ATLANTA — Two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Atlanta had a mascot bobblehead unveiled in their name, according to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.
Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University are two of the 14 HBCUs featured in the museum's second officially-licensed HBCU bobblehead series.
The Morehouse College bobblehead is of the school's Marron Tiger mascot; CAU's is of the Panther.
The unveiling is an effort by the national bobblehead museum to give HBCUs across the U.S. more representation in the figurine world. According to Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the museum, the effort was born after museum owners realized several well-known HBCUs had yet to make an official bobblehead.
"A couple of years ago, we realized, doing some research of college mascots -- and we produced a lot of college bobbleheads -- that there had never been bobbleheads for the HBCU mascots," Sklar told 11Alive. "When we realized that ... we decided to add some of those schools. "
The national museum is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the only bobblehead-specific museum in the world. Within its four walls, visitors can find over 10,500 unique bobbleheads on display.
"Everything from sports to pop culture, politics -- anything and everything you could think of that could be made into bobblehead form, we basically have represented," Sklar described.
The museum opened to the public in February 2019 and was born from a hobby between the two founders of collecting the figurines, according to museum officials.
Now, not only does the HBCU Mascot series give representation to HBCUs, but it also gives back to the respective schools, Sklar added. He said a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every bobblehead will go back to the respective school. The first series of HBCU bobbleheads released in February 2023 raised close to $10,000 for HBCUs featured, according to the museum.
The bubbleheads released Friday can be found exclusively on the museum's website and are usually sold at the respective HBCUs.
Athletic Director at Morehouse College Tatiana Stands told 11Alive in an email the school was excited for the new figurine.
“As the new AD for Morehouse, I am excited about the new unveiling for the Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University bobble heads," Stands said. "Morehouse is so proud about these steps we are making to expend our horizons; the future is bright for the Maroon Tigers."
According to Sklar, a third HBCU Mascot series is in the works and will include Albany State University, another Georgia HBCU.