of you who know about this bobblehead, it was probably pretty easy to guess at it being number 1 on this list.  This is a real bobblehead and it was a gift to specific people who attended Carl Pohlad's 90th birthday party.  Only close friends and extremely high ranking Twins officials were invited.  Production run on these is said to be 50.  Good luck finding one and if you do, expect to pay an arm and both legs.  Limited to only 50 is absolutely crazy.

Twins Top 10 List - #6

I had a hard time placing this one within the top 10.  It'd definitely a top 10 Twins bobble, but it could have easily been number 4 and probably could have been 8 or 9 too.  I think there are a few reasons in my head that it end up at number 6.  First off, this is a retail bobblehead, typically this means it isn't rare nor valuable.  However, in this case, the Minnie & Paul dual is definitely both rare and valuable.  It's limited to 1008 and was sold for a sweet $29.99.  Hindsight says I should have bought every damn one of these that I could!  However, I didn't find my first set until a couple summers ago, at a garage sale.  Lots of collectors love this Twins bobble, many will say this is the best Twins bobblehead out there, its a nice heavy, well painted, solid AGP bobble!  

Custom Jim Kaat - Powder Blue Jersey

I've been putting together a little collection of custom powder blue jersey Twins bobbleheads, this is the latest in that series.  Jim Kaat.  I definitely like how this one turned out and the red base on it really pops.  None of these custom bobbleheads are easy and they are definitely time consuming.  

New Addition - Sylvia Fowles

Here's the latest addition to my collection - a Sylvia Fowles bobblehead.  I've blogged about this one recently and just picked up mine today.  First time the Lynx have done a specialized box and as you all know, I'm a fan of them.  I understand the plain white boxes, but a nice box like this, letting you know what bobblehead is inside just adds a little!  As usual, the Lynx did a great job with the bobble, nothing crazy, but a classic basketball bobblehead.

Sneek Peak - Sylvia Fowles Bobblehead

Back in May I blogged about the Sylvia Fowles bobblehead the Lynx are giving out later this month (August 28th).  I've got a picture of it now and happy to show it off, just like all other recent Lynx bobbles, this is another solid one, and I'm pretty sure its by AGP.  Check it out!

Pepsi One Mascot Bobbleheads (Update)

Back in 2014 I wrote a blog about the Pepsi One Mascot Bobblehead Set.  It's one of my most read blog entries.  Click here to review it!  I've been contemplating writing another blog relating to this bobblehead set and today is the day.  Why would I blog about it a second time, besides it being a popular read and a popular set, I do have some new information.

Hopefully you clicked the link above because I'm not restating much from the previous blog.  I've been helping several different collectors complete this collection.  I think at the moment it stands at 5 different people that are searching for these bobbles and I've completed the set for another 4-5 people. I wouldn't be surprised if more people contacted me looking for specific bobbleheads from this set, as I do come across them fairly regularly.  You'll see from the previous blog that a lot of the extras ended up in Maple Plain, MN.

I met one of the guys that "saved" hundreds of these bobbleheads.  Him and a buddy of his were working out of this warehouse when several of the warehouse workers were dumping box after box of these into the dumpster.  He literally asked them to stop what they were doing as he wanted to take them all home if they were simply going to be thrown away.  After getting the "ok" from management, he saved hundreds (if not a thousand) of these mascot bobbles.  Between him and his friend they estimate they each took home between 30 and 60 boxes.  And when I say "boxes" I mean shipping boxes that contained anywhere between 18 and 24 bobbleheads in each box.  That number adds up pretty quickly, eh?

Since I try to be as accurate as possible, I was thrilled to have met this guy and get his first hand account of what happened.  I had heard the same story through other sources but never from THE source, which is what I wanted.  Here are a couple pictures of the set, missing one (Kansas State).

