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I seem to recall that the bobble-head just had a major anniversary. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I did clip this article (and edit it) from the 'Net:
"There seems to be a bit of head-scratching when it comes to the origin of today's bobbleheads. Some experts, if there is such a thing, trace the dolls back to 19th Century, European "nodders," which featured a head with a long, weighted neck on a pin that balanced on the doll's body and gently nodded up and down or back and forth.
Others believe they were invented in China in the 1600s, as amusements that commemorated imperial dynasties.
Still others say they likely are descended from papier- mache "bobbinhead" dolls first created in the 1960s as gimmicks for Halloween and Christmas. The first baseball- player bobbinheads were created in Japan in 1961 and 1962 for the Swiss company Lego, and sold at U.S. ballparks for a buck or two, Kovel said.
The four original baseball bobble-heads were of Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Willie Mays. It's believed these also are among the rarest and most prized by collectors, worth upward of several hundred dollars, depending on the doll and what a collector will pay.
In 1999 the San Francisco Giants, which was going with a retro theme that season, approached Alexander Global Promotions about creating a bobblehead doll to give to the fans. The company made 35,000 Willie Mays dolls out of cold-cast ceramic for a giveaway day at a game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Houston Rockets' Moochie Norris was the first bobblehead with hair, creator BD&A claims. Five-thousand dolls were created in 2002 for a giveaway at a game against the Phoenix Suns.
"And as the evolution of the bobble-head continues, we're continuing to look for new things to push the bobble-head envelope," he said."
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