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The earliest baseball nodders from Japan were square color based figures. The boy faced dolls in this series included: Red Sox, Cubs, Reds, Angels, Dodgers, Twins, Mets, Yankees & Giants; figure heads included the Orioles, Tigers, & Pirates. There were also three Pacific Coast League teams produced (Beavers, Pilots, & Giants); I think that the square based umpire is part of this series.
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The first truly complete series of baseball nodders (white base) from Japan were shipped from 1960/61. These dolls were extremely well made with great detail & professional air brushed painting. All twenty teams were portrayed, but the figure heads are most sought after today because of the neat characters & scarcity of mint condition dolls.
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The four big sports nodders are Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Roger Maris, & Roberto Clemente; they were the only dolls that represented actual players instead of teams and the likenesses are remarkable. The Clemente figure is the most valuable of all baseball caricatures and commands close to $2,000 in mint condition.
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The baseball nodders with the round green base generally have the date (1962) stamped on the bottom. These Japanese figures were made for each of the twenty teams and are highly collectible. Many variations exist since two bodies were made (one with a ball & the other with a bat) and three different head styles were used.
During this period the manufacturors produced black faced dolls for each of the major league teams hoping to increase sales; These dolls are extremely rare and command a premium price in todays market.
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If you have figures to sell or trade, please email me at: j.harry