For the past few weeks, I have been going over the
bobbleheads that the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum and the Cincinnati
Reds gave to fans in 2016. Since I got every bobblehead that both the team and
the hall of fame gave away to fans, I thought I would compare the lines of
nodders and determine who had the better series of bobbles. I will look at the
players featured, the appearance of the bobbles, and the overall quality of the
nodders in determining which bobblehead series reigns supreme for 2016.
For players featured, the Cincinnati Reds introduced the
bobblehead versions of two players who had not been immortalized as nodders in
Zack Cozart and Eugenio Suarez. There were also three repeat player bobbles
that had a unique twist to differentiate them from years past. They were nodders
of Vottomatic who is the superhero version of Joey Votto, a Cincinnati Reds /
Seattle Mariners Ken Griffey Jr. double bobblehead, and a Star Wars X-Wing
pilot Mr. Redlegs bobblehead. The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum gave
out bobbleheads of Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, Jim Maloney, Lee May, and Pete
Rose. For everybody but Rose, this was their bobblehead debut. The Rose bobble
was of him being inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame while the other bobbles
featured the Reds legends in their playing days. Since the Reds Hall of Fame
featured more new players as bobbles than the Reds, I’m giving this round to
the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.
Next we will take a look at the overall appearance of the
nodders. The bobbleheads that the Reds gave away looked great. Suarez and
Cozart are in traditional Reds uniforms, Vottomatic is in a superhero outfit,
Ken Griffey Jr. is featured in both his Reds and Mariners uniform, and the Star
Wars Mr. Redlegs bobblehead features the mustached mascot of the Reds in an
X-Wing spaceship. The Reds Hall of Fame bobbles feature the players in
traditional Reds uniforms based on the era that the players were from with the
Rose bobblehead featuring Rose in his red hall of fame induction jacket. Based
on the uniqueness of the appearances of the Reds bobbleheads, I’m giving this
round to the Reds.
With both the Reds and the Reds Hall of Fame claiming a
point apiece, this round will determine which bobbleheads were of better
quality as well as who is the bobblehead champion of 2016. The overall quality
of the Reds bobbleheads was pretty good. The paintjobs on the players were
decent for the most part and the heads bobbled pretty well. However, the paintjobs
on the bases could have been better as the lettering for the names of the
players looked a little splotchy on some bobbles. Also, the bats that are held
in the hands of the Griffey Jr. bobble were pretty loose and would fall out
easily. The Reds Hall of Fame bobbles feature quality paintjobs on both the
players and the bases. The bat in Lee May’s hands fit snuggly, and Rose’s foot
screw into the base to keep the bobble in place. Therefore, the quality round
goes to the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.
Based on a final score of 2-1, the Cincinnati Reds Hall of
Fame and Museum gave out the better line of bobbleheads in 2016. The players
were featured were mostly new, and the quality of the bobbles were topnotch.
The Reds bobbles had the better look, but the repeat players and shabby
paintjobs on the bases and the loose bats on the Girffey Jr. bobblehead were
the factors that gave the title of bobblehead champ to the Reds Hall of Fame.
That is not to say that the Reds bobbles are bad as they are in fact really
nice, but the Reds Hall of Fame bobbles were just better overall. If you are a
Reds fan, I suggest picking up both lines of bobbleheads for your collection.
Go Redlegs!
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