The most unlikely gift in this digital era we live in seems to be getting more popular every day: personalized custom bobblehead made by hand to resemble their owners. This seems something that’s highly unlikely to happen, and yet it is happening. Thought we’d write a few words to explore what the buzz is all about (even Groupon seems to think its worth to run daily deals for them), what the product actually is, and why people can’t get enough of it these days.

Bobbleheads themselves have been around for a really long time. There are records of ancient China and Japan producing them in bamboo, and in case you were wondering, yes, their custom bobbled head already back then. The entry of bobbleheads into popular culture took place during the 1960s when sports leagues in the United States created series of them, especially around baseball and American football. The style and material of these bobbleheads was significantly different from the ones we’ll be referring to in a moment. Back then they had cherub-like faces, simple blocks for a body and they were made of paper-mache.

While all this took place, the tradition in Asia of making bobbleheads of actual people, was never really lost and lay dormant for a few decades. Then the love for popular sports increased and bobbleheads were revived and with it, the idea was expanded to reproduce famous TV stars, politicians and the odd brand mascot (the Taco Bell bobblehead and Churchill dog from the American insurance firm being the most heavily advertised in the media).