Man donates 1,500 bobbleheads to museum

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Sunday, February 12, 2017
Man donates bobbleheads
One Cleveland man is making a unique charitable donation: he's giving away all of his bobbleheads to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum in Milwaukee.

CLEVELAND, OH (KTRK) -- One Cleveland man is making a unique charitable donation: he's giving away all of his bobbleheads to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum in Milwaukee.

Bob "Bobblehead Bob" Manak has collected bobbleheads since the 90s and says 20 years later, they're some of his most valuable possessions. At last count, he had more than 1,564!

"I love my little bobbleheads, they're my family," he said.

But now he's sending them to a new home. Manak says he has complications from colon cancer and wants to see others enjoy his beloved bobbleheads.

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"100 years from now someone will say oh, somebody named Robert Manak gave up this Brownie. Isn't that cool, he hasn't changed in 100 years and they're still 0-16," he said laughing.

The Bobblehead Museum says it's the largest single donation of bobbleheads it's ever received and the most diverse.

"Aside form the sports ones he has, I don't know where to begin. His movies, the comics, all of these are interesting to see," said Pedro Avalos II, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame & Museum.

Manak has been preparing for weeks to send his bobbleheads away. Boxes and crates block his front door. He even has an excel spread sheet to keep everything organized. He found several duplicates.

He knows he could get good money for some of these rare figures but he says you can't put a price-tag on the joy these bobbleheads have brought him.

He's in great spirits and wants others to know the same feeling.

"I can't take it with me," said Manak.