Let’s start with a small history of bobbleheads. 1966: Gold base baseball bobbleheads were issued. These were of inferior quality and would suffer from chips, cracks, and paint flaking. One specific player was made – Willie Mays. 1970: There was a lull in bobblehead collecting as collectors shifted to lunchboxes, action figures and video games. 1990: New manufacturing processes allowed bobbleheads to be made from plastic instead of ceramic, dramatically reducing the expense and difficulty of creating quality bobbleheads.
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.
When cheaper materials appeared bobblehead dolls began resurfacing again. In 1990s they were manufactured from plastic and collectability was achieved by limiting of the manufactured series. San Francisco Giants were the first baseball team who reintroduced bobblehead dolls as giveaways at their game on May 9 of 1999. Modern bobbleheads are so-called mini-bobbleheads which are 5 to 8 cm in height and are often used as prizes in cereal boxes. Today bobbleheads are made of solid, durable plastic, poly-resin, and flocked which means that they are made from plastic shell covered with fuzz-like flocked layer. Bobblehead dolls are still much sought collectables.
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.
Having established a long-term cooperation with UPS/DHL for many years, shipping is done quickly & professionally to ensure that the bobblehead dolls reach the customers in time. Before ship, all the products go under rigorous packed and examined by the expertise quality controllers. We do accept bulk orders, special prices can be worked out for bulk orders for Wholesalers and Retailers Resellers. We are seeking for the long-term business partner like you. See extra details on personalized bobbleheads online store.