At many of the University of Connecticut’s events, Jonathan, our mascot and fearless leader, can be seen standing tall — catch a basketball game and you can meet him yourself as he cheers on the team. In the 1980s and early 90s, you could even watch Jonathan do the famous “Husky Slide,” a dangerous feat consisting of running at top speed and leaping, only then to crash onto the floor and slide toward a camera for the viewers at home.
Nowadays, Jonathans do not throw themselves at the floor like they used to — more or less due to the numerous injuries the slide caused — but one might say those mascots brave enough to complete such a display of Husky pride showed courage.
Now in his newest form, Jonathan’s stature might be shorter and perhaps he shakes a bit, but the latest iteration of our beloved mascot is just as brave… even if his head bobbles.
On Friday, Jan. 5, 2024 the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled the first bobbleheads of the UConn Huskies’ new live mascot, Jonathan XV and his predecessor, Jonathan XIV. The officially licensed bobbleheads were released in conjunction with National Bobblehead Day, which is celebrated annually on Jan. 7.
In both the Jonathan XV and Jonathan XIV versions, the dog sits atop a Huskies logo-shaped base and features each dogs’ distinct facial markings. According to Phil Sklar, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO, these bobbleheads have been in the works since April 2023.
“We’re excited to be releasing the first bobbleheads of Jonathan XIV and XV in conjunction with National Bobblehead Day,” Sklar said. “We know how passionate UConn fans are about their school and bobbleheads, so we expect these bobbleheads to be extremely popular.”
Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum first opened to the public on Feb. 1, 2019.
For Sklar, his interest in collecting goes back to when he was a kid and his father introduced him to collecting sports cards and memorabilia, but really took off in the early 2000s when the museum and hall of fame’s other co-founder, Brad Novak, began receiving bobbleheads while working for a minor league baseball team in Rockford, Illinois where the two grew up.
Over time, their collection continued to grow, and in August 2013, Sklar and Novak jumped into the production side and developed a bobblehead of their friend, Michael Poll, a long-time manager for Milwaukee Panther athletic teams and Special Olympian, with all proceeds from the sale of the bobbleheads benefiting the Special Olympics.
Flash forward to 2024 and now the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum has over 10,000 bobbleheads that Jonathan XIV and Jonathan XV will now join the ranks of.
While Sklar and Novak themselves are not UConn alumni, they are big sports fans, which Sklar credits with the idea for the two husky bobbleheads.
“So 24/7, we see something and we think, ‘Would that be a popular bobblehead?’” Sklar said. “Since we’ve been doing this now for close to 10 years, we’ve seen what does well.”
In fact, prior to creating the Jonathan bobbleheads, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum did a series of bobbleheads of college basketball champions, including UConn, which “went over really well,” according to Sklar.
The figure commemorating the womens’ teams’ championships sold out, but not before Sklar and Novak had a chance to send one to head coach Geno Auriemma, to which they received a “really nice” handwritten letter back.
“We’ll send them to a lot of coaches and don’t really expect to hear back,” Sklar explained. “It’s just something that sticks in your memory when a coach, especially of his stature, writes back and is appreciative of the gesture.”
For fans interested in beginning their own bobblehead collections, the Jonathan XIV and XV bobbleheads are expected to ship in April, and are available for preorder now, for $30 each.