A couple months ago, I learned that the huge category defining domain name Novelties.com was acquired by Bobbleheads.com LLC, which was founded by Warren Royal, the owner and operator of Bobbleheads.com. Although the acquisition was finalized two months ago, the news was not released as the company was negotiating on a few other domain names.

The purchase price is unable to be disclosed due to a non-disclosure agreement.

Warren has been featured on this blog numerous times from turning a $29,112 investment (acquisition of Bobbleheads.com) into a highly successful company that is now funded by venture capital. The company also recently re-launched CustomBobbleheads.com.

Plans for Novelties.com were not disclosed, but I imagine it will be similar to Bobbleheads.com, although it will likely offer a much larger selection of novelty items. As I’ve said in the past, once you figure out a business model that works, you can afford to spend more money on great domain name assets knowing that you can expand your business model to other areas.

Congrats to Warren on this acquisition.

The story of Bobbleheads.com is one of my favorite in the domain industry, and I have much respect for its founder Warren Royal, who built his company after purchasing the domain name at auction. Similarly, I have tremendous respect for Scott Day and Jay Champman, whose Digimedia has a fantastic portfolio of generic domain names, including FantasyFootball.com, Dress.com, Shops.com, Decorations.com, and many other domain names.

I just received a press release from Warren announcing that the company that owns and operates Bobbleheads.com has received an equity investment from Digimedia.

As the company continues to grow, develop new products, and has the need for holiday and other inventory, it becomes necessary to fuel this growth with significant capital. Digimedia knows domain name assets and can provide the capital to ensure growth without supply chain hiccups.

It’s a smart move for both parties, and knowing the principals behind both companies, I think it’s a very good match.

Press release below:

The company that owns and operates Bobbleheads.com has received an equity investment from Digimedia.   Bobbleheads.com was founded in 2008 by internet entrepreneur Warren Royal with the objective of becoming the premier source of collectible bobblehead products in the world.  In 2010, Bobbleheads.com and its parent Royal Bobbles LLC have achieved that goal, with its products being sold in museums, gift shops, catalogs, and online stores nationwide.  The company also is one of the top sources of custom bobble heads, producing thousands of custom orders each year for consumers worldwide.

Digimedia, co-founded by domain pioneer Scott Day, owns and operates a portfolio of some of the most powerful domain names on the internet, including Recipes.com, Chairs.com, FantasyFootball.com, Decorations.com, and Jerky.com.  The company’s ongoing goal and history of developing successful online businesses in association with these names are its hallmark.

Royal says, “When we decided that it was time to find an equity partner to join us in growing our business to the next level, there was no question that Digimedia was the best possible partner we could hope for.  We recognized right away that their remarkable experience, technology, and business acumen would bring powerful benefits to our company.  We are very proud to become their partners.”

Digimedia also felt that the partnership represented a powerful opportunity. “Bobbleheads.com’s progress is remarkable, especially in such a short period of time.” Digimedia president Jay Chapman said.  “It was clear that the leadership, direction and vision of the company is very compatible with our own.  We are excited about the synergies between our two companies in providing value and satisfaction to customers.”

ABOUT BOBBLEHEADS.COM

Bobbleheads.com and its parent Royal Bobbles, LLC, are the internet’s premier source of collectible bobblehead products.  Its products are featured in such prestigious and historic stores as the Library of Congress, Arlington National Cemetery, the Old South Meeting House, and the John Adams National Historic Park.  They have also been featured on television shows such as “Meet the Press”, “The Today Show”, and “Glenn Beck”, and in magazines such as Kiplinger’s and Fast Company.  Bobbleheads.com can be reached at 770-781-9850.

ABOUT DIGIMEDIA

Founded in 1997, Digimedia.com, LP utilizes its simple yet powerful domain names to provide value for people on the World Wide Web.  The company’s sites include Jerky.com, MovieReviews.com, and Dress.com. Digimedia develops these category-killing domain names in a variety of ways, using technology, services, information and partners to help each site visitor quickly get what he or she needs. Learn more at http://Digimedia.com.

I was catching up with Warren Royal last night, and he mentioned some of the good things happening with his company’s Bobbleheads.com website and business. Shortly after NBC’s set re-designs, Warren noticed that some of his company’s bobbleheads were showing up on the “Meet the Press” set, and a segment on the “Today Show” with David Gregory showed the John F. Kennedy bobblehead (2:48-50 in the video above).

In addition to this neat but somewhat passive promotion, lightning rod talk show host Glenn Beck is  auctioning off 3 of his company’s Founding Father bobbleheads, autographed by him, in a charity auction. The current bid is $1,100 and the auction doesn’t end until May 24th.

Finally, Fox 5 New York has also provided Bobbleheads.com with some free publicity. The New York Fox affiliate is actively promoting a bobblehead of its primary weather anchor, Mike Woods, in a television commercial. While the Bobbleheads.com company isn’t listed, the “bobbleheads” brand is being passively promoted.

In response to how NBC came across his company to purchase the bobbleheads for its television sets, Warren commented, “this is a good example of how having the key category domain is great – the NBC buyer just went to Bobbleheads.com to find what they were looking for, and found our products.”

Warren is right on the money with this. While some people argue that a strong brand is better than a generic domain name, in my opinion a generic domain name generally has a similar level of brand recognition by default without the ongoing marketing cost. Congrats to Warren again on the good news.

This is not exactly domain-related news, but it’s big news for a domain investor who has become one of the dominant online bobblehead retailers since acquiring Bobblehead.com and Bobbleheads.com for $36,000. Congrats to Warren Royal and his growing bobble empire! This goes to show what you can do when you acquire a category killer domain name in a vertical you like.

From the Royal Bobbles press release:

The officially licensed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bobblehead will be available for pre-orders in mid-December through Bobbleheads.com and other quality bobblehead dealers.  Produced by Royal Bobbles LLC, this oversized, limited-edition model with exquisite details—crafted in high-quality resin—will come in a colorful collector’s box and be sold at the King Center, museums, gift shops, and through online web stores, like Bobbleheads.com.

“We are honored that the King Estate has granted us the opportunity to produce the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bobblehead as the first in our series of great ‘American Heroes’,  said Warren Royal, Founder of Royal Bobbles.  “The King Estate is rightly very selective about the products which they authorize, and the outstanding quality of our product line was a major factor in their decision to work with us on this exciting product.”

Best known for his “I Have a Dream” speech—delivered at the 1963 March on Washington—Martin Luther King Jr., the youngest man to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, is considered one of the main leaders of the American civil rights movement.  And since his assassination on April 4, 1968, political, civil rights, and historical memorabilia collectors around the world have grown increasingly interested in preserving his memory.

However, with most of the documents, personal items, and artifacts related to this slain civil-rights leader’s life rightfully gathered in institutional collections, MLK memorabilia collectors will have an exciting opportunity to acquire their own treasured centerpiece of American history with Royal Bobbles targeted release for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bobblehead on King’s birthday (January 18, 2010), an historically significant time of the year when interest in and the value of King Memorabilia consistently rises.