Twinsfest & more

Twinsfest has come and gone.  I'm not the type of collector that waits in lines for autographs or to meet current, former or future Twins.  I do enjoy the crowd that packs Target Field, everyone rushing this way or that to get into a line for a favorite of theirs.  I think its pretty amazing to see some collector's "maps" of how they get to as many lines as they can.  The memorabilia area was typical for Target Field, not a ton, but several good booths.  The yard sale was also typical...plenty of "stuff" and I found a few gems.  I actually think the new area for it worked out well and it wasn't as much of a clusterfuck as it has been in the past. 

As for new stuff...I am planning on blogging more often/frequently than I have been.  Usually the end of the year is pretty slow, which it was for 2017 but I did find out a few things that I'll start blogging about soon. 

I'll also update the upcoming 2018 bobbleheads as well. 

Twinsfest 2017

Twinsfest came and went with little fanfare, unfortunately.  I saw a report that only about 14,000 people gathered this past weekend (total of all 3 days)!  I know the Twins hope for many more people than that, especially during a 3 day event.  They did announce that Twinsfest 2018 will also be held at Target Field but could be a week earlier than normal (due to the Super Bowl being in town).  And then the event could shift to a different venue.  I do think attendance could grow if the venue is changed.  Target Field is a beautiful ballpark but its not a great venue to host such an event (since its in the winter).

I was able to buy a few things this year, nothing great tho.  The best part of the trip was bumming around with my buddy Killer for the night on Friday.

Twinsfest

Oof!  It's been a while since I blogged.  That's kinda what happens when there is a 6 month old at home.  Lots of time for her and not much for most other things.  The countdown to Twinsfest has begun.  I know a lot of collectors are excited for it...I see posts daily in various facebook groups. Most of those posts entail autographs, and from my point of view, thats a huge part of Twinsfest (probably the sole reason that many people go).  Fortunately for me, I'm not an autograph guy and therefore don't have to stand in various lines for hours upon hours.  I'll bum around with a buddy of mine, have a couple beers and just walk around one of the best stadiums in MLB.  I've never been a huge fan of Twinsfest at Target Field, but its also cool to be at Target Field in the middle of winter.

Looking forward to 2017

For the most part, it's not very difficult to find most of the current MN bobbles.  Typically the hardest are theme events and season ticket hold bobbles from the Twins.  So I've been expanding the collection a bit - looking at former minor league affiliates of the Twins.  I've found a few more but a lot of minor league clubs want to promote current players or fan favorites, and lets face it...there aren't a ton of fan favorites when it comes to Twins players from minor league teams.  However, the Salt Lake Bees (formerly the Salt Lake Buzz) did a David Ortiz bobblehead this past season that I previously blogged about.  Those are exactly the kind of bobbleheads I'm adding to my collection now.

Typically the collecting year starts with Twinsfest.  However, one of my favorite days of the year is January 7th.  Also known as National Bobblehead Day.  It'll be trending on pretty much all social media sites and its pretty damn fun to see other collections and specific bobbleheads.  I believe come February the Twins will announce their promotional schedule and we'll learn more about the bobbleheads they plan on doing in 2017!  Their minor league affiliates will most likely start announcing their promos in February or March.

Twinsfest 2017

It's that time of year again that the Twins announce details surrounding Twinsfest.  Twinsfest 2017 will be held from January 27th through January 29th.  No surprise there as its typically at the end of January.  More details can be found here.  They'll update that more page with info over the next several weeks and then probably a week or so before the event, they'll release the map and details surrounding the player autograph sessions and other events they have during the weekend.  I typically try to hit up the Friday session with a buddy of mine.  We've had good luck in the past and it should be another fun time.  I was somewhat hoping they'd move to a different location.  Personally, I think its hard for Target Field to handle the event since its not an all enclosed stadium like the dome was. The memorabilia and collectors showcase use to be really good (tons of vendors) but had dropped significantly the past few years because of limited space.  

Twinsfest 2016

Twinsfest 2016 has come and gone.  I wasn't nearly as fortunate as I was last year or even the year prior (it's first year at Target Field).  It was still fun and I took advantage of a few decent deals.  I went into it thinking about different things I'd do, but the major focus of Twinsfest is the autograph seekers, the lines they stand in and the areas the players sit in, ready to scribble their name hundreds of times.

