Listen, as much as a slam and hate Ebay for their fees and regulations, they are useful for one specific factor. Protection. I’m sure we’ve all purchased many bobbles through Ebay and 70% of the time the knucklehead seller doesn’t package the bobblehead to well and it arrives damaged. 

Fear no more. I’ve been buying on Ebay for just under 9 years. I’ve had many broken items arrive to me. Simply, take a picture of the damage and just about 99% of the time if the seller is a dick and puts up a fight with you, Ebay will jump in and refund within a few days. If you have visual evidence of the damaged bobblehead, then you’ll have the upper hand if you open up a resolution case. 

Ebay is great with this. I can’t even remember a time when a bobble arrived broken and I didn’t get a refund. Although Ebay sucks the profit out of most sellers, they protect us buyers when things go wrong. 

P.S. Always keep the box and packaging materials that the item was sent in because many occasions Ebay will ask for pictures to make sure you’re not pulling a fast one.

This is one question I get asked all the time. Anyone who has a collection that’s over 50-75 bobbles knows that boxes can be very difficult to store. I’m sure the majority of us don’t own a 6,000 square foot house that has tons of storage, in which we can put our empty boxes. Therefore, you have to be creative. Very creative. 

The first option that most collectors think is either the basement or attic. For me, my basement is my bobble cave. I don’t have the room to store thousands of boxes. It’s just not gonna happen. My attic is the length of my house and unless you’re a midget, you won’t be able to stand up, nevermind kneel down. So, storing empty boxes up there is not an option. I have a small rafter in my garage that I’ve stored a few hundred bobble boxes but it’s not enough. 

A few years ago, I seriously looked into a storage unit. I went and took a look at several places and the smallest square footage one was $120.00 per month. That was a fine price for me but I knew I needed a much bigger one over time.  I soon realized that I had to rent a very large unit as my collection is ONLY growing and growing. I then asked myself, “Why the fuck am I going to pay some dipshit hundreds of dollars per month just to hold my empty cardboard boxes?”

And then I got creative. It clicked in my head that my parents don’t live to far away from me and they have a stand up attic that is very spacey. I borrowed a truck one afternoon and made 3-4 runs and placed them all in their attic and each big box was labeled. Genius idea. Although, I have to say that my parents weren’t home at the time I made the transfer, as they would have went ape shit, (especially my mom). So every now and then, I run a few big boxes up there and that’s where my main storage location is. 

Now, for many young collector’s you may have this theory. I’ve spoken to a few people who are just starting out collecting and I’ve asked them where they store their boxes. A few mentioned that it’s easy. You flip the lids of the boxes and fold them flat. Easy storage solution right? WRONG. And this is for very young collectors. There’s something called a styrofoam holder within the box and as well as a plastic insert(typically from a retail bobble). You cannot fold these. They are there to stay and therefore, you cannot fold them flat. That’s a big misconception that young collectors have. I wanna hear from you Snipers as sharing different ideas will allow other’s avenue’s to store there bobbles boxes.

P.S. If you live in a apartment in a major city that is small then your fucked. I don’t have any suggestions for you to store your boxes. My best guess is storage unit but I hate and despise paying the man to rent space! 

I love this question and I can’t wait to hear from all you Snipers as to which bobble you’d never think of getting rid of. 

I myself would never get rid of my David Ortiz World Series Championship trophy/MVP bobblehead. This one has a soft spot in my heart as without Big Papi, the Sox would never win the World Series. He single handily destroyed pitching and helped propel the Red Sox to the title. I love the goggles and army helmet representing that the bottles of champagne were flowing in the locker room after the title win. The base is a clean as they come with the Sox logo front and center and Ortiz’s name in raised letters. 

Without a doubt, I’d never give this one up. Even if I was offered a piss load of money for it, I’d tell the person to kick rocks as this is one that will NEVER leave the Bobble Cave. 

By far, hands down the manufacturer of SGA 2017 Bobbleheads goes to Success Promotions!!!

They were assigned to create and manufacture some very difficult bobbles this season and they nailed it. For example, Cousin Eddie and Wayne’s world. Both faces look identical to the character. Do u have any idea how complex it must have been to duplicate Cousin Eddie’s snarl face? Nevermind adding the cigar and closed hungover eye!

Another example of why they win the manufacturer of the year award is seen in the Shooter McGavin SGA given away by the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Yellow jacket Shooter is wearing. Take a look at the flare and wavyness of the jacket as he’s running. It literally looks like it’s waving in the air. Now, I don’t know how to mold and sculp a bobblehead, but I would assume that is not an easy task to do. It just looks ridiculously authentic. 

Overall, the structure and sturdiness of Success Promotions bobbleheads are as good as they come. I love the font they use on the front of each base with their letters. They are clean and neat. In addition, 90% of their boxes come with a shit ton of photos and have that “glossy” coating feel to them. I’m telling you, when you hold one of their boxes in your bare hand, it feels like your holding a piece of rare gold. It’s an immediate “feel good” moment when one is in your possession. 

Congratulations to Success Promotions for winning the Manufacturer of the Year within the bobblehead world and keeping us fans satisfied with your products. Well done and we’ll be looking forward to your excellent products next season. Go check Success out as they killer branding merchandise for any fan!

https://successpromotions.com

Here’s a good variety of bobbles they made this season.

Runner up manufacturers in no specific order.

BD&A

Coyote Promotions

Alexander Global Promotions 

Promotional Adventures 

There’s many collector’s out in the bobblehead world that want their bobbleheads signed. I guess the somewhat new term getting any item signed is called a “graph”. I will be the first to say that I am not a big fan of anything signed and here’s why. When I was kid and went to a professional sporting event, I wanted to get something signed. I didn’t care what it was. I mean what little tike wouldn’t want something signed by their favorite player? 

As I grew older and had more knowledge about autographs, I soon determined it’s not a huge deal. A lot of people don’t realize that these players sign thousands, upon thousands of autographs every year. An autograph this day in age isn’t shit. Yes, I know some players it’s hard to get them to sign something, but the average player signs a zillion items. Now, is a bobblehead a little more unique to get signed as opposed to a ball, yearbook or baseball card? Yes. But to me, I can give two shits if my bobblehead is signed. It doesn’t do anything for my collection nor do I look at the bobble any different. I’m in my 30’s and if I go to a game and have a player sign my bobblehead, it won’t create that big of a memory for me. Maybe when I was 8 years old, but now, no way.

I see people all the time running around stadiums trying to get anything signed. Let me ask you this. How rare can it be that Mike Trout signs a bobblehead or any other item when he averages 10,000 signatures a year? The answer is not rare at all. If you send me a picture of a bobble that was signed by Madison Bumgarner, it would bring very little interest to me. I’m more excited to find a “track down” bobble that I’ve been searching many years for. 

In conclusion, the old saying “to each his own” applies to getting a “graph” on your bobblehead. Some collector’s jump at the opportunity and get their rocks off to it and other’s like myself, can care less. 

P.S. As far as value is concerned, to each his own again. If you have a bobble signed by a player and another collector wants the graph on it, that means he’ll pay for it. But in the short and long term effect, graphs on bobbles do not increase the value that much more. 

Pictures are used from Ebay as I do not own any “graphed” bobbleheads.