Coming Soon - 2016 Minnesota Twins Bobbleheads

In just a couple days, we'll know more about the bobbleheads the Twins plan on giving away this season.  So far we know of one - I wrote about it earlier this week, check it out here.  That means there are 3 more bobbleheads coming (as I've been told there are 4 giveaway dates) plus a special event Star Wars themed bobblehead giveaway.  My hunch is we'll only find out about the 3 regular giveaways and the special event bobblehead info will be released later, maybe even in-season.

The full promotional schedule is set to be released on Monday.  I'll blog that day, but it'll most likely be a short and concise blog since I'll be at work!  I'm also interested in finding out who will be producing the bobbleheads - will the Twins work with Success Promotions again (I'm a fan of their work) or possibly will they renew their relationship with AGP?  My hope is its between those 2 groups!

Doug Simunic Bobblehead

Here's a new addition to the collection, finally found it for something less than a small fortune - Doug Simunic, the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks manager!  This has been on my Want List for a while, but never near the top because I knew at some point I'd find one for less than $20 as thats what they typically sell for - when they sell.  It's a nice heavy AGP bobble!

Lee Corso Pepsi One Bobblehead

I finally completed the Pepsi One Set.  Click here to read more about it.  This is one of the hardest sets to put together.  I recently picked up this Lee Corso bobblehead to finish off the set.  This is the 2nd Corso I've had...the first one I had was damaged and I wanted a better one.  I didn't think it'd take nearly 18 months to find my 2nd one, but at least...I have a complete set.  You notice the link only talks about the mascots in this collection.  There are 3 announcers (all on College GameDay now) in this set.  Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler.

ESPN Bobbleheads - 2 versions

I've been looking at these ESPN bobbleheads for quite a while.  Obviously they don't really fit into the "Minnesota" theme of my collection, but they are classic AGP bobbleheads and I've always really liked the look of them.  I'm not sure why there are a couple different versions, one is obvious, celebrating the 25,000 episode of SportCenter.  I dont think either set is too tough to find and there are a couple other ESPN related bobbles I'd like to pick up.

Goldy Bobbleheads - Alumni Variations

Next up in my Goldy bobblehead blog series are 2 variations of Alumni bobbleheads.  From what I know, both of these were given out by the Alumni Association.  I'm not sure the reason behind the 2 variations of this bobble as its quite subtle, but for those collectors who want all forms of a specific bobblehead, these are must haves.  As you can see, the only difference is the M on Goldy's chest.

1 on 1 - AGP (Part 2 of 2)

Part 2 of 2

I’m assuming the Twins were the first team from MN to contact you to produce bobbleheads?  Do you remember anything about that? 

I wasn’t with AGP when the Twins started with us back in, 2002 I believe?  I was with a rival company, and we were also making bobbles for the Twins.  My past company made a series of 4” mini bobbles that McDonalds gave away with the Twins.  That competition is actually what got me to come to AGP...I was taking sales from Malcom.   See, competition IS good! Actually I’m old school.  This may be my favorite Twins bobble.

What other Minnesota based teams/companies have you produced bobbleheads for?

The Wild, the Swarm (Lacrosse), and the vast majority of minor league baseball and hockey teams in Minnesota...oh...and Jesse Ventura (though I can’t find a photo for you...sorry about that).

My interview with Todd was exceptional.  I had a ton of fun with it and I don't think he really minded it either (hopefully he enjoyed it too).  It's really interesting getting to learn more about the production side of things.  I'm sure some of you knew this by doing a custom bobblehead (to be honest, my wife knew more about that side of things than me - because she's now made me 2 custom bobbleheads).

I'm planning on touching base with Todd again in the near future.

1 on 1 - AGP (Part 1 of 2)

I briefly mentioned this a few weeks ago, I recently had a 1 on 1 with Alexander Global Promotions' National Sales Director, Todd Goldenberg.  I've finally had the time to write a blog regarding our discussion.  It'll be a 2 part blog as the discussion is fairly involved.

As many of you know from reading my blog, AGP is my favorite producer of bobbleheads.  The work they do is incredible and they are super creative.  A lot of us Twins fans had heard that AGP went out of business and I kept seeing new or newer bobbleheads that were produced by AGP.  I figured I'd take the initiative and reach out to someone at AGP and see if I could get an interview. Luck was on my side and Todd was gracious enough to give me a few minutes of his time.  AGP is going strong and has been for 18 years!  Enjoy!

