First with a short history of bobbleheads. 2010 : A total of 334 bobbleheads have been given out as promotional items at major league ballparks. The Giants, the organization that resurrected the craze, have done the most promotions since 2010: 34 in that span, 77 total since 1999. An unofficial world’s tallest bobblehead was made by 14 year-old Henry Ermer from Brooklyn, NY standing at 16 feet tall. The Marlins opened their ballpark with a Bobblehead Museum featuring 588 bobbleheads, representing every team in baseball. The display slightly vibrates so the bobbleheads are perpetually bobbing.
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.
Among the most popular bobble head dolls, bobble head dogs continue to lead the way. The bobble head animals are popular due to the love of various animals, their compact size, and the ability to place the bobble head on the car dashboard or back window. In the United States, the availability of bobble head dogs have been limited greatly over the past several years. As of late 2013, one of the top producers of ceramic bobble head dogs discontinued their product line.
The first known mentioning of the bobblehead doll is in Nikolai Gogol’s 1842 short story “The Overcoat” where one of the characters is said to looks like one. It is also believed that moder bobblehead dolls originate from 18th century Germany where they were made of ceramic. These dolls in turn originate from Ancient Japanese and Chinese string dolls. Modern bobblehead dolls were first made from paper-mache, ceramic and plastic. 20th century bobblehead dolls were first made in 1920s. New York Knicks basketball player bobblehead was produced trhen but interest in them waned by 1930s and didn’t renew until 1950s.
The easiest way to see what specific bobbleheads are going for is to look on eBay. In addition to viewing current listings, you can also see the completed listings and their final prices. While there will always be deviations from the norm, with the proper search string and timeframe, it can be very easy to see the expected price range for a specific bobblehead. Naturally, when something has value, people are curious which versions command the highest values. With bobbleheads, there are few categories which tend to draw the highest values.
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