From Lance's blog:
UPDATED: BREAKING BIG RED MACHINE NEWS
You won't believe this. Sources tell me the following today:
Starting Monday July 17, M25 Ministries and the Cincinnati Reds will unveil a bobble head collection celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the Big Red Machine.
The sets will be sold at Greater Cincinnati Kroger locations. It will be a very limited addition set....sure to be a huge collectors item.
A supply of only 10,000 sets will be sold at a cost of $19.95 per bobble head.
ALL proceeds will benefit M25's international relief efforts.
For the first time since his banishment, Pete Rose will appear in a Reds uniform!
Each bobble head will have two figures.
Week of July 17, set 1 Johnny Bench/Sparky Anderson
Week of July 24, set 2 Joe Morgan/Tony Perez
Week of July 31, set 3 Pete Rose/Ken Griffey Sr.
A public announcement is coming later this week.
I will have a complete set to give away this week........and then have a set to give away, once a day starting next week..... for three weeks.
I'm told it is the first time ever that a "team" has been celebrated with a bobble head collection.
I'm also told this is a pretty big step for MLB with Pete Rose.
MLB initially said "NO" to the request by Tony Kountz of the Reds. Now it appears baseball may be softening its stance with Rose.
You will notice George Foster, Dave Concepcion and Ceser Geronimo are not involved.
I'm told it came down to economics. M25 Ministries is not ruling out future additions to the sets.
Congrats to Tim Mettey of M25 Ministries and Tony Kountz, Manager, Corporate Sales and Marketing for the Reds for jobs well done!
I will post a picture of the set later this afternoon
Reaction I'm getting from a Reds executive today:
"The Reds are very excited to be a part of this program. Partnering with Matthew 25 Ministries and Kroger will enable fans to obtain a great part of Reds history with this limited edition bobble head series. Fans can feel good about not only having a unique collectable, but know that through the funds raised with this program that Matthew 25 will be able to help people all over the world with their humanitarian relief efforts. The celebration of the release of the bobble heads comes 30 years after the best baseball team ever assembled in the minds of many. The 1976 team…The Big Red Machine…was the dream team of baseball, and due to free agency will never be duplicated. All fans of baseball will embrace this collection. These Cincinnati Reds greats; Sparky, Bench, Perez, Morgan, Griffey, and Rose, will forever be tied to the Big Red Machine, great players, a great team, a great era in Reds history. We are excited for the promotion and Reds fans everywhere."
