NOMAR!!!!

Nomar Garciaparra was arguably the most beloved Dodger during his short tenure with the Dodgers. So naturally he was celebrated for winning comeback player of the year with a pretty good looking bobblehead. This bobblehead is unique because this is one of the first bobbleheads that i had seen where the bat was being held away from the body in mid swing. The designers overcame the obstacle of boxing the bobblehead by allowing the bat to be unscrewed from the hand to insure that it would both fit in the box and not break.

This bobblehead is also unique in the amount of detail that was included. Nomar has alot of things that he wears that are very unique and that he is known for and the designers did a good job of inlcuding them. His red wristband on his elbow and his brown wristband on his wrist above the bat are two items that Nomar has worn throughout his career. He has also has the batting glove hanging out of his back pocket which i felt was a nice touch.

Another nice addition was the batting helmet. Instead of just putting a normal round batting helmet, they gave him a helmet that was modeled after the one he wore during the season with the vents on the side of the helmet. But this makes me wonder, if they were willing to place this much detail on the helmet, why wouldn’t they place any detail on the shoes. As you can see he is wearing the same clown shoes as Garvey and Izturis. But other then that, its a really good looking bobblehead, even the facial hair looks good.

Unfortunately for Nomar he was sitting out next to Cesar and Steve and met the same fate as them. He has faded to a somewhat light almost seasick looking color. But other then that this is one of the better looking bobbleheads in the collection.

The Ghost of Steve Garvey

There is no need to alert the authorities, Steve Garvey is still alive and well, it is just his bobblehead that has passed over to ghostly status.

Unfortunately Garvey felt the same sting of the sun that Izturis felt, but instead of changing to some unnatural color like blue or green. He simply faded to white. His skin slowly faded into the color of his jersey and i know find myself with a bobblehead of Steve Garvey with what looks like "dodgers 6" painted on his chest. If there was ever a bobblehead that was made in only black and white, then i would offer Steve as the model.

I acquired Steve at Dodger stadium a few years ago and he was doing fine, looking very much like a normal person, until i decided to display him in front of a window and slowly but surely he began to fade away. Sort of like the picture of Marty McFly's family.

It's just another instance of Steve Garvey not getting the respect he deserved (I'm talking to you Cooperstown).

As you can see in the banner above, Steve still looks very much like a normal person

rather then the ghoulish figure that haunts my halls.

It's really a shame to because it's a great looking bobblehead, the artist really added quite a bit of detail in the face with his big smile and detailed cheeks. There is even a hint of blue in his eyes. He has his strong think eyebrows and the batting glove almost looks real. He is even wearing the stirrup socks and is standing on what looks real dirt at home plate. His shoes look a bit clownish but hey, they do the best they can and they did a pretty good job on this one. Unfortunately for my edition of the bobblehead, i didn't do a very good job of keeping it in Hall of Fame condition. Until next time, if you hear spikes clicking in your hallway, it could very well be the ghost of Steve Garvey.

Is that the Hulk?

I am going to start off my bobblehead blogging with the gem of my collection. Which happens to be the color of an emerald green gem.

I acquired this Cesar Izturis bobblehead in 2005, the season after he won a gold glove for his play at short for the Dodgers. Obviously when i first got the bobblehead he was not the green color you see before you. Unfortunately the transformation began to take place one day when i made him angry.

The transformation took place gradually and by the time i realized what happened, it was to0 late.

As you can see only the front of his head changed because it was the side that was facing the sun, the back of his head remained unchanged so i caution any of you out there, please don't leave these guys in the sun.I was unaware that when you leave these guys in direct sunlight it reacts negatively with the paint job, either fading them or altering the color all together.

On the positive side Cesar is one of the best bobbling bobbleheads in my collection, perhaps it is because his head seems to be larger and heavier then the others in the collection. Whatever the case is he gives a nice bobble action when called upon. Some other nice features of this particular bobblehead are that he is standing on grass and not just a solid green floor, there are actually blades of grass. Another nice feature is his glove which has a nice gold color to it and is very detailed with each finger painted along with the webbing of the glove. So the moral of the story is, treat your bobbleheads with care or they will turn on you.

Bobbleheads

Bobbleheads have always been and forever will be the best baseball giveaway ever. They are truly a quality giveaway. The current generation of bobbleheads are not your grandpas bobbles, these are hand crafted and painted in order to accurately represent the player.

So for the price of a ticket to the game which could be as cheap as 5$ you are getting a one of a kind work of art. The bobblehead giveaway games at baseball stadiums usually sell out and are the most popular games of the year. Since there isn't any other way to get the bobblehead but to attend the game. You can't buy these guys after the game (without overpaying on ebay anyway). So i have decided to dedicate a blog to writing about something that i have enjoyed for quite a few years.