2018 Twins Bobbleheads

I've been informed that the Twins will be doing at least 3 bobbleheads during the 2018 season, 1 of which will be a Star Wars themed bobble. 

I can only assume that there will be 6 total, just like the past few years.  Star Wars Theme Night.  4 Giveaways and then lastly the Sweet Spot Season Ticket Holder bobblehead.  They've done 4 giveaway bobbles the past few seasons and I think that trend continues in 2018.  The question is WHO they will be. 

My hunch, Sano or Buxton (I'll put my money on Buxton) is the Star Wars bobble.  The 4 giveaways are truly up in the air.  I'm guessing they will do a bobblehead of whichever player is inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame (as thats been standard lately).  Torii Hunter was 2 years ago, Michael Cuddyer was this past season, how about Justin Morneau in 2018?  Buxton or Sano will get a bobblehead, Berrios should get one as well.  Which leaves 1 more bobble and my hope is its a throwback to a former member of the club, Frank Viola, celebrating the 20th anniversary of his best season with the Twins. 

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!  

Another Sand Gnats Bobblehead!

A few days ago I wrote about a Frank Viola bobblehead that the Savannah Sand Gnats gave out. Read about it here! I know these aren't exactly Minnesota related bobbleheads but since there aren't many Viola bobbleheads out there, I liked the Savannah one quite a bit.  I knew of a Johan Santana bobblehead the Sand Gnats gave out and I recently added it to my collection!  As most of us know, the Twins traded Santana to the Mets in 2008.  Read more about the Santana and the trade here.  Like Viola, the Twins haven't done many Santana bobbleheads and since I had the Viola one, I wanted to add this one so they'd be displayed together!

Sweet Music

It baffles me why the Twins  haven't done a Frank Viola SGA bobblehead.  The only Viola bobblehead is from the 1987 World Series set.  The Savannah Sand Gnats did a Viola giveaway a couple years ago.  The Sand Gnats are a minor league affiliate for the New York Mets, where Viola was the pitching coach.  But a strange thing happened.  The Sand Gnats didn't get the bobbleheads in time for the giveaway game.  Because of that these are pretty rare and I'm excited I could add one to my collection!