I have to think, even tho the Twins would love to keep Twinsfest at Target Field for several more years, the whole 3 day event would be much better served at a larger venue.  I think US Bank Stadium would be a great fit.  I've been fortunate enough to see detailed plans and maps of how the Vikings plan to draw larger events like Twinfest and it almost makes too much sense.  Everything is so clustered at Target Field, since the Twins can only truly use the space behind the dugouts and the Club level as everything else is outside.  And moving this event to a bigger space such as the Vikings stadium would help solve several issues.

Twitter & Facebook lit up with pictures and posts from the weekend and it was fun to see a lot of baseball related stuff in January!

2003 Twins All Star Bobblehead

I've been debating on this one for a while.  I've had 2 in the past, sold them both.  Finally got to a point where I thought it might be nice to add to my collection.  Forever Collectibles released a set of these "logo" bobbleheads for the 2003 All Star Game.  For many collectors its one of the toughest sets to put together.  One bobble per team and a couple "generic" all-star related bobbles.  Quite the set and all of them are pretty rare.  Cool lookin bobble and perfect for today - the start of Twinsfest!

TwinsFest 2016

A little over a month ago it was announced via Twitter that TwinsFest would be held at Target Field the last weekend of January.  Friday the 29th through Sunday the 31st.  There is always plenty to do and see at TwinsFest.  This will be it's 3rd year at Target Field.  I believe the Twins want to make it an even bigger event than it already is.  Unfortunately Target Field can't take much more, although I'd move some of the events and and autograph signings to different areas within the stadium.  I believe certain areas could be better utilized.  As we get closer, I'm sure the Twins will make a formal announcement and share more and more information about the weekend, with of course the autograph signings being the main thing people (except, yours truly) are most interested in!

Remember, the event provides a huge charitable donation to the Twins Community Fund!

Twinsfest 2015

I pretty much foreshadowed this in my previous blog entry, you can read it, here.  I didn't take one freaking damn picture!  Not one...zero, nada zilch.  Ugh.  I called it without even truly thinking I called it.  So...for any of you looking forward to pictures...my bad, I'm sorry!  

I was done working a little early on Friday so I decided to drive down to Target Field and wait in line with the die-hards.  Luckily I was behind a couple guys that made the wait go by pretty quick.  Plenty of Twins stories were shared, both minor league stories and plenty about the big club.  We talked about the signings from this past off-season and what we all look forward to at Twinsfest.  

A buddy of mine got there about 40 minutes after I did and we met up inside Target Field.  Walked around all over, saw the clubhouse, said hello to Torii Hunter as he was walking to one of his billion appearances for the weekend.  Checked out the yard sale, the collectors showcase and several other things too.  I really didn't have a favorite part.  I just find it to be pretty cool to be at Target Field in January!  

Remember, the Twins Community Fund is where all proceeds from this weekend go and its a great charity!!  

TwinsFest is almost here!

We are only 2 short weeks away from TwinsFest 2015.  I blogged about TwinsFest back in November when it the dates were announced.  Click here, to read that blog!

I'm just looking forward to being back at Target Field again!  The Twins always do something new or fun each year so it'll be interested how this year is different than last.  Guessing things might run a bit more smooth as it'll be the second year Target Field hosts the event.  I'm going to and remember to take more pictures this year...of the crowd, the individual events, the signings, the games, all of it. But I already know, that whole remembering part is what's toughest for me.

TwinsFest 2015

TwinsFest returns to Target Field this coming January.  Read more about TwinsFest 2014 at the 2 links below!

Twinsfest!!
Twinsfest = Success

Here are a couple more pictures from the 2014 TwinsFest.  Target Field probably looked the same last night (if the lights were on).

In a little over 2 months thousands of Twins fans will fill up the Target Field corridors.  This is the second year the annual event will be held at Target Field.  It's definitely a more intimate setting when compared to the Dome days of TwinsFest.  The biggest complaint I heard last year (and continue to hear from dealers and collectors) revolved around the memorabilia showcase area.  I wonder if the Twins will move this to a different area in Target Field.  I have to think there are better areas for it, but the big question is if those areas are available!  

