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A larger-than-life bobblehead version of the Ottawa Senators’ Daniel Alfredsson has reared its wobbly face in an unlikely spot. It’s for sale on Facebook marketplace, with a portion of proceeds to be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.
For an asking price of $1,300, you can impress your friends and family with the rare Sens collectible. At six foot five, the resin figure with an industrial spring for a neck is about half a foot taller than the real-life, Swedish-born right winger-turned assistant coach.
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The current owner of the jiggling hockey star is Ottawa resident Ian Butt, a 52-year-old software developer who grew up in Brockville. He was persuaded by his 10-year-old son, Andrew, to buy a raffle ticket on it when they attended the Spring Members’ Summit held by the hockey club last June.
Months later, Butt had all but forgotten the purchase until he got a call that he had won, and to please pick it up. He recruited a friend with a pickup truck, made the trek to Canadian Tire Centre and loaded up the prize.
“We had him standing in the back of the truck, and all these kids were laughing and cheering as we drove by so we had some aspirations of what to do with this thing,” Butt said in an interview.
Ideas included driving it around Kanata to rev spirits on game days, dressing it up for special occasions, like Halloween, or setting up a pop-up selfie station for fans to take photos with it, for a small donation.
Instead, Alfie ended up sitting quietly in their garage all summer after they realized he didn’t fit down the stairs to the basement.
“Unfortunately my wife won’t allow him to sit in the living room,” Butt said, explaining why he decided to list the piece.
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“If somebody has the right space for him, as much as it saddens my son, there’s no point in him just sitting there collecting dust in the garage. We bring him out now and again but if we can find the right person who wants him, great. I’m sure there are some crazy diehard Sens fans out there.”
To underscore the value of the piece, Butt points to a similar-sized bobblehead of New Jersey Devils’ Mike Cammalleri for sale on eBay, with an asking price of about $5,500.
If the Alfie bobblehead is a quick sale, Butt wants makes a donation to the cancer charity and use the rest to fund his growing son’s ongoing need for hockey equipment. Andrew tends goal for a Stittsville Rams U11 B team.
If it doesn’t sell immediately, the plan is to mount a pop-up selfie station in their Stittsville neighbourhood with a small charge for photos. Money raised would go to the Canadian Cancer Society in memory of Butt’s father, Jack Butt, who died of cancer two years ago at the age of 81.
lsaxberg@postmedia.com
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