Still shakin’: Experts explain lingering allure of bobbleheads

Kirk Baird

Monday, Aug. 12, 2002 | 8:09 a.m.

Bobbleheads are finished. Done.

Yesterday's news.

At least, according to ESPN magazine's top 100 moments in sports last year.

The lovable figures with the disproportioned noggins that bounce and bounce just made the magazine's list at No. 100. The brooding tagline: "They're Over."

Strange. After all, it was ESPN that helped take a regional promotional giveaway at sporting events primarily baseball and make it a nationwide phenomenon by including it in commercials for the all-sports network.

In a lighthearted ESPN ad campaign, bobblehead figurines of the network's top anchors were shown in commercials and in print and Internet ads.

"ESPN really did raise the consciousness of (bobbleheads) for a while," said Tim Hunter, author of "Bobbing Head Dolls: 1960-2000" (Krause Publications, $19.95). "It's been different things over the years that's brought them back, and that was one of them."

And now the network is proclaiming the goofy toys' demise.

Dr. Frankenstein has turned on his creation.

Regardless of what ESPN claims, though, bobbleheads are far from being over. They've weathered many trends since first becoming popular in the early '60s as toys sold at baseball and football games.

"When you went to stadiums as a kid in the '60s, you had a choice of buying a pennant, hat or this doll that was bouncing around in front of you," Hunter said. "I think people liked the idea that this thing has some movement to it and it was a nice souvenir.

"There was nothing to compare it to at the time."

Thirty years later and bobbleheads are still incomparable.

The current revival of bobbleheads can be traced back to baseball. The San Francisco Giants honored Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays with a bobblehead giveaway during a home game in 1999.

"I guess they got 20,000 more people in the park that night than they normally would have," Hunter said. "Other teams caught on."

"I think it re-awakened everyone's recollection of the bobblehead when they were kids.

Basically, you had the Baby Boom generation setting trends and this is something they wanted to re-introduce to their kids."

The bobbleheads, or nodders as they are sometimes called, come in all shapes and sizes.

Some are elaborately detailed 6-inch ceramic statues, while others are plastic 2-inch cereal prizes. There are even lifesize bobbleheads.

No matter the size, the bobblehead is usually a very close replica of its real-life counterpart, the exception being the cartoonish-sized noggin, which is three to four times larger than a normal head.

Although the figurines are often odd-looking, owning a bobblehead of a favorite athlete or celebrity is often a sign of respect, much like having a trading card or autographed picture.

For example, the Las Vegas 51s baseball organization plans to give away 4,000 limited-edition Mayor Oscar Goodman bobbleheads Saturday prior to the 51s' game against the Fresno Grizzlies.

After coming up with the Goodman bobblehead idea in late April, the president and general manager of the Las Vegas triple-A baseball franchise, Don Logan, pitched the concept to the mayor.

The mayor agreed to being a bobblehead, and posed for several photos in a pinstripe suit and his favorite tie.

"If anybody told me I would be a bobblehead having been elected mayor of Las Vegas, I would have said they're nuts," Goodman said. "But it comes with the turf."

The final result is an almost statuesque piece of art impressive for its detail, down to the red dots on Goodman's nose and his tri-colored hair: gray, white and light brown.

Goodman had nothing but praise for his 6-inch-tall ceramic likeness. He even has two of his bobbleheads on his desk.

"It's cute," he said. "I hope it bounces on the back of everyone's car in Las Vegas."

It takes all kinds

If there is a downside to the bobblehead phenomenon, it's that the wacky dolls can also be strangely addictive.

CJ Stolee waited in line four hours to get a Kirby Puckett bobblehead during a Minnesota Twins game in '99.

"Kirby Puckett is pretty much the favorite athlete around here," Stolee said from his home near St. Paul, Minn.

But his fascination with bobbleheads didn't end there.

It was not too long after Stolee got his first taste of the bobblehead that he began to seek out other noddin' noggin dolls.

As his collection grew to about 200 figures, he and his wife, Marita, decided to do something about it. A year ago they opened an Internet-based bobblehead store, Bobble Head World.

The shop -- at bobbleheadworld.com -- carries approximately 100 different bobbleheads, from Redd Foxx and Tiger Woods to SpongeBob SquarePants and even Jesus.

Yes, Jesus is depicted as a bobblehead.

"I come from a fairly religious background, although I'm not overly religious myself," Stolee said. "But I thought Jesus would be a good thing to make."

The religious statue with the bouncing head was designed and commissioned by Stolee several months ago. It is also Bobble Head World's third-most popular product, behind heavy-metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his family.

In fact, the Jesus bobblehead sells so well that Stolee said the company will carry a lifesize version this fall.

But the co-owner of Bobble Head World had less than kind words for another Jesus bobblehead created and sold by a competitor.

Stolee's version is ceramic, while the Jesus Nodder, as the competition's Christ is called, is made entirely of plastic.

"(And) it looks like Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers if you take a look at it," he said.

The Jesus Nodder's uncanny resemblance to the '70s rock star, however, hasn't hurt its sales at a Las Vegas gift and novelty store.

"It's been very popular," said Charlotte Summerfield, a supervisor at Bonanza Gifts Shop on Sahara Avenue. "And we've received no complaints."

Bobblehead mania

Hunter began collecting bobbleheads in 1981. The Reno resident had several bobbleheads from his childhood and decided to make a living out of buying and selling the figures at sports memorabilia collectors' conventions.

"When I first started showing up at shows, I was literally laughed out of the shows. People would wonder why I was wasting my time," Hunter said. "But every dog has his day."

Now the conventions are filled with bobblehead collectors.

"I'm at the Sports Collector's Convention (in Elk Grove Village, Ill.) and the damn things are everywhere," Hunter said. "It used to be I'd have the run of the room."

Most of the bobbleheads for sale at the events are the newer models, he said, which don't interest him as much -- especially since it doesn't take much to have a nodder in one's likeness these days.

"Journeyman players, minor celebrities ... Oscar Goodman? Who's heard of Oscar Goodman outside of the city limits?" Hunter said.

Oddly enough, it is obscure bobbleheads (such as Goodman's) that will catch collectors' eyes in years to come.

"If you're going to speculate in that kind of thing, that's the stuff you want to look at look for, minor local people," he said. "If you look back at the '60s, the most valuable ones are the most obscure ones: Mao Se Tung, there's probably two dozen in existence, and there are only two known Nelson Rockefellers."

As to when this current craze will run its course, even Hunter isn't sure.

"I would think it could last a few more years," he said. "You've always got Johnny-come-lately and people who are still interested" in the craze.

So bobble on ... no matter what ESPN says. But every dog has his day.

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