Bobble
Heads !

San Jose Man Creates Anti-Bush Bobblehead 

Its polyresin head bobs amiably, tossing a casual smile to passersby. It goes for $20 a pop, and San Jose's Sam Schaeffer is hoping his 6-inch sendup of George W. Bush will be the collector's item of the 2004 political season.

Already the Army veteran has scored one big sale: a gentleman in Texas bought 144. (And no, his initials weren't G.W.B.)

Bobblehead dolls have been around for more than 40 years, but they are enjoying a resurgence. The 6-inch sensations have usurped the Beanie Baby as the giveaway to get at ballparks across the country. And this election season, political-themed bobbles are fast becoming the collectible du jour. Dozens of Bush and John Kerry novelty bobbles -- and even a few of first lady Laura Bush -- are hitting the Internet and crowding store shelves.

Earlier this month, seven minor league baseball teams from seven states, including the New Haven County Cutters who play in the home ballpark of Yale University (alma mater of both Bush and Democratic nominee Kerry), offered their own spin on the political bobblehead by staging ``Bobblelection Night.'' 

Schaeffer, 78, launched his Bush bobble as a way to let off some steam after watching the president's much-talked-about ``Mission Accomplished'' landing on an aircraft carrier off San Diego in May 2003. Schaeffer, a World War II infantryman who fought at the Battle of the Bulge, was never very politically active, but he says he found himself deeply disturbed by the president's bravado at a time when soldiers were still dying in Iraq.

``To me it was the epitome of being phony,'' Schaeffer said. ``It just stuck in my throat.''

Schaeffer chose to channel his anger.

``The bobblehead just seemed to be the way to go,'' he said.

Schaeffer collaborated with Menlo Park sculptor Rob Browne to create a version of the president clad in jeans and a cowboy hat riding a barrel of oil as if it's a bucking bronco. Collectors have their choice of two inscriptions: ``It's the oil stupid'' or a more Californian ``It's the oil dude.''

Malcolm Alexander, president of Alexander Global Promotions, is considered by some to be the Microsoft of the bobblehead world.

Alexander, whose firm has manufactured 5,300 types of bobbleheads and sold more than 18 million of them since 1999, credits the San Francisco Giants with introducing the bobblehead to a new generation of fans. Their 1999 Willie Mays bobblehead was a huge hit when offered as a giveaway to fans, and soon other ball teams were eager to launch their own versions of the bobblehead.

``It's the kind of thing that can fit on a child's nightstand or on the desk of a CEO,'' Alexander said.

Tim Hunter, author of ``Bobbinghead Dolls: 1960-2000'' and considered by many to be the pre-eminent bobblehead expert, said the dolls originated in Germany where they were known as ``Nodders.''

As for their appeal?

``It's just one of those things,'' Hunter said. ``You could have had a statue, but with a bobbing head, you get some three-dimensional action. Kids love it.''

And the bobble lends itself to many shapes and sizes, he said. A recent search of the Internet turned up dozens of bobblehead sites featuring likenesses from the Cat in the Hat to Jesus Christ at prices from $10.99 to $24.

Though some bobbleheads may fetch a premium in the collectors market -- a 1962 Willie Mays bobblehead was recently selling for $177 on eBay and a 3-foot-tall bobblehead of Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki was going for $299 -- Hunter doubts that a Bush or Kerry bobblehead will be worth big bucks in the future in part because so many are flooding the market.

While some athletes and stars are flattered when they are immortalized in bobble form, others are less thrilled.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently settled a lawsuit against an Ohio company that was manufacturing an Arnold-turned-politician-themed bobble, featuring the action star in a suit, toting a gun. Under the settlement, the doll will be manufactured sans gun and a portion of the proceeds will go toward the governor's Arnold All-Stars after-school program.

Schaeffer, meanwhile, remains optimistic about his chances of making a splash in the ultra-competitive bobblehead arena. He figures he has about three months to sell about 9,300 bobbleheads (he's sold more than 700 thus far), so he is working every angle. He has sent out mailers to bookstores in Chicago and Texas. Now he is thinking it wouldn't hurt to get the word out in Washington, D.C.

After all, who knows? His best customer just might be living there right now -- at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.


For more information about Sam Schaeffer's Bush bobblehead, call (408) 293-0131 or (408) 995-0339.

- Excerpted from MercuryNews.com