These Arizona universities have new limited edition March Madness bobbleheads
To celebrate March Madness, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled new limited edition bobblehead figures for the Grand Canyon University and the University of Arizona mascots.
After acquiring a licensing deal with GCU last year for the first time, the museum recently released its new line of bobbleheads of Thunder the Antelope, the official mascot of the university.
New bobblehead editions of Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat, who initiated the museum's "Dancing in March series," will be released later this week and are available for pre-order, according to company CEO and co-founder Phil Sklar.
The museum is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has licensed and produced mascot bobbleheads for other major Arizona colleges as well, including Arizona State University. While bobbleheads for Wilbur and Wilma were released last December, this is the first year GCU will be represented by the company.
"These bobbleheads are the perfect way for Arizona and Grand Canyon fans, alumni, students, faculty, and staff to show off their school pride as both teams are dancing in March,” Sklar said.
After attending an NCAA Tournament in 2021 at the GCU Arena, Sklar and his team were "blown away" by the level of enthusiasm shown by GCU Lopes, gaging fan reaction to the tournament's 3-Point Contest.
"We definitely realized (GCU) fans and alumni are very enthusiastic," Sklar said. "They've built their basketball program up quite a bit over the past several years."
The bobbleheads came at a time when both college basketball teams were included in the NCAA tournament, commemorating March Madness and highlighting the participation of the Sweet 16 teams in the bracket.
While GCU faced a 62-61 loss to Alabama in the second round on Sunday, the Wildcats will go toe-to-toe with Clemson on Thursday.
Each university will have two different bobblehead variations for the Dancing in March series, with each figure being individually numbered. The Thunder the Antelope set sports two different colored jerseys for each of the school's colors while separate Wilbur and Wilma bobbleheads will be showcased in new dancing poses, according to the statement.
The University of Arizona first debuted Wilbur the Wildcat on Nov. 7, 1959, being introduced at a football game against Texas Tech. Wilma arrived later, in 1986. The two can often be spotted at the university's various sports games. Thunder the Antelope didn't come along until 1981, replacing GCU's first mascot known as "the Purple People Eater."
Bobbleheads of the college mascots, along with bobbleheads of any of the museum's licensed Arizona brands, can be bought directly on the museum website, as well as at any of the campus' online or physical bookstores. Standing at 8" tall, each bobblehead costs $35 individually and can be shipped internationally, according to Sklar.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU and UA get new bobbleheads for March Madness
