First Babydog, now Big Jim.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee announced Friday that Justice, the sitting West Virginia governor and current candidate for U.S. Senate, is also getting a bobblehead of his own — just like his faithful canine sidekick.
Babydog, the English bulldog known as the Mountain State’s First Dog, did a star-turn earlier this month at the Republican National Convention, which was also held in the Wisconsin city.
She accompanied the governor on stage, where he gave remarks.
“Babydog’s turning into one of our top sellers,” said Phil Sklar, the museum’s co-founder.
It was announced last week that the pup was being immortalized in bobblehead form.
“And people called and said, ‘Well, if you’re gonna have a Babydog bobblehead, you have to have a Jim Justice bobblehead.’ I know they’re a team, out your way.”
The latest West Virginia bobblehead depicts the governor, in a suit and tie, waving.
Justice will have the same run as his four-legged pal: A total of 2,024 will be produced, just like Babydog, at a cost of $30 — same as Babydog.
Both are expected to ship in December, Sklar said.
Visit https://www.bobbleheadhall.com/ for ordering information.
Meanwhile, notoriety helps, in the world of bobbleheads.
Babydog became a household name in the Mountain State when the governor enlisted her for his COVID vaccination campaign at the height of the pandemic.
Justice, who owns the luxury Greenbrier resort here, is an incumbent who won a second term as governor in 2020 with almost 64% of the vote.
The West Virginia governor joins the museum’s roster of 15 other state leaders, not to mention sports stars, other public figures — and a certain bobblehead museum co-founder.
If you work at the museum, you get a bobblehead to go with your business card, Sklar said.
“We do that for the marketing,” he said.
“It’s fun when we give tours. We don’t say anything, but people eventually notice. They’ll say, ‘Is that you?’”
Meanwhile, a bobblehead version of his mother sits on his desk in Milwaukee, he said.
“Mom’s watching over the place,” he said.
Sklar gave himself the nod for a whole new career when he and a college buddy, Brad Novak started the museum 10 years ago. It opened to the public in 2019.
Novak did promotions for a minor league baseball team and knew all about the marketing potential of bobbleheads.
Sklar, who earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, was working in corporate finance.
He sees his bobblehead a lot during family functions, he said.
His parents have a couple in their house. So do cousins and various friends.
“Hey,” he said, chuckling, “you get a bobblehead and that means you’ve arrived.”
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