A Fredericton man who paid just a few bucks for an old bobblehead doll a few years ago at Value Village could soon be bobbing all the way to the bank.
Normand MacDonald says the bobblehead he calls “Cash” is highly collectible, and could be worth thousands of dollars.
“I am a bit nervous right now because I don’t dare touch Cash right now for fear something might happen to him,” MacDonald said.
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MacDonald says he picked up the Boston Bruins hockey player bobblehead about seven years ago when the little guy simply caught his eye. He dished out $2.99 and unknowingly took his secret treasure home.
“I though he was kinda cute and I could tell he has age because he was made of paper mache,” MacDonald said.
He says Cash sat on a shelf staring at him for years, until one day just a few weeks ago he decided to do some online research to find out more about his head bobbing buddy.
“I found out that he is highly collectible, very rare and those who collect have never found a Boston Bruins doll in this series.”
He found that Cash was made in Japan in 1964 as a promotional item from the Laura Secord Company. MacDonald says Cash is part of an original six-NHL-team collection.
Only he says Cash is even more original.
“He has the Boston logo on his jersey, but he is dressed in the Montreal Canadiens colours, so that was a mistake that was made when he was produced,” MacDonald explained.
“The other mistake is that the number on his jersey should be on his left shoulder and this little guy — it’s on his right shoulder and that makes him desirable as well.”
He says, as far as he knows, there are only 11 others from the set in existence — but none like Cash.
“His general conditions — the colours haven’t faded or anything — so he is considered a gem doll, he still has his lustre,” MacDonald boasted.
A collector from New York recently offered $4,000 in cash, which he turned down.
“If I have been offered that much, my guess is he is worth more,” MacDonald said.
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One of Canada’s top sports memorabilia auctioneers, Marc Juteau from Classic Auctions, agrees.
Juteau says he’s seen rare bobbleheads sell for more than $10,000 a piece. His advice to McDonald to hold off on selling Cash until he’s been properly appraised, which MacDonald plans to do before he ‘cashes in’ on his surprise treasure.
“I can’t help but wonder why this has come my way,” MacDonald said.
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