Dr. Anthony Fauci is no big head as the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, but he has been bestowed with the “ultimate honor” — getting his own bobblehead doll, according to a report.
Fauci, 79, the ubiquitous head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been a constant presence in living rooms across the nation during the coronavirus pandemic.
The idea to honor him with his own nodder came to Phil Sklar after his National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee closed down in March to prevent the spread of the deadly bug, the Washington Post reported.
Sklar and his partner, Brad Novak, who had churned out bobbleheads of star athletes, found themselves without much to do after professional and college sports suspended their seasons because of the outbreak.
So they turned their attention to Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force who delivered a constant stream of public health updates — sometimes at odds with those from President Trump.
Sklar and Novak soon came across stories about a wide variety of merchandise bearing Fauci’s likeness, including T-shirts and socks — so they decided to give him “the ultimate honor,” according to the news outlet.
On April Fool’s Day, they announced that the Fauci wobbler would be sold for $25 — with $5 donated from each sale to the Protect the Heroes campaign, which supports the purchase of personal protective equipment for front-line workers.
In no time, Fauci became the duo’s most popular doll — and by mid-August, all 42,020 figures in the first batch had sold out, the Washington Post reported.