King Charles III bobblehead to be memorialized in WI museum

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Standing in front of a replica of Buckingham Palace, dressed in a blue suit, blue-striped tie, black dress shoes, hands behind his back, and his white hair perfectly in place, King Charles III will be memorialized in the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

“His head bobbles nicely there, ready for his coronation on Saturday,” said Phil Sklar, CEO and co-owner of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

(Courtesy of National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum)

King Charles joins the lineup of other Royal family members at the museum.

“We have produced from Queen Elizabeth to Prince Philip to, you know, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Prince William and Kate Middleton,” said Sklar.

The museum is the only one in the world dedicated to bobbleheads.

“We have over 10,000 unique bobbleheads on display at the museum. Open seven days a week,” Sklar said.

Sklar and his co-founder, Brad Novak, decided to share their hobby of collecting and producing bobbleheads with the world, turning it into a new venture on February 1, 2019.

“We both quit full-time sort of corporate and retail jobs and dove into this full time,” he said.

While the two have been friends since middle school, it was 2003 before their interest in bobbleheads started.

“He was working for the Minor League Baseball team in Rockford, Illinois, where we grew up. They gave away a bobblehead for the first time and he got one,” explained Sklar.

That’s when they started to circle bobblehead games and their collection grew.

“Before we knew it, we had about 3,000 unique bobbleheads, and also at that same time in 2013 set out to produce a bobblehead for the first time and had a really good experience with that,” he said.

From the Royal family to famous athletes to politicians, the museum has a mix of traditional and unique bobbleheads on display.

“A lot of people think just sports when they think of bobbleheads, but it’s really everything from politics to pop culture, movies, comics, TV, you know, you name it,” said Sklar.

Several with ties to Tennessee too.

“The Cocaine Bear is one of our other newest bobbleheads that just came out a couple weeks ago and has been really popular, especially in the areas where the cocaine bear was found,” said Sklar.

Other Tennessee connections include popular pro-athletes like Derrick Henry, musicians like Elvis, and maybe one day soon, Dolly Parton.

“It’s something that’s been on our radar, and we’d love to make happen,” he added.

In the meantime, Sklar said they even produce custom-made bobbleheads.

“You can either choose from one of hundreds of different pre-made bodies, or you can have something totally unique that matches exactly what you want.” However, it’s a bit too late to order one for Mother’s Day, Sklar added.