Sister Jean bobblehead a slam dunk, sets records for sales
Move over Bill Self and Jay Wright and the turtle rat and the girl who throws her boyfriend’s stuff out the window in that NCAA Tournament commercial. The real stars of March Madness are Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt and her bobblehead doll.
An officially licensed, limited edition bobblehead of Sister Jean, team chaplain for Final Four upstart Loyola of Chicago, was released for preorder Friday. Within 40 hours, it became the best-selling bobblehead in National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum history with more than 5,000 ordered.
“We’ve been completely overwhelmed with the love for Sister Jean and her bobblehead,” wrote Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame in an email. “In just over 24 hours, a Sister Jean bobblehead had been sold to people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. We hit 5,000 sold in just over 48 hours. That’s 107 Sister Jean bobbleheads every hour or 1.7 every minute.”
Those stats are even more impressive than the Ramblers’ ability to sink perimeter jump shots.
The Sister Jean bobblehead has surpassed the Clemson football team’s national championship doll (3,000 sold) as the bobblehead hall’s most popular likeness.
“Sixty-three percent of the orders have come from outside of Illinois, showing just how much the country has fallen in love with Sister Jean,” Sklar said.
Sklar said the bobbleheads will feature Sister Jean in her Loyola jacket and scarf. They are available for preorder in the Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store or at www.loyolaramblers.com. The bobbleheads cost $25 each plus a shipping charge of $8 per order and are expected to arrive in June. Each bobblehead will be individually numbered and come in a collector’s box.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each bobblehead will benefit the Loyola Athletic Fund and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.