1961-1962 Minnesota Twins Mini Bobblehead

Almost five years ago, I bought a set of four vintage Twins bobbleheads from a a guy on Craigslist. (I posted about it here.) I was really happy to get those for a great price.  They are in great condition as well.

Since then, I have kept my eye out for the mini-version which was made with a magnet on the bottom so you could stick it on the dashboard of your car.  For those of you too young to remember, cars used to have metal dashboards.

I would imagine that the majority of these that were actually put on people's dashboards ending up flying off in quick-brake situations and got broken.

The prices on Ebay are usually outrageous for these, or the condition is poor.

A couple days ago, a friend of mine who sells at card shows, told me he bought a few bobbleheads from a customer at a card  show, including two of these mini-bobbleheads.  I told him to let me know when he was ready to sell them because I'd be interested at the right price.

He messaged me yesterday with some pictures and prices, and I bought the higher-condition one for a great price.  I didn't know if I would ever own one because I wasn't willing to pay Ebay prices, but this one was very reasonable and I appreciate him letting me buy it.

He had another that was in a little worse condition, but it had  a large chip out of the brim of the cap that was glaringly noticeable.  He had that one priced at half of what I paid for this one, which is an incredible deal, and if that was the only one he had, I would have bought it.

Here's a picture of it next to the regular-sized version that was sold between 1961 and 1963:

I am getting to the age where I start thinking that I might have to downsize my collection in case we downsize our house, or just to get rid of some of the collectibles that I can't take with me to the grave, and that I don't want my kids to have to deal with when we're gone.  This would include nearly 5000 comics, and a room full of Star Wars toys in addition to the thousands of autographed baseball cards, balls, photos and bobbleheads.

I would keep a few items, those that I like the most or that mean the most to me.  Probably just enough to fit in one or two display cases.  For example, I'd keep the ball and picture that Harmon Killebrew signed to me and my family in the 1970's at the local shopping mall.  This bobblehead, and the four other vintage bobbleheads I have, would also fall into that "save" category.