Let’s begin with a short history of bobbleheads. 2000 : Bobbleheads seemed to be 20th century relic by the turn of the century until a promotion by the San Francisco Giants brought the bobblehead back to the public eye. The Giants offered a Willie Mays bobblehead to the first 20,000 visitors on May 9th to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Candlestick Park, which was the last year of the Giants playing at that stadium. New variations of the bobblehead were made including the mini-bobblehead, bobble computer sitters, bobblehead banks, and even bobblehead air fresheners. The Guinness Book of World Record for largest bobblehead was set for a bobblehead in the likeness of TV show host Chuck Woolery. The bobblehead weighed 900 pounds, was 11 feet tall and was originally displayed at the McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois.
How are bobbleheads made? We begin with the head of the bobble head doll. The body is made of hollow plastic that is covered by felt cloth. On the head, a metal clasp is connected to the downward portion of the head to connect into the bobble head dog’s body. At the far end of the body is a bolt that acts as a weight for the head. When attached to the body, this allows for the bobble head to sway and bob around. Without the weighed bolt at the end, the bobble head would simply rise to the top of the body in a fixed position. Next up is the body of the bobble head doll. The body, which in this case is about 4″ (10.16cm) in length, is made of a hollow core like the head, but the mold is not enclosed in order to allow space for the head piece to attach to the body. To attach to the body, a small metal anchor is attached inside the upper portion of the body to allow the clasp from the head to rest in the center of the anchor. When the head is attached to the body, the bobble head bobs and glides with ease. The movement can be endless as long as the bobble head doll is in contact with motion to jostle the parts enough to cause movement.
The modern bobble head doll typically consists of two styles of body mold: A plastic body or ceramic body. The advent of the plastic mold over the past three decades allows for more unique designs and lightweight body styles. The time tested ceramic bobble head doll remains popular, but is more delicate in nature. There are generally two subsets of design of the plastic bobble heads doll. One style is a durable, sturdy plastic mold. The second is not only sturdy, but also covered in a “flocked” material, which is generally a cloth, fuzz material.
In 1960, Major League Baseball decided to give away a series of papier-mache bobblehead dolls for each team with the same cherubic face and imported from Japan. That same year World Series was held and first bobblehead dollswere made specifically for players but they still had the same faces. The players that had bobbleheads made for them were Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Willie Mays. Beside of players, teams made and gave away as souvenirs bobblehead dolls in the shape of their team mascots. When material of making bobblehead dolls was changed from papier-mache to ceramic they were made in likeness of players of other sports too and of cartoon characters. The Beatles bobblehead set, which was made in the next decade is still a very valuable collectable. In time production and interest for bobblehead dolls again waned and by 1970s it almost disappeared completely.
When it comes to collecting bobbleheads, there are few terms that are important to know when shopping or researching online: STH/ST – These are bobbleheads that only available to season ticket holders, so the quantity is usually more limited. Because they are issued to fans who enjoy the team enough to purchase tickets for every home game each year, these limited edition bobbleheads can be the toughest to track down. NIB – New in box. Pretty self-explanatory, but this implies that the bobblehead comes exactly as it was issued, including all packaging and paperwork. Many collectors prefer this because the box can be part of the collection.
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