The greatest gift in sports: How the bobblehead became a classic symbol of baseball season

Source: nationalpost.com --- Wednesday, March 28, 2018
As he walked to work on a bright, subzero morning in Toronto last week, Mark Wlodarski took a moment to share the story of how he collected the first of the 150 Blue Jays bobbleheads in his possession: an Alex Rios figurine the team handed out to fans on May 17, 2009. The key, he explained, was good timing. The Jays had sizzled through the first quarter of the season and entered the day in first place in the American League East. But they had also missed the playoffs for 15 straight seasons. Followers of the team were listless. In that, Wlodarski could sense an opportunity. “I got (into bobblehead collecting) when the Jays weren’t doing well. That meant it was a lot easier to get everything,” he said. “I would hate to be someone trying to enter the Jays market right now, because of the fact that so many people desire them and there’s not much out there.” Nearly a decade on from Rios’ day in the sun, another Baseball season is upon us, and with it comes the dawn of a new promotional calendar. All 30 MLB teams will spend the next six months attempting to woo crowds to an endless slate of home games with trinkets. The Blue Jays are giving out sweatshirts and sunglasses, bucket hats and batting helmets, Josh Donaldson T-shirts and Kevin Pillar replica jerseys — with a cape on the back. None, though, are the bobblehead, a timeless gift tailor-made for hardcore collectors like Wlodarski and for the masses. On giveaway days at the Roge ...

from Baseball https://ift.tt/2Get5Wj