In the early days of Kanye West's career as a hip-hop artist, he used a bear mascot that eventually ended up on the cover of his first three studio albums, including his debut The College Dropout (2004).
Designed, printed and shipped by Sam Hansen along with his business partner Bobby Naugle, the so-called College Dropout Bear was used for various album covers, videos, promotion and merchandise.
In recent months, the eldest of West's four children with Kim Kardashian, North West, began channeling her father's mascot by donning the bear outfit and lip-syncing along to some of his songs in TikTok clips last Halloween.
So it seemed like the perfect time for Naugle to reconnect with North's famous mother about purchasing original merchandise from her father's early days for her daughter.
On Friday, Kardashian took to her Instagram page to share her thanks and gratitude to Naugle for his generous offer, saying she never asked for any money in return, according to the Skims founder.
Kim Kardashian took to Instagram on Friday to thank Bobby Naugle, a man involved in the design and merchandise business for Kanye West's early College Dropout Bear
In her Instagram post, Kardashian, 43, thanked Bobby Naugle for reaching out to her and offering to send some old Kanye West merchandise to her daughter North and her other three children.
The reality star thanked Naugle for sending her some old Ye merchandise and then shared a photo of one of the rapper's old shirts, along with a photo of Ye wearing it back in the day.
Kim started by sharing a photo of herself posing arm-in-arm with Naugle, as she shared her kind words about him and explained how he helped produce the mascot.
“Bobby Naugle, who designed the bear for school leavers in 2003 and worked on the merchandise tours in the early years, contacted me in 2022 because he wanted to donate to North some of the original merchandise he helped produce,” she wrote. in the caption. “He didn't ask for anything in return.”
She went on to explain how they never lost touch with each other over the next year.
'We've kept in touch since then and after being contacted by a few collectors and auction houses about other collectibles he owned between 2003 and 2005, including a first-hand sketch and Kanye's original personal pink RL polo, Bobby thought it was the most fitting to give him a gift. again to our children, without asking for anything in return,” she added.
The reality star and entrepreneur ended the post by thanking Naugle for his kind offer.
“I would like to publicly thank Bobby for his kindness and generosity (which is very rare in this industry) when he could have easily made a lot of money selling these items instead,” Kim K wrote.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashian star also shared a photo of one of the early t-shirts Kanye West wore with his name and logo on the front, which was sent to her, along with an old image of the rapper wearing it .
The mother of four, all of whom she shares with Ye, also posted an image of the original pink RL polo shirt she mentioned in the caption, which was part of the merchandise gifted to her, North, and her other three children: Saint, eight, Chicago, five, and Psalm, four.
The first commercial use of the bear mascot came on the cover of West's debut single Through The Wire in September 2003.
The character would later appear on the cover of West's debut studio album The College Dropout in February 2004.
The album cover was created by art director Eric Duvauchelle of Roc-A-Fella Records, depicting the Dropout bear in a school gym, wearing a suit jacket, red T-shirt and jeans.
Expanding on the so-called College Dropout Bear, West used it again for the cover of his second LP, Late Registration in 2005, and the follow-up Graduation in 2007.
North and her three siblings also received one of her father's favorite pink PL polo shirts, along with other items that were on the merchandise list in the 2000s
The first commercial use of the bear mascot came on the cover of West's debut single Through The Wire in September 2003, leading to it being used for the cover of his debut studio album The College Dropout (2004).
Expanding on the so-called College Dropout Bear, West used it again for the cover of his second LP, Late Registration (2005).
The legendary hip-hop star also used an animated version of the bear for his third studio album Graduation (2007).
North channeled her father's mascot, which culminated in a series of TikTok videos over the 2023 Halloween holiday
in the videos, the eldest of West and Kardashian's four children dances along to a few of her father's songs, wearing the College Dropout Bear suit
Over the years, the bear has become something of an anthropomorphic symbol and character for Kanye West himself
Over the years, the bear has become an anthropomorphic symbol and character for the rapper himself.
Last Halloween, a video was shared on the TikTok account North shares with her mother, showing the 10-year-old dancing around while dressed as the bear from her father's third album, Graduation.
Complete with a gold watch and chain, North shared three videos of her dancing to her father's songs, I Wonder and Can't Tell Me Nothing, as well as a sped-up version of Estelle's 2008 hit, American Boy, which is a Graduation. era hit with the rapper.
The College Dropout Bear's most recent appearances were the promotion and artwork for West's collaborative album Kids See Ghosts with Kid Cudi in 2018.