Barry Larkin Bobblehead Review

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone reviews a 2006 Cincinnati Reds Barry Larkin bobblehead. 

Jeff Brantley Dual Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds Community Fund dual Jeff Brantley bobblehead. 

Cincinnati Reds Pint Glasses Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a pair of Cincinnati Reds Community Fund pint glasses. 

Cincinnati Reds Community Fund MVP Package Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds Community Fund MVP package. 

150th Anniversary Barry Larkin Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds 150th anniversary Barry Larkin bobblehead. 

2014 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Barry Larkin Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a 2014 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Barry Larkin bobblehead. 

2014 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Sparky Anderson Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a 2014 Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum Sparky Anderson bobblehead. 

150th Anniversary Ernie Lombardi Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a Cincinnati Reds 150th anniversary Ernie Lombardi bobblehead. 

The 2019 Cincinnati Reds Bobbleheads Are...

With the Cincinnati Reds celebrating their 150th anniversary season this year, the team has announced that they will be giving away seven bobbleheads that represent different eras of Reds baseball. Six of these bobbleheads are of Redlegs legends who have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. So who is being featured as a bobblehead this year? Let's take a look. 

The first bobblehead that will be given out is a 150th anniversary Mr. Redlegs bobble. This will be given out on May 4 against the San Francisco Giants. This is the bobblehead game I am looking forward to the most as Mr. Redlegs is a timeless mascot who is synonymous with the team, and it makes perfect sense that the franchise wants to incorporate him into their 150th anniversary season celebration. 

The second bobblehead of the season is of Ernie Lombardi. This will be given out to fans when the Redlegs host the Dodgers on May 18. While this is the first time the Reds team is giving out a bobblehead of Lombardi, it is actually the second year in a row in which fans can attain a bobble of the legendary player as the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum gave out a Lombardi bobblehead last season. 

Third on the list of Reds 2019 bobblehead giveaways is Joe Morgan. This bobblehead will be given out when the Washington Nationals come to town on June 1. Considered to be one of the greatest if not the greatest second baseman of all time, it is a little shocking that this is only the second Morgan bobblehead the team has ever given out to fans with the first being distributed in 2004. The Reds Hall of Fame gave out a mini bobblehead of Morgan in 2012. I would expect a big crowd for this game as Morgan is a heavy fan favorite in Cincinnati. 

On June 15 against the Texas Rangers, the Reds will give out a bobblehead of local legend and National Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin. The Reds have previously given out Larkin bobbles three times and the Reds Hall of Fame gave out a bobblehead of Larkin in 2014. The crowd for this game should be large too as Larkin played his entire career with his hometown Redlegs and is a huge fan favorite.

Tony Perez will have his bobblehead given out on July 27 when the Reds play the Colorado Rockies. The Reds gave out a single bobblehead of Perez in 2005, and he was featured as part of a triple bobblehead alongside Sean Casey and Joey Votto in 2017. Considering how scarce Perez bubbleheads are, this could be the hottest giveaway of the season.

On August 17, the Reds will give out a bobblehead of Johnny Bench when the St. Louis Cardinals come to town. I believe that Bench is the player to be featured the most as a bobblehead by both the Reds and the Reds Hall of Fame. Despite that fact, the Big Red Machine is held in high regard in Cincinnati and a bobblehead of Bench is sure to garner a big crowd.

The last bobblehead the Reds will give out in 2018 will be on September 7 when the Reds take on the Arizona Diamondbacks, This bobblehead will feature Ken Griffey Jr. who is not only a popular player in Reds Country but in all of Major League Baseball. The Reds have previously given out bobbles of Griffey Jr. three times with the most recent bobble having been given out in 2016. With Griffey Jr. being inducted into the Hall of Fame a few years ago, this bobblehead could rival the Perez one as most sought after stadium giveaway item for 2019.

Those are the bobbleheads the Reds will give to fans in 2019. All the featured players have already been immortalized as bobbleheads by either the Reds, the Reds Hall of Fame, or both. All of the bobbleheads except for Mr. Redlegs are being given out as two sets of three with each set representing three different eras of Reds history. These eras include the Crosley Field era, the Riverfront Stadium era and the Great American Ball Park era. A cool feature of these sets is that when they are put together, the backdrops will form the 150^thanniversary logo of the Reds.

While I am excited to add these 150^thanniversary bobbleheads to my collection, I am bummed that no current players are being featured. I would have loved to add bobbleheads of Jesse Winker, Amir Garrett, Jose Peraza, and Luis Castillo among others to my collection. The bobblehead I am looking forward to obtaining the most this season is Mr. Redlegs. He is a great mascot, and I love adding different Mr. Redlegs bobblehead variants to my collection. In conclusion, the lineup of Reds legends will make for a highly desirable series of bobbleheads that will make Reds fans happy.

1/29/19 Update:
Today the Cincinnati Reds announced that they will be giving out a bobblehead of newly acquired outfielder Yasiel Puig. Aside from the Mr. Redlegs bobblehead, the Puig bobble is the one I am looking forward to the most. Puig came to the Reds via a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is one of the most popular players in baseball and considering how the Reds currently only have him under contract for one season, having a Puig bobblehead game is a no brainer.

Xavier University Musketeers Byron Larkin and Joe Sunderman Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a a Xavier University Musketeers double bobblehead of Byron Larkin and Joe Sunderman. 