Part 1 of 2

You’ve been producing bobbleheads for well over 10 years, correct?  How did this whole thing start? 

In 1996, Malcolm Alexander was an Australian war veteran living in the US, looking to make a new life for himself.  He decided to try to sell promotional products to sports teams, and when he was asked by the San Francisco Giants, “what price can you get us on Willie Mays bobble heads”, he asked for a couple weeks.  You see Malcolm told the Giants producing bobbles would be no problem…. In fact, he had never heard of bobble heads when he said this.  After spending plenty of time visiting China, he figured it out, and Alexander Global as it’s now known (the bobble head kings) was born. 

Once it started, how fast did it grow?

Once news of the amazing success of  the Willie Mays bobble, spread  to other MLB teams, everyone wanted to produce a giveaway that would have fans lined up for tickets around the block.  AGP was quickly selling to just about every MLB team.

Obviously several other companies modeled their promotion efforts after yours, I’m sure that’s frustrating and flattering at the same time.  This most likely led to teams going to other vendors (probably as a cost-saving measure – as most every collector I know believes AGP bobbleheads are the best), would you agree with that sentiment? 

Whenever a business makes money, competition will follow.  If you’re confident in your abilities, you can’t get mad at that.  You can only expect it, and after all, competition makes everyone better.  Our competitors had some inventive ideas too, which certainly made us better.  And this is what America is all about really.

Do you have a favorite bobblehead or bobbleheads that AGP has created? 

Personally, any that I created are my favorites.  There’s a lot of creativity put into our bobbles, and the salespeople at AGP have a friendly competition, trying to “out creative” each other.  After 48,000,000 bobbles, I can’t really pick a favorite.  There are just so many.  In my office though, I can say I have a Jackie Robinson figurine, an Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop bobble (we don’t just to sports), and...a Bobble Spam Tin.

Speaking of the creative process, tell me more about that?

It’s quite an intricate process.  The client provides us with photos and ideas (sometimes no ideas) and we translate all this for our Chinese master carvers.  Once we see initial carved images, we evaluate internally and make some changes, and it’s back to the carvers.  Then we see another set of images, which is closer and we show it to our clients.  They make their revisions, and back to the carvers again.  Eventually the carving is approved, the bodies and heads go to mold, and we see painted images, and confer again with the clients.  This process in all takes about 4-5 weeks (sometimes more depending on the client).  The full production stage is another 4-6 weeks, and shipping from China to the port, to the trucks, to the client takes another 4-6.  So from the initial order/ideas to delivery is often 4 months.  During Chinese New Year holidays, more like 4.5-5 months. There’s also the 5.5” bobble (with 7” big head), 4” minis, Double bobbles and other sizes.  We even do Lifesized bobbles!  This is me an Dirk Nowitzki (well, a pretty close representation...though his head may be smaller in real life).

2014 Spring/Summer Finds #3

Earlier this summer one of the first good finds I had was at a garage sale in Farmington.  They had several bobbleheads, mainly Twins, but a few othe random ones as well.  There are a couple reasons that this sits at #3 on my top 5 Spring/Summer Finds list.  The first, I was able to add a couple bobbleheads to my collection.  One (or should I say 2) is a bit more rare than the others.  This one was extremely cheap, actually a bit cheaper than great garage sale prices!  So I lucked out on it!  This is a retail AGP Minnie and Paul bobblehead set.  They are shaking hands (held together by magnets).

I bought several and there was a Twins nesting doll set that was intriguing.  Because I love to wheel and deal, before I accepted the sellers price for all of the ones I was buying I asked him to throw in the nesting doll set.  He had no problem doing it.  I had 2 thoughts - it was cool and possibly rare/unique.  The cool factor meant that at the very least I'd keep it for my own collection.  I hadn't ever seen one like it before but I don't really search for things other than bobbleheads.  I did a little google research and that turned up zero, which was either good news or terrible news.  I went to a local sports collectibles store and talked to the owner.  He said he had seen them before but not for quite a while and offered me $50 cash for it.  At that point I knew I had something that was somewhat unique and valuable.  Add to it that it contained the biggest of big Twins names (Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kent Hrbek & Gary Gaetti) I knew I'd eventually sell it on eBay.  

