As they approached and subsequently celebrated their first World Series title, we enjoyed chronicling the success that the Houston Astros enjoyed last season. Holding Major League Baseball’s second-best mark this campaign, the defending champions could certainly repeat come the fall, but even if they were at the bottom of the standings, we know that the ownership team would nonetheless spend all of 2018 feting them. With a lengthy list of promotions this year, the overseers have also instituted a Bobblehead of the Month attraction, with July’s depiction of Gold Glove-winning outfielder Josh Reddick leading fans to line up at midnight for it.
We definitely appreciate that the Astros are a hot ticket and, quite frankly, a likable bunch, so we could see why management would want to spend every waking hour thinking of ways to attract additional brand awareness. We also like sleep, too, so we did have a moment where we wondered why it would lure supporters from their beds for the commemorative. Additional research, though, showed that Reddick is a pretty popular player among the Houston faithful, with a recent autograph opportunity compelling fans to test their patience in a long line. For this shot at a bobblehead, devotees needed to report Wednesday at the aforementioned time to the franchise’s team store, with distributed wristbands being their means to stake their claim as would-be buyers of the product.
Andddd we’re sold out!
Stay tuned for the announcement of next month’s bobblehead. https://t.co/lktlqFB5JJ
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 26, 2018
Sacrificing rest for the chance to be committed consumers, the eager attendees proved so plentiful that the Astros announced earlier today that they had sold all 150 of the goods that show Reddick donning protective eyewear and a championship wrestling belt, with a bald eagle adjacent to his right leg. This marks yet another element of an interesting week for Reddick, who also oversaw the completion and opening of an eponymous baseball stadium in Georgia that a Houston news affiliate has stated will be a boon to local special needs children.
Though the midnight sale robbed the crowd of a few winks, it proved, yet again, that bobbleheads are an endless source of excitement for the masses. We have had the fortune not only of covering a few interesting promo ideas centering on the commemoratives but also corresponding with Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, learning from MLB and the Milwaukee-based businessman that as long as baseball holds its distinction as America’s pastime, innovative designs and depictions will meet with favor.
With respect to sating fans’ overall enthusiasm for promotional goods, there must be something in the water in American League cities, as the Kansas City Royals pulled off a November “garage sale” that drew an estimated 1,000 fans eager to Kaufmann Stadium to purchase hats, jerseys and, of course, bobbleheads. We are eager to see what the Astros will market as August’s Bobblehead of the Month and how it will top the midnight frenzy that they created with the Reddick concept.
