Fresno State News
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled three officially licensed, limited-edition bobbleheads featuring Fresno State’s live mascot.
The bobbleheads feature the university’s current live mascot, Victor E. Bulldog IV, the recently retired live mascot Victor E. Bulldog III, and a dual bobblehead featuring costumed mascot TimeOut with Victor E. Bulldog III.
Victor E. Bulldog IV will make his season debut at Valley Children’s Stadium on Saturday when the Fresno State football team hosts Eastern Washington in its home opener. The Bulldogs are coming off a season-opening 39-35 win at Purdue, and only a limited number of tickets remain.
Sitting on a base bearing their names and in the shape of Fresno State’s logo, the Victor E. Bulldog IV and Victor E. Bulldog III bobbleheads are both wearing collars with the iconic green V, representing the agriculturally-rich Central Valley. Victor E Bulldog III has his tongue out in playful fashion, while Victor E. Bulldog IV is showing a youthful grin. Positioned on a swivel base, the third bobblehead features a sitting Victor E. Bulldog III looking up playfully at TimeOut.
Limited Edition Bobbleheads
The bobbleheads, which are individually numbered to 2,023, are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s online store. The bobbleheads of Victor E. Bulldog III ($30) and Victor E. Bulldog III with TimeOut ($45) are now available. The first-ever bobblehead of Victor E. Bulldog IV ($30) is available for pre-order with delivery in December.
Victor E. Bulldog IV, who is the nephew of his predecessor, celebrated his first birthday on June 22. He officially became acting live mascot after a passing of the collar ceremony at a Fresno State’s baseball game on April 16 at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.
Arriving on campus in June 2015, Victor E. Bulldog III embarked on his farewell tour in the spring in celebration of his nearly eight-year run in which he made thousands of appearances as Fresno State’s live mascot.
Longtime Tradition as Mascot
Legend has it that in 1921, Fresno State student body president Warren Moody and friends were continually greeted outside the main campus building by a white bulldog and the group decided to make him the college’s mascot. In a student body meeting, a motion was made to adopt “Bulldogs” as the official nickname. On Nov. 21, 1921, the Morning Republican first referred to Fresno State as the Bulldogs.
In 1981, the costumed mascot was created and given the name TimeOut. Gary Johns served as the first costumed mascot that year. He said the name was taken from the TimeOut Boosters Club.
“We’re excited to create these bobbleheads of the busiest and most popular Bulldogs around,” said Phil Sklar, National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO. “We know how much the Fresno community loves their Bulldogs, and we think alumni, students, faculty, staff and fans are going to love these new bobbleheads.”
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and opened to the public in 2019. The organization also produces customized bobbleheads for retail sale as well as bobbleheads for organizations, individuals and teams across the country.
