Fans snap up memorabilia at Twins moving sale
The Minnesota Twins cleaned out their closets at the Metrodome in preparation for their big move to their new home at Target Field. The moving sale Saturday gave fans a chance to take a piece of the team home.
Twins staffer Davi Sherwin was working the bobblehead display, always a popular item with fans.
"This is the complete set of the 1965 team bobbleheads celebrating that season, and that is the complete 1987 set," he said.
Shoppers wearing Twins jerseys and hats crowded around folding tables piled high with memorabilia, posters, t-shirts and other souvenirs along the inside of the concourse.
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Bobbleheads were selling for $10, but complete sets of 1965 and 1987 bobbleheads were going for a few hundred dollars each. That's a steal, because some bobbleheads can fetch hundreds on Ebay. Sherwin says the team intentionally kept prices low.
"It's a way of giving back to the fans," Sherwin said. "They can come in and get their figurines to complete their collections or find an item that they wanted but they couldn't go to the game or something like that. We had some great memorabilia down there that was just one of a kind."
Some fans camped out starting on Friday night to get a place in front of the line. By 11 a.m., thousands of people had already been through and the line still stretched outside along the Metrodome. Team spokesman Kevin Smith said longtime staffers couldn't remember a time when the line to get into the Dome was so long.
"Even in the heyday of the bobblehead giveaways, I don't think we saw this kind of interest," he said. "Maybe it's just a way to put some closure on 28 years in the Metrodome, one more time to come into the Dome, one more time to feel the Twins' vibe."
And stuff was priced to move. Most expensive were jerseys worn by popular players like Joe Nathan.
Rick Sczublewski is a big Twins fan and an avid collector. He was perusing a table, hoping to score some autographed baseballs to add to his already vast collection.
"I'm just kind of browsing through here," he said. "I like the signage and stuff, the old stuff, but that's so big," he said. "I've only got so much room in my room of Twins stuff and that probably [won't] fit, but I love baseballs, autographed baseballs and photos and stuff."
Sczublewski has a lot of sentimental memories of the Metrodome, but said he's looking forward to watching games at Target Field. He already has season tickets.
Holding a cardboard box overflowing with purchases, Scott Smith said he came all the way from Des Moines, Iowa for the sale.
"I have a baseball individually signed by each member of the 1991 World Series team and I'm just working on getting others," he said.
He said because he lives so far away, he'll miss the Metrodome's guaranteed protection from the elements.
"It's a big 'if' now to drive up here for a game to possibly be rained out or snowed out," he said. "I'll have to pick my games a little carefully."
Proceeds from Saturday's sale went to the Twins' youth sports programs.