Upstate New York Now Has A Bobblehead On National Bobblehead Day

The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an official Upstate New York bobblehead.

The museum just licensed a Syracuse Orange Mascot Bobblehead in honor of National Bobblehead Day. The Museum is celebrating through Monday with dozens of new bobblehead releases including this new bobblehead featuring Syracuse’s mascot, Otto.

According to CNY Central, there are only 2,023 bobbleheads available for purchase and can be found here:

Otto first arrived on the scene in the early-1980s. The mascot was simply known as “The Orange” until 1990 when the name Otto first came into use. Syracuse cheerleaders attending a summer cheerleading camp in Tennessee are credited with coming up with the name. Otto was recognized as the official mascot of Syracuse University in December 1995 by Chancellor Buzz Shaw. Inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame on Aug. 12, 2023, Otto is generally recognized as one of the most popular college mascots.

You can buy this new mascot for $35.

- First batch is sold out. Second batch expected to ship in April 2024.
- Bobblehead is high quality and produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
- 8 inches tall
- Individually numbered to 2,023"

The Syracuse mascot was originally a Native American character named "The Saltine Warrior" and "Big Chief Bill Orange". The character was born out of a hoax from a report by student humor magazine Orange Peel, in which it was claimed that a 16th-century Onondaga chief was unearthed while digging the foundation for the women's gymnasium in 1928. In December 1977, Native American students successfully petitioned the University to discontinue the Saltine Warrior, citing the mascot's stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans.

In the 1980s, a new Syracuse University mascot emerged and was described by Sports Illustrated in 1984 as a "juiced-up, bumbling citrus fruit from which two legs protrude", and quickly became popular on campus.