Millions of dollars to play baseball or football doesn’t mean that you automatically are a big sports star. Nor does a sneaker with your name on it. What, then, proves that you’ve made it to the big time?

Having a bobblehead made to look like you, of course.

What’s the deal with these wobbly-headed little dolls? Everyone has them: baseball player Ken Griffey Jr., basketball player Allen Iverson, auto racer Jeff Gordon. A bunch of well-known people who aren’t athletes have them, too Spider-Man, President Bush and the Lucky Charms leprechaun. A bobblehead of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin even talks.

It takes three weeks to three months to design a bobblehead, according to Michael Ryan, who oversees production of Disney character bobbleheads at Alexander Global Promotions in Bellevue, Wash. The company is the biggest maker of bobbleheads in the world, with a factory in southern China churning out more than 1 million each month.

First, the designers come up with an idea for the pose. Will the basketball player be dribbling, or shooting, or just standing there with a ball on his hip? Once a pose is chosen, an artist makes three or four sketches.

After the idea is approved, the sketches are given to a sculptor, who makes a gray clay model of the bobblehead. At this point, the head doesn’t wobble around yet. The clay model is then sent to the factory in China.

A worker then makes a master model out of a plastic-like material. That model has springs in the neck so that the head moves around.

Once the actual construction is approved, an artist will paint the model. He or she will use photos to make sure, for example, that the orange in Barry Bonds’ San Francisco Giants uniform is not too dark or too bright. The painted model is then sent to the athlete or the team for approval.

The approved painted master doll, with a list of the exact colors, is sent back to China, and a master mold is made. The dolls are made from a material called polystone blend, and they are painted by hand.

“That makes every doll unique,” Ryan said. “One worker’s job is to paint the cap, another’s is to paint the logo on the cap. It’s a pretty speedy process.”

The dolls are then packaged, and sent to Target, Toys R Us and other stores.