Behind the scenes of the Bobblehead giveaway

It's finally here. Adam Jones Bobblehead Night. You're excited. You're ready to get here early - or at least you were before the sky opened up into a downpour in downtown Baltimore. And a few of you have even said you know right where you'll put yours. But what goes into a bobblehead night at Camden Yards? - A good bit of time, consideration, photos, and discussion, according to Orioles Director of Public Relations Monica Barlow with input from Manager of Programs and Promotions Stasia Daskalakis who helped see the project through from start to finish. First, they'll look at which players the team's marketing has been focused around that season, which players are fan favorites, and who hasn't had the honor of a bobblehead in his likeness before. After a player is chosen, the rest of the process can fall into place, including selecting a date for the giveaway, a stance for the figure to take, the uniform he'll wear, the look of the shoes, the T-shirt under the jersey, his glove color, and specifics to the player chosen - such as the singularly unique brilliant pink bubble popping from the mouth of Adam's bobblehead. The next step involves photos. Lots of them. As many photos of the player as possible are collected from O's team photographer Todd Olszewski, from action shots to head shots. The bobblehead is then bid out to a variety of companies in search of the best quality and price for the unique circumstances of its design. Along those lines, I was told the price of each bobblehead varies depending on the player's stance, the base, and other variables of the design. Nevertheless, regardless of the figure, it takes 120 days to manufacture a bobblehead. If you think that sounds like a long time, Monica told me Stasia finished up her account of the whole progression by explaining why the process might surprise some fans. "Seeing it come together is fun, and nerve wracking," she admitted. "It's hard to convey through a photo what someone or something looks like, so there are a lot of conversations back and forth with the vendor about piping on a jersey, bubble gum color, or facial hair, etc. It's very difficult to get the actual likeness of the player, but I think that Adam (Jones) turned out spot on."