Business Opportunities Weblog

January 3, 2007 by Rich Whittle | 3 Comments

Associated Press:

Ralph Trumbo is neither an athlete nor a celebrity. Nevertheless, he has a bobblehead likeness of himself sitting on his mantel.

Bobbleheads, those shaky-headed 3-D caricatures, have jiggled free of their mass-produced roots of an earlier generation. Once merely featureless figures decked out in team colors and handed out on game day, they now depict just about anyone who wants one.

Even Ralph Trumbo, a Des Moines letter carrier.

Trumbo’s bobblehead was sculpted by Bryan Guise, who creates the toys in the cramped basement of his home. Guise, 29, has made bobbleheads for Iowa’s governor, police officers, a woman with a deformed face, even a rush job for a dying man.

Typically, he takes orders over the Internet and relies on photos of his subjects.

He won’t say how many he makes beyond ”quite a few.” Prices range from $150 to $200.

Photo by Charlie Neibergall/The Associated Press.

In Humor, Ideas | 3 Comments
Tags: Ecommerce, Marketing, Niche, Sales, Startup