New Jimmy Buffett bobbleheads are here. What do they look like? How to find one
Jimmy Buffett had been a Parrothead and had spawned legions of imitators in his 50-year pop music career.
Now the late singer-songwriter, beloved performer and business tycoon is a bobblehead.
A Milwaukee museum wants to honor the musician, sell you the bobbleheads he and his tunes, like “Fins,” inspired, and make a contribution to Buffett’s nonprofit Singing for Change charity.
On Friday, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum announced its release of limited-edition Margaritaville Shark and Lizard Bobbleheads.
The new bobbleheads join the Margaritaville Parrot Bobblehead released earlier this year. That one seems to represent Jimmy since an image of his face isn’t bobbling on the platform. One of the Parrots is naturally enshrined in the museum strumming his six string. How it got here, only the museum has a clue.
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The first Parrot production run sold out. This second run is scheduled for delivery in September. The bobbleheads are officially licensed by Margaritaville Enterprises, Buffett’s company that markets his brands, from hotels and resorts to music and clothing and restaurants and their cheeseburgers in paradise.
What do the bobbleheads look like?
In addition to the Margaritaville Parrot, there’s the smiling green Lizard Bobblehead with a thumbs up and lemon- and lime-colored bucket hat adorned with a palm tree. We bet this one’s inspired by Buffett’s 1989 tune and album, “Off to See the Lizard,” that he recorded at his Shrimpboat Sound Studio in Key West.
Grinning, the Shark Bobblehead wears sunglasses and a blue shirt. One of the sharks from “Fins” that can swim on land, we presume. The three bobbleheads stand on a base with a bamboo-like border, a sand texture on the top, and the name of Buffett’s most famous hit written across the front.
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How do you buy a Margaritaville Bobblehead?
The limited-edition Parrot, Shark and Lizard Bobbleheads are now available for pre-order through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. Call 800-414-1482 or email info@bobbleheadhall.com if you’ve questions.
How much are they? The bobbleheads are $30 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8.
When will they ship? The Parrot is scheduled for delivery in September. The Shark and Lizard will ship to customers in November.
“We’re excited to create these two new Margaritaville Bobbleheads as a tribute to Jimmy Buffett with a portion of proceeds being donated to the charitable foundation he founded, Singing for Change,” said Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the museum.
Buffett’s Singing for Change, founded in 1995, supports small nonprofits that help individuals become more self-sufficient and create positive change in their communities.
Buffett music remastered
Unrelated to the bobbleheads, Buffett aficionados and audiophiles are going to love this news: Many of his albums are finally getting remastered by Universal to improve the lackluster fidelity common to compact discs pressed in the 1980s and ‘90s. That’s when Buffett’s classic catalog made its way into the digital universe and away from vinyl. The titles then went unaltered onto streaming and download platforms like Apple, Amazon and Spotify.
The emphasis with this current summer reissue program is on vinyl. Ten of his albums have been released in waves of three and four each month since June.
June titles were “Living and Dying in 3/4 Time,” “One Particular Harbour” and “Fruitcakes.” July brought “A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean,” “Havana Daydreamin’” and “Banana Wind.” The next batch listed as Aug. 16 releases were “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” “Son of a Son of a Sailor,” “Volcano” and “Barometer Soup.” Vinyl for the latter titles is not expected to be ready until Sept. 6.
The LPs are pressed on standard black and limited colored vinyl. No word on whether these remasters will be sold in the CD format. (Does anyone still even care?) Other albums in Buffett’s catalog have not been announced yet.
The remasters aren’t being promoted on streaming and download platforms so we wondered if only vinyl fans were able to access the upgrades.
Buffett’s spokeswoman Mindy Espy-Reyes at his boutique label Mailboat confirmed that the digital copies marketed as downloads and streaming on Apple Music and Amazon Music for these titles have the newly remastered enhanced sound.
What to look for: If you stream or purchase downloads look for “2024 UMG Recordings” under the thumbnail album art on the Apple iTunes Store and the black logo “Apple Digital Master” (aka mastered for iTunes) for each album when you click on it.
On Amazon Music the new versions have the Ultra HD designation rather than HD noted on each album.
All but “Son of a Son of a Sailor” were available on the platforms as digitally remastered as of Aug. 23.
“Universal is updating the masters as they go along. ‘Son of a Son’ should be there soon. If you see the 2024 and mastered for iTunes, it has been updated with the new remastering,” Espy-Reyes said in an email concerning the digital releases.
Heading to the Florida Keys for Labor Day weekend? Take note of what’s going on
