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.  

1965 Heroes Ecumen SGA Set

Recently I was able to complete the SGA Ecumen set.  I've blogged previously about this set and one extremely similar.  Check out those blogs at the following links.

1965 Heroes Katrina Set
Minnesota Twins SGA Bobblehead Set (Part 6 - Year 2005)
Twinsfest = Success
1965 Heroes vs. 1965 Katrina
Minnesota Twins Bobblehead Sets (Part 1 of 4)

I feel this set is the hardest set to complete of any Twins bobbleheads.  August 21st, 2005 was a giveaway day.  Similar to all other giveaway days, the Twins were giving away 10,000 bobbleheads.  However, they changed it up for this day by giving away 1000 bobbleheads of 10 different players from the 1965 team. Included in the set were, Zoilo Versalles, Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, Tony Oliva, Earl Battey, Frank Quilici, Camilo Pascual, Jim Perry, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, and Jim Kaat.  Even if you had 10 tickets you weren't guaranteed of getting all 10 bobbleheads.  I know of several people who had 20-25 tickets and came away with 6 or 7 different bobbleheads, but not all 10.  

When my passion for this crazy collection started I figured the "1965 Heroes Ecumen" set might never get completed and I was ok with that.  I actually passed up a few of these early on because I didn't plan on trying to collect the entire set (as many of these go for over $100 each on eBay) and although Jess is an amazing wife...getting her to "be cool" with me spending a grand on 10 bobbleheads wasn't going to happen! 

I got a couple of these for super cheap at garage sales, then I got 6 more at Twinsfest 2014 and once that happened I knew I'd be able to complete the set in time.  I honestly didn't think it'd happen in 2014.  I kinda figured over several years I'd find deals on them and eventually have the complete set.  Of course the one I couldn't find was the most expensive of them all...Harmon Killebrew - no introduction necessary.  

Luckily a few weeks ago I found this one to complete the set.  Below is a picture, front and back of the set.

And here's a comparison of the front of the 1965 Ecumen set vs the Katrina set.  

Minnesota Twins ST Bobblehead Set (Part 6 - Year 2006)

The 2006 ST set is probably my favorite.  It includes 4 players from the 65 Heroes set.  Earl Battey, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison.  It's a really good looking set, part of the reason I like this set so much are the uniforms.  This set is also unique because the full 2006 ST set is actually 5 bobbleheads, but the 5th, Zoilo Versalles wasn't part of the 4 bobblehead set.  The only ticket holders that got him were the ones who purchased a specific season ticket plan and seats. Because of that, the entire 5 bobblehead set is very tough to put together.  I recently added the Versalles bobblehead to my collection.

Below I've uploaded the comparison picture of the 2006 ST set and the 2005 SGA set.  You'll notice that I only have 3 of the SGA bobbleheads because the other is the group of 10 1965 Heroes bobbleheads, which I'll blog about at a later date!