MILWAUKEE — A new museum in Milwaukee may well hold the largest collection of bobbleheads anyone has ever seen, displaying more than 6,500 figures of athletes, mascots, celebrities, animals, cartoon characters, politicians and more.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum recently opened and was the brainchild of friends Phil Sklar and Brad Novak, who started collecting the figures 16 years ago.
“We’ve put everything into this,” Sklar said.
They decided on a museum and bobblehead-creating business about four years ago, after quitting their corporate finance (Sklar) and retail sales (Novak) jobs. Since then, they have been making bobbleheads to earn money, collecting bobbleheads from thrift stores and private donors, finding a location and all the other things that go with creating a museum.
They have collected more than 10,000 bobbleheads, including a life-size bobblehead; a Pat Hughes bobblehead calling the World Series title for the Cubs; bobbleheads of characters from “The Wizard of Oz” and the “Star Wars” franchise; and the first football and baseball bobbleheads from the early 1960s. They even have one of Donald Trump from “The Apprentice” that says “You’re fired” upon the push of a button. Some of the figures will be on rotation or part of special exhibits.
The museum also includes information about the making of bobbleheads and the people they represent. Admission is $5.
