If you can appreciate a cheeky joke, you can refrain from meeting the $69,420 price tag one eBay user hung on a bobblehead featuring Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his dog Thursday. The listing has no bids as of this writing, but the demand for the most sought-after stadium giveaway of 2024 is real.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers gave away approximately 40,000 of the figurines featuring Ohtani and Dekopin (or “Decoy”). Two versions were released; the gold-colored version was more limited in number and saw the highest resale bids Thursday.
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Not all of the Ohtani bobbleheads were auctioning on eBay in the five-figure range; one gold bobblehead was originally listed for less than $1,000 Wednesday night before bidders pushed the price in excess of $1,100 by midday Thursday.
Even the fans who didn’t arrive in time to get a bobblehead got something out of the experience. In an adorable pregame moment, Ohtani’s dog “threw out” the ceremonial first pitch to his owner, who led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run.
Attendance for the game between the Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles exceeded 53,000. The Dodgers are averaging more than 48,000 fans per home game this season — by far the most in MLB — but only special circumstances would predict such a crowd on a Wednesday night in August.
Fans began lining up to get their bobbleheads before 11 a.m. local time Wednesday for the 7:10 p.m. game.
According to DodgersNation.com, an estimated 20,000 fans had lined up four hours before first pitch to collect their bobbleheads. Others were able to score a bobblehead less than an hour before game time. Reports Dodgers Nation’s Valentina Martinez:
Several fans were able to collect multiple bobbleheads, which was certainly perplexing to many. However, there may be an explanation for fans who were able to secure several Ohtani and Decoy bobbleheads.
For example: If one fan had tickets for their group of four, and not everyone in the group arrived early, it was possible for that fan to collect all four bobbleheads by scanning their four tickets at the gate, then holding the giveaways for the group until they arrived. Other fans might simply have bought more than one ticket for the game, then re-entered the gate for as many tickets as they were able to buy, collecting a bobblehead each time.
@alannarizzo @realFRG I took my family to the Yamamoto bobble head game. There were several people ahead of us who scanned their tix walked in, collected their bobble heads (maybe 15-20) each, turned around and left.
— Daddy Mac (@Dodgersfan1974) August 29, 2024
Why Didn’t Every Dodgers Fan Receive an Ohtani/Decoy Bobblehead?
The Dodgers have given away two Ohtani bobbleheads this season, his first in Los Angeles since signing a 10-year, $700 million contract last December. The first giveaway, in May, elicited a similar reaction.
Only four MLB teams average more than 40,000 fans per home game: the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and San Diego Padres. Some major league parks can’t even accommodate that many fans. The Dodgers typically limit giveaways to approximately 40,000 at most; Wednesday’s demand was unusual.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said the corporate sponsors that cover the cost of most giveaways may not have the budget for 53,000 promotional items.
In short, the scarce quantity of Wednesday’s giveaway was typical. The attention placed on the scarcity was not.