Before we celebrate the bobblehead, I do need to clarify the backstory and my (lack of) involvement in choosing the bobblehead’s subject. I can’t claim to be completely modest, but it would be Trump-level self-aggrandizement (i.e., more than I have) to direct or ask my organization to make a bobblehead of myself. Instead, Brian and the HTLI team cooked up the scheme while I was out of the office on sabbatical last year. As a result, I first learned about the bobblehead when I saw the final product about 2 weeks ago. Also, the prior two bobbleheads were produced with the permission and cooperation of the subjects, which didn’t happen here due to the secrecy. When I first saw the bobblehead, I joked that I should sue the school for publicity rights violations; and Brian ran with the gag by drafting a mock complaint. (I trust most of you know me well enough that it would take a lot more than this to turn me into a plaintiff). We thought about including the mock complaint as part of the bobblehead announcement, but Brian instead added the “unauthorized” legend to the bobblehead annotations and I’ve dropped my litigious threats (for now…[cue ominous music]).

Now that we’re past the self-referential implications, I can’t tell you how honored I am to be bobble-ized–and to join the ranks of Judge Rader and USPTO Director Lee, two true legends in our field who have been an inspiration to me. My mom would have been so proud!

The bobblehead itself is a delightful treasure. Brian and the HTLI team did an awesome job capturing the real me–with the obvious exception of the bobblehead’s full head of hair, a flattering homage to an earlier phase of my life. The bobblehead’s features and annotations reflect Brian’s characteristic wit and whimsy. I didn’t get the chance to veto any details, but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

While the world might be a better place if everyone had their own personal Eric Goldman bobblehead to enjoy, bobblehead production was extremely limited. Not only is the bobblehead special, but it’s very, very rare. If you want your own personal mini-me, you’ll have to win it by following the instructions here. (Bonus caveat: I’ve not been involved in doing the legal clearance for this promotion, and it might provide fun facts for a future Advertising Law exam). GOOD LUCK!

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The Recorder recently interviewed Richard about his series, and the slinky interview came up:

Silicon Valley lawyers don’t seem like people who have a lot of leisure time. How do people find it? I’m surprised myself at how much they find it. But you know, a lot of lawyers are very passionate about these hobbies. That’s one of the things I enjoy about it most. You commented about Eric Goldman’s Slinky hobby. Originally I thought, “That just doesn’t seem like much of a hobby.” But it was one of the best interviews I’ve done. Eric Goldman tweeted out himself, “Of the hundreds of interviews I’ve done, this may be the most fun.” I tapped into something he really loves.

So true…

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Despite the challenge, Lisa outdid herself with her version of the Slinky Cake:

See the full 4.4MB version.

UPDATE: The cake is now on Coolest Birthday Cakes.

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Today, I checked one of those boxes. My wife and I have collected Slinkies for the last 12 years. I explain why here. We now have over 300 Slinky-related items. Naturally, for more than a decade, I’ve had a burning desire to visit the mother ship, the source of my joy, Slinky nirvana–the Slinky factory.

I finally made my pilgrimage. This weekend, I am at a conference in Pittsburgh, about 90 miles from the factory. So I arranged my schedule with a free morning. Early this morning, I hit the road to Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

As I drove into town, I was surprised to discover that Hollidaysburg doesn’t do anything to celebrate the Slinky. No “Home of the Slinky” sign. No Slinky-themed burger joint. No stores selling Slinky T-shirts. There were not even any signs pointing the way to the Slinky factory (in fact, it’s pretty hard to find–it was mismarked on Google Maps, and the factory is nestled between a forest and a junkyard). It’s as if the town doesn’t care that it’s home to one of the major brands in the world.

There are no direction signs in part because the Slinky factory doesn’t cater to visitors. They don’t offer tours, have a visitor’s center or provide a factory outlet/store (they used to but they closed it down). I drove past the junkyard to a poorly marked and unremarkable building, pulled off the street onto some unmarked asphalt, and walked in the door.

There was a display case of some slinky items in the foyer, but inside the door, there was no receptionist. On the right was a conference room with various Slinky items strewn about. On the left was a large but sparsely populated cube farm. A woman asked if she could help me. When I said that I was looking for the Slinky outlet, she told me that it was closed.

My quest could have ended there, but I took a gamble. A number of years ago, my wife had called the factory looking for an item we saw on eBay called “Slinky art” (or sometimes called “Slinky pooh”)–the extrusion of plastic Slinkies at the end of a job to clean the line. She spoke with a woman named Charlene who helped her order this as a special treat for me. I remember my wife mimicking her voice, and I had a hunch I was talking to Charlene. So I asked if she was Charlene, and that provided an ice-breaker that allowed for a little dialogue.

A man walked over and Charlene introduced him as Tom James, the son of Richard and Betty James (the inventor and initial owners of the Slinky) and the manager of the enterprise. We started chatting a little. I asked if they had any more Slinky art, and he invited me back into the factory to rummage through their bin. He issued me some goggles and off we went.

Unfortunately, the factory was relatively quiet. They manufacture Slinkies 4 days a week (20 hours/day), and I came on an off-day. They were manufacturing some third party branded Slinkies-as-schwag, so I got to see the Slinkies being “printed” and then baked. Otherwise, the factory was rather unremarkable, except it had a lot of inventory for the holiday season.

All told, Tom and Charlene generously gave me about a half-hour of their time. I walked out the door a very satisfied Slinky loyalist. I also walked out with a number of goodies: an item of Slinky art (we picked one of the smallest we could find–most of them were a couple of feet tall, too big to carry on the plane); the 14k gold Slinky in a wooden box; a not-yet-shipped colored metal Slinky in a box autographed by Betty James; some Slinky-branded coloring books; and some great memories.

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The slinky manufacturers are notoriously secretive about their manufacturing process (hence, no slinky factory tours), but this article gives some flavor for the process:

Just a few hours later, the wire was hooked up to the Slinky machines, which flattened, coiled and cut it. Workers crimped the ends of the still-hot Slinkys and placed them on a conveyor belt, which carried them to the machine that boxes them — each Slinky walking toward its own box.

First a Slinky hit a bar, flopped over and went down a step. A mechanical arm pulled a box from a stack, opened it and placed the box next to the Slinky, which was then automatically pushed inside.

The process isn’t mere theatrics; it’s a system of quality control that Slinky inventor Richard James devised in 1945. A Slinky wound too tightly or too loosely won’t walk down into the box correctly.

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Meanwhile, according to Clickz, the slinky ringtone is just the beginning:

“Slinky content for mobile devices and IM will include emoticons, backgrounds and wallpapers, winks, avatars, screensavers, video ringtones and clips from the toy’s classic commercial.”

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