Skip Lockwood and Manny Sanguillen TTM Returns and More Vintage Bobbleheads

Skip Lockwood signed four cards for me in about 6 weeks, including his 1965 Topps rookie card already signed by Rene Lachemann.  Unfortunately, it smeared a bit on the rookie.  It's not a cheap card since it's Catfish Hunter's rookie card as well, so I'll send it off to Odom and call it done.

Manny Sanguillen signed his 1971 Topps and a 1972 Topps Pirates team card signed by several already.  I communicated with the person who helps Mr. Sanguillen with his mail, and was told he was out of town for an extended period.  I had sent these at the end of March and included $20 with my request.

The Pirates card now has:

• Bill Mazeroski
• Steve Blass
• Dave Giusti
• Rich Hebner
• Gene Alley
• Bob Johnson
• Bob Robertson
• Manny Sanguillen

I may also send it out to Al Oliver and Richie Zisk.

Yesterday I received several more vintage bobbleheads.  Highlights include a few more minis, my first Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs and the early Twins version with its box, along with others.  

My collection is growing fast.  I finally assembled two more glass display cases that I bought a while ago, along with some acrylic "cupcake" stands to better display them.  The cases are more than half empty, so my collection looks smaller now than it did when they were all grouped together on the top of other cases.  I tried to take a picture of the cases but it didn't turn out well since it's hard to tell where the transparent case ends and things in the background begin.  There are a lot of reflections, too.  I tried to blur the background, so here's my best effort.  It's also a bit dark.  They look much better in person, of course.

It amazes me that there are still bobbleheads out there in this condition.  If you check out eBay, you'll see that most of them have cracks, big chips missing, and even pieces missing altogether.  I've decided I only want higher grade versions, even to include those that may have had some restoration.

I assume they are quite fragile since they are just paper mâché.  However, I did crash one into the display cabinet while I was putting them in, and despite the pretty heavy force with which I hit the door, the bobblehead was okay.  But can you imagine handing one of these to an 8 year old after buying it at a ballgame?  I can't imagine it would even make it home without some type of damage.

My biggest pet peeve is cracks, even "hairline" cracks, and I won't buy any that have them.

Here's a nice example of a Mets doll from about 1967-1968.  Somehow, this has survived for 58 years and still looks brand new.  Just one nick to the logo on his chest.  This one does not appear to have any restoration.

Luckily, there are variations to keep the obsessive collector busy and spending lots of money.  Some of the dolls from the same period will have different poses, such as one holding a glove and baseball, and another holding a bat.