Bobblehead Joke: Government Officials

For a moment, Sklar and Novak stop what they’re doing and take in the sunlight on the second floor of their museum. They are surrounded by their favorite part of the place, two big walls covered in Post-it notes where fans can write down a suggestion for a bobblehead.

They have a lot of sports figures, of course: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers — you get the picture. But they’re looking to expand their collection with a new category of subject: government officials.

The idea came to Sklar and Novak after he took a PR internship with the Rockford RiverHawks minor league baseball team in 2002. Part of the job involved handling bobblehead giveaways, and Sklar saw how much a little sculpted figurine could capture an athlete or fan’s personality.

One of the first times Sklar and Novak made a bobblehead was of UWM men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl. They sold 500 of them, and Pearl loved it. But when Pearl accepted a coaching job at Auburn, the pair decided they would try their hand at capturing more famous athletes and public figures.

They started slowly at first, and Sklar and Novak were surprised by the response. They began to produce bobbleheads for a wider range of personalities, and their business quickly grew. They also realized that their creations weren’t just fun for the people who bought them, but could be used to raise money for charities and causes. When the pandemic hit, Sklar and Novak seized the opportunity to offer a bobblehead of Dr. Anthony Fauci — which they sold almost 60,000 of, with a chunk of the proceeds going to first responders.