Photo: National Bobblehead Hall Of Fame
The National Bobblehead Hall Of Fame has a new resident....Cocaine Bear!
For those that don't know his story, in December of 1985, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced that a 175-pound black bear had “died of an overdose of cocaine" after it had discovered a duffel bag full of it. The cocaine was apparently dropped from a plane piloted by convicted drug smuggler Andrew Thornton. The bear was found dead in the mountains of Fannin County, Georgia, just south of the Tennessee border, alongside 40 opened plastic containers of cocaine. Dr. Kenneth Alonso, the state’s chief medical examiner at the time, said after a December 1985 autopsy that the bear had absorbed three or four grams of cocaine into its blood stream, although it may have eaten more.
The story became legend and was recently immortalized (while slightly fictionalized) movie Cocaine Bear. A taxidermied cocaine bear is on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall, where you can find lots of Cocaine Bear gear, although there's been an ongoing debate over whether that bear is actually the real cocaine bear's remains or not.
But now you can get your own representation of Cocaine Bear! The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame worked with Kentucky for Kentucky to create a bobblehead version of the famed bear. Standing on a display mount over a duffel bag of cocaine, a plaque around the bear's neck tells his story. They are a limited edition, will cost $30, plus $8 shipping and will be available only on the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum's online store and at the KY for KY online store. They'll be shipping out to customers in July.
You can order a Cocaine Bear Bobblehead HERE.