Golf Pro - Tom Lehman

Local Minnesotan Tom Lehman even has a bobblehead!  I've seen a couple of these and this is the exact kind of bobblehead I'm now looking for.  Lehman grew up in Alexandria and went to the University of Minnesota.  I believe this was a giveaway at the 2005 Marshall Fields Challenge and appears to be an AGP bobblehead.  If you have more information, please share!

2014 Goals - Additions

Been meaning to write an update to my 2014 goals post from earlier this year.  Here's the original post I did back in January.

As I said in that post, I'll review my goals at the end of 2014 to see what I've accomplished.  I'd like to add a few more goals to the list.  I've been collecting for about 2 years now and about 9 months into this blog thing.  I know a ton more today than I did 6 months ago, even more than I did 12 months ago.  Part of that comes through collecting and part of that comes from conversations I've had with blog readers and other collectors.

I sincerely love interacting with my readers, I can genuinely say I look forward to it.  It's fun to hear stories and learn more about bobbleheads in general!  So please - leave more comments!

Let's get to the goal additions!

11. Previously I mentioned Minnesota celebrities...now I'd like to learn more about other random and miscellaneous Minnesota bobbleheads.  For example, Hermann the German from New Ulm, or Mrs. Farmfest from Morgan.  I didn't know about either of these until I either saw them in a picture somewhere or in a friend's collection.

12. Collect all Lynx bobbleheads.  They have given away several, so its a nice little collection so far.

13. Learn even more about the Pepsi One bobbleheads and find the 3 announcers - Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler.

14. Been pondering trying to get a couple email interviews from a variety of people.  Perhaps someone at AGP (or formerly worked there).  Maybe some of my readers - let me know if you are interested.  And maybe someone with the Twins.  It'd be fun to see a start to finish process of how a bobblehead is chosen and then created and produced.

15. Much like #10 to keep having fun, but this time its more about the blog than the collecting.  I've had a lot of fun blogging about bobbleheads and really want to continue that trend!

Pepsi One Mascot Bobbleheads

I've been trying to track down information about this set for quite some time.  The information below might not be totally accurate and its been pulled from several different sources.  So, if you can add anything to the story behind these bobbleheads, please do.

I believe in the 2003-2005 range, Pepsi One did a set of 33 college mascot bobbleheads.  It included both major and minor conference schools.  AGP produced the bobbleheads and the detail in them is amazing. That's the reason I decided to collect this set even tho it has nothing to do with Minnesota - well at least the teams don't.  Besides that, its a pretty tough collection to put together.  At the time, you had to redeem points (from purchasing Pepsi One cans/bottles).  I've heard 2 different variations.  The first is, so many points got you one bobblehead of your choice.  The second, another batch of points got you 3 bobbleheads of your choice.  Also, only 1 set of points could be redeemed by the same person.  And from the sounds of it, lots of points were needed to get the batch of bobbleheads.  Add in the fact that there are 33 pieces to this set, you'd have to come across a lot of friends who drank Pepsi One.

I teased that Minnesota wasn't really involved in the Mascots earlier - which is true.  But Minnesota is heavily involved in the story.  I've heard the same thing from numerous people, a lot of these Pepsi One Mascots ended up in the Minnesota area.  Not sure why that is, but it certainly seems to be true.

Update: The bobbleheads ended up in Minnesota because the redemption company has a warehouse in Maple Plain, Minnesota.  All bobbleheads were supposed to be destroyed once the redemption period ended.  However, we know that most likely didn't happen.

Here's the set, broken down into 4 pictures.  Who's your favorite?

Also - there is one bobblehead missing from these pictures - Kansas State.