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Commentary June 30, 2025

The Summer of George: The Yankees’ Creative New Bobblehead Sparks Enormous Fan Demand Well in Advance

The Yankees announced a new bobblehead of Seinfeld’s George Costanza sleeping under his desk, and resales are already listed on eBay with the game almost two months away.

By  Brendan Menapace

Key Takeaways

• Bobblehead Design Has No Limits: The New York Yankees announced an upcoming George Costanza “napping under the desk” bobblehead, which stretches the traditional bobblehead concept.

• Creative Giveaways Drive Demand: Unique and humorous bobbleheads, such as the Costanza diorama, can generate massive fan interest and resale value, with some being listed for up to $250 even before the event.

• Innovation Boosts Engagement: Sports teams like the Yankees and Orioles are proving that imaginative promotional items can significantly enhance fan engagement and attendance, encouraging marketers to think outside the box.

There’s no rule book for bobbleheads. No shadowy governing body decides what constitutes or does not constitute a bobblehead. At the end of the day, yes, the head should bobble, of course. But that isn’t even a necessity. The term “bobblehead” is loose enough that designers can get away with quite a lot.

As the New York Yankees demonstrated, a bobblehead doesn’t need to be standing upright, or even need to feature a player from the team.

The giveaway, planned for August 21, is a “bobblehead” of Seinfeld character George Costanza taking a nap under his desk while he was employed by the team.

Hilarious. Wonderful. It ties in with the team, but does so in a unique way.

Get this, though: The game is more than a month out, but according to The Athletic, people are already preselling the bobbleheads on eBay for as high as $250. Tickets to the game, where the first 18,000 fans will receive the bobbleheads (which actually look more like a diorama), are only about 50 bucks.

This is virtually unprecedented demand for bobbleheads, and you’ll remember that one time the Pittsburgh Penguins were embroiled in a Fast & Furious-type drama involving stolen Jaromir Jagr bobbles.

You might remember that after the ordeal was over, the Pens even commemorated the event with their own redefinition of what a bobblehead could be – a nearly life-size Jagr bobblehead displayed at the arena.

While the Penguins proved there’s enough demand for a bobblehead alone, other recent designs have shown that brands – in this case, sports franchises – can and probably should get more creative with their giveaways. That little bit of excitement over a one-of-a-kind collectible could be enough to entice someone to the ballpark or arena when they otherwise might’ve watched on TV.

Elsewhere in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles also recently took creative liberties with their bobblehead giveaways by depicting O’s legend Cal Ripken Jr., who holds the record for most consecutive games played, as Iron Man.

The lesson here for distributors, whether they’re working in the sports world or elsewhere, is to avoid being bogged down by the way things have always been done or how others believe they’re “supposed to” be done. Creativity and out-of-the-box thinking can create a promotional campaign that people are so excited for they camp out all night to receive it. This can be achieved through design, decoration, combination of products in a kit or simply having the presence of mind while binging old sitcoms to recognize a branding opportunity when it presents itself.

Maybe next time it will be Elaine dancing. Actually, if we’re going with bobbleheads, Kramer’s head jerking back from the Kenny Rogers chicken restaurant light would work.

Give me a call, Yankees. Then I can sleep under a desk in your offices.

Brendan Menapace

Content Director, Print & Promo Marketing

Brendan is the content director for ASI's Print & Promo Marketing media brand, which brings together the promotional products, apparel, commercial print and product decoration industries. His coverage includes in-depth company and personal profiles, trend pieces, and multimedia content.