Stocking stuffer, anyone?
Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford, who admitted last week he had smoked crack cocaine during “one of my drunken stupors,” probably never expected to see a tiny replica of his head bobbing up and down on a six-inch doll that sells in Canada for $20, with proceeds going to United Way.
But neither did the 44-year-old expect that the same tiny doll – called Robbie Bobbie – would become an overnight collectors’ item and show up on eBay for as much as 15 times its purchase price. As of Wednesday afternoon, a signed Ford bobblehead was bidding for $300 – while a bonus bobblehead, with four business cards and magnets thrown in, was going for $550 “or best offer.”
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The Canadian policeman and businessman is serving as Toronto’s 64th mayor, and the limited-edition doll in his likeness is a hot item at the moment – perhaps in advance of the holidays, or perhaps just because.
The sale of 1,000 Robbie Bobbie dolls was dreamed up well before last week’s furor, Reuters reports – and the item has been in such demand that some customers spent more than three hours standing on line at City Hall to try to grab one of the precious figurines. “We’re living in crazy times and it’s probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to have a time stamp of a guy that smokes crack as a mayor,” bobblehead seeker Jay White told Reuters.
Ford is hardly the first politician to see his likeness adorn cute little collectibles that wind up on somebody’s dashboard, kitchen table or mantle. Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Abe Lincoln, George Washington, FDR and even JFK have all been rendered into “full color collectors’ edition” bobbleheads.
