Just in time for Pounce’s Sweet 16 birthday, a new set of six bobbleheads has been released paying tribute to the UWM mascot.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum on Tuesday unveiled four officially licensed, limited-edition Milwaukee Panthers fight song bobbleheads and two Milwaukee Panthers vintage bobbleheads.
The fight song bobbleheads show Pounce in four different UWM basketball jerseys. Each plays the school fight song at the push of a button.
The vintage bobbleheads depict earlier versions of UWM’s panther mascot. The first panther mascot, later dubbed Victor E. Panther, made its debut in the 1960s. That mascot represented UWM until October 2007, when a redesigned and renamed panther made its debut as Pounce.
Pounce’s birthday will be celebrated from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the UWM Student Union Ballroom East. The party will continue at 7 p.m. at the Klotsche Center, when the men’s basketball team will have its annual Black & Gold scrimmage. Free food will be available for UWM students at the scrimmage, and fans will have a chance to win one of the new Pounce bobbleheads.
The bobbleheads are available for purchase through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s online store and at the museum, located in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood. A selection of bobbleheads will also be available at the team store in the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
UWM grads Phil Sklar and Brad Novak founded the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in 2014, and the museum moved to its current location in 2019.
“We’ve produced thousands of bobbleheads since founding the museum nearly 10 years ago, but these are among the most special to us, given our connection to UWM,” Novak said in a news release. “Our college bobbleheads are available from coast to coast, and the Milwaukee Panthers are our new favorites.”
