1960-1961 Color Base Bobbing Head Dolls Near Set (13)

Sold For:

$2,252

Year:

1961

Auction:

2013 Spring

Lot #:

1366

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

The 1960-1961 Color Base bobbing-head dolls are the very first of the Japan-issued bobbing-head doll series. This is a very scarce series of great historical significance to the world of bobbing heads. Because they are less impressive than later editions, the Color Base series has historically received surprisingly modest attention from collectors, despite its rarity and importance. Of all the Major League teams in the set, this collection of thirteen different dolls is missing only the Senators and possibly the Indians for completion. (The collecting world is still not in unanimous agreement regarding whether an Indians doll is truly a part of this series.) This collection is comprised of the following: L.A. Angels block-letter hat decal (Nr/Mt), L.A. Angels "Old English" script hat (Nr/Mt), Cubs (Mint), Yankees (Nr/Mt), Mets (Nr/Mt), Twins (Gem Mint), Dodgers, wood base (Nr/Mt), Orioles (Ex to Nr/Mt), Pirates (Nr/Mt), Red Sox (Gem Mint), Reds (Mint), Giants (two variations; Nr/Mt+ and Ex/Mt). Also accompanying the collection are an additional three rare 1960 rubber bobbing-head dolls that were apparently prototypes for the 1960-1961 Color Base dolls (Braves, Giants, Dodgers, all Ex). This is a tremendous collection of the very earliest baseball bobbing-head dolls. This collection originally appeared as Lot 925 in REA's April 2005 auction, where it sold for $2,610. At that time, all of the dolls were personally examined and graded by renowned bobbing-head expert Tim Hunter. The lot has been consigned directly from the original purchaser in 2005. Total: 16 dolls. Reserve $500. Estimate $1,000/$2,000+. SOLD FOR $2,251.50