TC Bear Friends - June 26th (Minnesota Twins)

Here's the Friend's Night bobblehead from the Minnesota Twins - TC Bear with a turkey head!  

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.  

New Addition - TC Bear 2010 Edition

Here's one of my latest new additions.  TC Bear.  This is a Target Field exclusive.  It was sold at the Majestic team store during during the inaugural season of Target Field in 2010.  Definitely the hardest TC Bear bobblehead to find.  The team usually has a variety of Twins bobbles available for purchase and in 2010 they did a set of 3 of them.  Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer also had bobbles that year.  Their bases are all the same too which is why I wanted the set, plus the rarity adds to it!

TC Bear Bobblehead Day

It's hear!  TC Bear Bobblehead day at Target Field.  Today the Twins will giveaway 10,000 bobbleheads of their beloved mascot, TC Bear.  This is sure to be a popular giveaway with all fans because everyone loves the bear!  As I mentioned previously, Success Promotions did the bobble and its awesome!

Sneak Peek - TC Bear Bobblehead

The Twins are giving away a TC Bear mascot bobblehead on August 6th!  It's a great looking bobblehead, which shouldn't be surprising since Success Promotions is producing it!  First 10,000 fans get one and I'm sure the kids will love it!  Check out the picture below!

Complete List of Twins 2017 Bobbleheads

I posted individually about the bobbles the Twins are doing this season.  Here's the complete list of giveaway bobbles.

Rocket Raccoon (Guardians of the Galaxy) - May 6th
Brian Dozier Storm Trooper (Star Wars Night) - June 21st
TC Bear Bobblehead - August 6th
Rod Carew Bobblehead - August 18th
Michael Cuddyer HOF Bobblehead - August 19th

I'll update the blog as soon as I can once more details (and pictures) are revealed.  Typically pictures aren't available until closer to the giveaway date as I'm sure the Twins are only in initial stages right now of developing and creating each bobblehead with the vendor.  I believe (and I'm very happy to have this belief) Success Promotions will be doing several of the bobbles, I can't say for certain that it'll be all of them, but at least a few!

Sneak Peek - TC Bear Bobblehead

The second bobblehead I know about is the TC Bear bobble the Twins are doing.  I'll update this post with a picture and a date once I have more info!

2017 Twins Bobbleheads

Thanks to my buddy Zane, we learned a little bit about the giveaway bobbleheads for 2017.  I'm on vacation right now...enjoying 75 degree weather with an ocean view but have a 7 month old by my side so while she's napping, I can type up a quick blog post.

There wasn't too much info, but the good news is the Twins will do the first ever SGA bobblehead of TC Bear, I've been clamoring for the Bear to get a bobblehead for quite some time.  I love mascot bobbleheads and TC will be a great one.  The other bobblehead that was mentioned was that of Rocket Raccoon, on SuperHero Day.  My hope is they tie in a player to be part of that bobblehead.  It sounds like it'll be a theme night giveaway (which means special ticket).  Based on the Guaranteed Giveaway and Theme Night pack details, there will be a Star Wars bobblehead as well.  

 Somewhere between 4 and 6 bobbleheads are expected.  My hunch is it'll be 6.  The 2 theme night bobbles (SuperHero and Star Wars) and 4 regular giveaways (TC Bear being the only one we currently know).  I can only hope that Success Promotions does the bobbleheads this year.  This week the Twins are doing their Twitter reveal of 5 promos, my hunch is either the 4th or the 5th will be the TC Bear bobble.  The full promo schedule will be released on February 20th!  And the Theme Night schedule should be out on March 7th.

I will update the blog as soon as I know more info.

New Addition - Justin Morneau Target Field Exclusive

One of my latest additions is a Justin Morneau bobblehead.  I actually didn't know about this bobblehead until I found it.  I knew about its "set-mates" (Joe Mauer and TC Bear) as the Bear is one of my most wanted (yeah yeah, I'll update my want list at some point soon).  I believe this is a set of 3 that was only available at the Majestic Team Store at Target Field in 2010.  Pretty sweet bobble and I specifically like it because of the base!

2014 All Star Game & More

I'm guessing anyone who reads my blog probably knows the All Star game was held at Target Field last week.  Leading up to it, MLB had plenty of events, one was something they call "Fanfest."  In June I blogged about the 3 mini bobbleheads that were being given away at Fanfest - TC Bear, Tony Oliva and Joe Mauer. Jess and I went down to Fanfest last Sunday.  A buddy of mine had some extra tickets so we checked it out. It was pretty cool but also fairly overwhelming.  However, lets be real - we probably went on the worst day possible, Sunday early afternoon.  There were tons of people but also so much cool stuff to see.  I kinda thought the "Collectors Showcase" would be just as big (if not bigger) than Twinsfest.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case at all as there was only a handful of dealers.

However, with TC being given away to kids on Friday, I knew that would be the hardest bobblehead of the 3 to get.  I noticed a listing on eBay early on Friday morning and I thought it was a very good and fair deal, so I bought the TC bobblehead.  Of course this meant I was committed to getting the other 2 bobbleheads. Once I receive all 3 of them, I'll update this posting with a picture.  They are cool mini bobbleheads, but as is the case with most any mini bobblehead - they aren't very sturdy and quite fragile at times!  The TC Bear bobblehead routinely goes for between $40 and $50 on eBay while Tony Oliva and Joe Mauer are going for quite a bit less.  If you are looking for the set...TC will be the hardest and/or the most spendy of the bunch. Good luck!

Update: Here's the picture of the 3 bobbleheads.  They are pretty tiny!

2014 All-Star Game Fanfest

I've been meaning to post about Fanfest for a while.  If you don't know much about Fanfest, just click the link or there is lots of info at mlb.com!  I'm blogging about this for a couple reasons.  First there will be a huge collectors show.  My hunch is this will be bigger than Twinsfest as there will be plenty of national dealers as well as local ones selling all sorts of sports memorabilia.  Right now, I don't have tickets yet, but am really hoping to get down there, just hard because of my work schedule right now!

Secondly, there are 3 bobblehead giveaways.  I'm not sure if I'll look for these or not.  They aren't true SGAs and I don't even think they are given away from the Twins persay (guessing its more of a MLB giveaway with a Twins theme because its in Minnesota).  There are 3 mini bobbleheads, TC Bear, Tony Oliva, and of course Joe Mauer.  Cool but at this time, not a necessity of mine.

Reply to this post if you are going and what you are looking forward to.  After the ASG I'll write another blog about the ASG events and if I was able to make it to Fanfest or not.  Looking to get your Fanfest experiences too!

One last thing, here's a brochure I found on the Fanfest website.