MikelineTV Care Pacakge Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a care package from MikelineTV.

Give MikelineTV a sub: https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeline...

Is It Worth It?

I love the Cincinnati Reds. They are my team when it comes to Major League Baseball. My parents instilled a love for the Redlegs in me when I was a kid, and my passion for this team has only grown since. I was with this team during the dark days when it looked like October baseball would never grace the Queen City again, and I was with this team when they walked off with the National League Central Division Championship in 2010 and when they ran away with it in 2012. I have seen guys like Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin forge their Hall of Fame legacies on the shores of the Ohio River, and I witnessed the rise of the “Cuban Missile” Aroldis Chapman, and the crowning of the Homer Run Derby King Todd Frazier.

I have seen a lot during my time as a Reds fan. Rebuilding, however, is a hard thing to watch. It is especially difficult when you consider how good the Reds were a few years ago. They made the playoffs, and it seemed like they were on the verge of breaking through and capturing their first World Series Championship since the 1990 season. That was not the case as those dreams were dashed when the front office realized that the team they had assembled was not quite good enough to win it all. Fan favorites left town, wins were outnumbered by losses, and the reconstruction of the Reds has officially begun. So after witnessing the rise and fall of the Reds of the 2010s, I have to ask if it is worth watching this team struggle as it looks to regain its former glory?

To sum it up: yes. It is worth watching this team struggle. Do not get me wrong. I want to see the Reds win every game they play and win the World Series. I will always have that sate of mind and will be angry when they play poorly and be excited when they play well and win. It is the fan in me that evokes that emotion. I also realize that this team is designed to win in the next few years and not now. I do not like it, but I know that this team will lose a lot of games and will look very bad at certain times during the season. The baseball analyst in me realizes that.

So why will I watch this team? I want to see them grow. I want to see this young crop of payers evolve into the next batch of Reds stars. This team is loaded with untapped potential. I have seen flashes of their talent, and if they can turn those flashes into sustained play game in and game out, then the future looks very bright for the Redlegs. This team will put it all together and become a winning franchise once again. It is only a matter of time.

So is it worth it? Absolutely.

Go Redlegs!

Bobblehead Collection 2015

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shows what he has added to his bobblehead collection through 2015.

MikeO Care Package Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a care package from MikeO.

Give MikeO a sub: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0lnxZxSIPRJ-88XUu4g05w

My Redsfest 2015 Experience

Redsfest 2015 came and went this past weekend and like last year, I loaded up my Cincinnati Reds back sack with baseballs and spent my entire Saturday at the Duke Energy Center meeting former, current, and future stars of the Redlegs while soaking up everything that the annual December event had to offer. If you are a Reds fan and have not yet attended a Redsfest, then you are missing out on a fantastic experience. I have been multiple times and each year I have a blast. The event is a Cincinnati Reds fan version of paradise as it features awesome exhibits, opportunities to meet some of your favorite players, and pick up some sweet Reds memorabilia. The event takes place usually during the first Friday and Saturday in December. I was only able to attend on Saturday and even though I was only there for one day, I still had a great time. In this post, I will discuss some of my favorite elements of the 2015 edition of Redsfest.

My absolute favorite part of Redsfest is getting autographs. Despite only going on Saturday, I still came away with a pretty good haul by obtaining 13 autographs from 13 different former, current, and future Reds players on 13 different baseballs. I love getting to meet them and talk to them for a little bit while they kindly write their name on one of my baseballs. I was most excited to get the autograph of Joe Oliver. He was the catcher for the 1990 wire-to-wire World Series Championship Reds. You can see his autograph as well as the other autographs I obtained at Redsfest on the “Autograph” page.

Another cool element of Redsfest I enjoy is all the exhibits. There are a ton of things to see such as the World Series trophies, game used equipment and memorabilia, and interviews with past, current, and future Reds players. There is a lot to soak in and in order to get the full Redsfest experience, I recommend going both days. My favorite exhibit is the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum section as it features a massive amount of Reds history and chronicles the careers of some of the all-time greats to have ever put on a Reds uniform.

The atmosphere of the event is another fantastic feature of Redsfest as it seems that nearly everybody there is in a great mood. Everybody I talked to and interacted with was very pleasant, and the players I met genuinely seemed happy to be there. It is really cool to see a huge amount of people gathered in one place to celebrate Reds fandom, and it is even cooler that the players actually seem like they want to be there.

In conclusion, my experience at Redsfest 2015 was amazing. I always have a great time and this year was no different. Getting autographs, checking out the exhibits, and being immersed in a world in which Redlegs culture is abundant is always fun, and I cannot wait to go back. Hopefully I can go for both days next year and once again get lost in the world of the Cincinnati Reds.

Go Redlegs!

Paul O'Neill Bobblehead Unboxing

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone unboxes a 2015 Paul O'Neill bobblehead from the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.

Bobblehead Page Update

#BOBBLEHEAD PAGE UPDATE WITH A NEW #REDS NODDER @ http://t.co/7szAEAxyiu #GoReds #ATOBTTR #CINvsARZ #Bengals #MLB pic.twitter.com/RZoRkf7uVU

— Cincy Fan Zone (@CincyFanZone) August 7, 2015