Bobbleheads a trend that never ends for fans, teams

But just because bobbleheads are popular is not to say that they are also valuable. According to Ted Taylor, a sports-collectible expert, only vintage nodders from the 1960s tend to hold any value. Largely, they were bobbleheads that depicted some aspect of the team itself as opposed to individual players. Some of the older bobbleheads can go for as high as $1,000 or more. But Taylor says the problem with the nodders that have come out since the 1990s is that there are far too many of them. Brandreth corroborates that by saying that there will be some 43,000 Halladay nodders given out this evening. Although the giveaway was once limited to children, Brandreth says it was open to all fans a few years ago to prevent adults from trying to buy them from youngsters.

Taylor says the plethora of bobbleheads available is exactly the problem. "Every team has just been cranking them out," Taylor says. "In the catalog there are 13 pages of bobbleheads in small type."

Taylor pauses and adds with a chuckle, "I have a Pat Burrell one you can have."

A cursory scan yesterday of eBay bears Taylor out. At one point during the day, there were 3,690 bobbleheads up for auction, including a "Rare Salt Lake City Eagles Nodder Bobble Head" from the 1960s at an initial asking price of $900. (The Salt Lake City Eagles were a hockey team.) There were no bids. However, a nodder of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor had been bid up to $455, with former colleague David Souter just behind her at $177.50 and current justice Antonin Scalia at $102.50. Interestingly, 15 Roy Halladay bobbleheads also were up for auction, presumably from fans planning to attend the game and quickly part with Roy. The highest price was $26.

Taylor adds, "You and I will not live to see the day that it will be scarce."

So what do you end up doing with them?

Display them on your desk?

Give them to your 2-year-old (which assures the item will end up headless)?

Or just pass them along to the Nodding Head in exchange for a quenching beverage (remember, it has to be unusual)? But you never know what the proprietors will end up doing with it. A Scalia nodder that someone gave them ended up in the garbage. A George W. Bush bobblehead ended up without a head, which Decker explained by saying: "What did he need it for? He never used it." And a Kobe Bryant figurine ended up being smashed by a customer who won a raffle during the 2001 NBA Finals - all that remains is the base and his ankles.

And then there is Penguins star Sidney Crosby.

Decker says he pinned a paper skirt on him.

And plans to change his name to "Cindy."