Check out the announcement about TwinsFest 2015.  

Kirby Puckett Autograph

I have a handful of bobbleheads that have been autographed.  Every so often, I'll do a blog about a specific autographed bobblehead.  I can't personally say all of them are legit (since I haven't been witness to every autograph), but I'd say more often than not, they are - mainly just because its pretty easy to get a bobblehead autographed especially if you frequent local collectible shows or make an annual trip to Twinsfest.  One of my favorites is my Kirby Puckett bobblehead.  I didn't personally get this one autographed, but I'm 99% sure its legit (as I have other Kirby Puckett autographed memorabilia).  It's special to me for a couple reasons - Kirby was and still is my all-time favorite baseball player and since he's no longer with us, it does make the autograph a bit more rare and collectible!

Twinsfest = Success

My buddy Killer and I went to Twinsfest on Friday afternoon.  This was the first time the event was held at Target Field.  I'd say for the most part the Twins did a great job, obviously it was a lot different when they held it at the Metrodome.  We had a lot of fun tho and pretty much had a semi all-access pass for Target Field.  It was quite a scene to be in the Legends Club and Suite level while overlooking a field covered in snow!  We also checked out the Champions Club.  Pictures below.

A white, snowy Target Field

Champions Club

Champions Club Bar

Now - onto some more fun stuff we found at Twinsfest!  The first thing I wanted to do was check out the Twins Yard Sale.  This was something new and is exactly what you think of when you hear "yard sale."  Knowing they'd have bobbleheads there (from a little recon I did before Twinsfest) we went straight to its location (which was in Legends club between home and 1st base).  We were probably 200 or so back once they opened the gates, so we weren't the first at the yard sale.  Most of the bobbleheads were in boxes with a label on the top.  I saw a few that intrigued me, quickly opening one and much to my surprise it was one I was hoping for.  I grabbed 5 more and kept looking.  There weren't any others that I needed, but certainly some good deals.  They had multiple 91 World Series sets as well as the Managers set.  I told Killer that I wanted to check back later to see if they put out anything new.  So we went back a couple hours later and I asked one of the Twins employees if they'd be putting anymore bobbleheads on the floor.  She was super nice and helpful and said all they had left were 2 of the 91 World Series sets that were on the way up but other than that, what they had was displayed.

Lastly we went to the sports collectors area.  This is the one area I think the Twins could have done better with.  I'm not sure where it could have been held, but where it was....basically in the hallways of the service level (otherwise known as the bowels of Target Field) was poor.  The lighting was bad and the hoards of people created a traffic jam as there wasn't much room to move.  I saw a few dealers with bobbleheads that intrigued me for a variety of reasons but felt like I had spent enough on the 6 I already purchased.

Speaking of - I didn't say who they were, for a specific reason.  I'm still somewhat in shock that I found the 6 I did.  They are 6 of the 10 giveaways from the 1965 Heroes set!!  See the picture below!

I could have been a touch luckier but I certainly wasn't the earliest bird to the yard sale and because of that I missed out on the Harmon Killebrew bobblehead from this set.  You ask how I know that...well I didn't until we walked through the collectors area. One of the dealers I was chatting with had a box similar to the ones I purchased with "Killebrew" on it.  He mentioned he got it at the Yard Sale and immediately I said, "dammit!"  So, its all about luck and timing.  I had a lot of luck but not quite enough to get the Killebrew one.  However, I'm still super fortunate for landing these...6 that I figured would take years to find.  Now I'm only missing 2 - Killebrew and Quilici. Eventually, maybe my timing will be right and I'll find those too!

Twinsfest!!

TwinsFest is just over a month away and I'm super excited.  Target Field plays host to this amazing event for the first time.  As a bobblehead collector, TwinsFest is extraordinary!  Why you ask, because it also happens to be the regions largest sports memorabilia and collectors show!  You'll see great just just about anywhere you go.  I'm excited to see how different it is since its now at Target Field.  I'll update the blog with my thoughts after the event!