Kevin McCallister bobblehead is a nod to the enduring appeal of Hughes' 'Home Alone'

Kevin McCallister is not home alone.

Kevin, or a mirthfully smiling 7½-inch polyester resin facsimile, resides in about 4,200 homes, businesses and wherever else collectors would display a bobblehead figurine of the young hero from John Hughes' “Home Alone.”

The ongoing “selfie” photos with the “McCallister House” in Winnetka and a sold-out Dec. 9 screening of the 1990 film in the sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church in Oak Park — another shooting location — attest to the film's continued popularity, particularly during the holidays.

“They thought it would be a good Christmas classic, but no one anticipated it would be what it ended up being,” said Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee. The museum houses nearly 10,500 unique bobbleheads.

Several years ago, after navigating all the licensing issues, the museum released “Home Alone” bobblehead sets and individual figures, focusing on characters Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern). Subsequent releases featured Gus Polinski (John Candy) and the McCallisters' pet tarantula.

Each of the spider's eight legs wiggles.

“Everything that we do has to bobble,” Sklar said.

Earning domestic receipts of more than $285 million, “Home Alone” ended up being the No. 2 all-time domestic comedy behind “The Hangover II” 21 years later, according to the-numbers.com. “Home Alone” ranks seventh all-time worldwide among comedies with a total box office of more than $476 million.

The film also helped clinch the late Hughes' North Shore bona fides, as the Glenbrook North High School graduate used numerous area locales for “Home Alone” and films such as “Ferris Bueller's Day Off.”

Out of the original run of 5,000 Kevin McCallister bobbleheads, some 800 are left, along with some of the Gus Polinski model. The 3,000 Harry and Marv models, and the tarantula, are sold out.

This surprises Sklar, who figures either this Christmas or the next will be the end of the line for Kevin.

“I thought Kevin would sell the most,” said Sklar, though he felt Marv's figurine was a favorite due to the mark on his forehead left by the falling iron in the movie.

Sklar, who has advanced business degrees from Notre Dame and Northwestern, transitioned from collecting sports cards to bobbleheads in 2003. His business partner with the museum, President Brad Novak, worked for the Rockford RiverHawks minor league baseball team, which had a bobblehead giveaway.

Soon Sklar was circling calendar dates for similar giveaways at other ballparks. As is collectors' wont, his hobby grew out of control, and in November 2014 Sklar and Novak announced the formation of a museum.

It took several years, but on Feb. 1, 2019, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum opened to the public in a second-story space on First Street in Milwaukee.

The museum averages about 10,000 visitors annually and has welcomed people from all 50 states and 25 countries.

Sklar got a shock a few months after the museum opened when a representative for Culkin walked up the stairs and said his client would like to take some photos to post on social media.

“That was pretty crazy,” said Sklar, three years younger than Culkin when he watched the big screen's Kevin McCallister fend off the Wet Bandits in “Home Alone,” a movie he revisits every holiday season.

“I don't even think they knew his bobblehead was there,” Sklar said.