Funko Pop! in Trouble

[MGibster]

Funko announces major concerns about company's future

Funko warns investors about its future after losing millions in 2025. The Pop! collectibles company faces mounting debts and declining sales across markets.

rollingout.com

Sales are down, their debt is high, and they're hemorrhaging money. I own exactly one Funko product and it's a Cthulhu figure that's been sitting on my desk at work for about ten years now. Occasionally a coworker will notice him and ask what he is. Not the IT people. My IT people know who Cthulhu is because they're all a bunch of nerds. Occasionally I've seen some hostility towards Funko online. Mostly in regards to their products being cheap plastic that's just going to end up in a landfill. But their presence in many places, especially geeky type places, has been near ubiquitous for a number of years now. And no matter how you might feel about Funko, this isn't a good time for anyone to be worried about their job. (Is it ever a good time?)

Over the years I've run across a few Funko figures I considered purchasing, but ultimately decided against it because I have enough junk in my house. A lot of that junk being miniatures I've painted myself which is kind of close to Funko figures. I always thought their demise was inevitable. They're like collector plates, Beanie Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, and it's just the fate of collectibles to one day not be collectible.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

I can see a future where Funko and Super7 merge/buyout. They both are niche, and there's probably a market for Pops/Soda, Reaction, Ultimates, and whatever Mondo is doing under the same corporate overlord.

 

[Scribe]

Over the years I've run across a few Funko figures I considered purchasing, but ultimately decided against it because I have enough junk in my house

Yes, this is me exactly. There are still some I would get probably if I was in my final home and had space, but its not a priority in any way at this point.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Funko Pop is in its late TSR period. They put out a massive number of new figures every year, many of them incredibly obscure and have to be ending up going straight into the same landfill as all the Atari E.T. the Extraterrestrial cartridges.

They also have spent what has to be considerable manpower and money on customizable Funko Pops, which I just can't see being a product with a huge audience.

Before lockdown, I knew people who had what seemed like Funko Pop warehouses in their cubicles. But once everyone went home in March 2020 (and largely stayed home, in my industry), they stopped buying them. I got rid of everything but my gelatinous cube Funko Pop, which I have lurking next to my D&D core books, alongside a big PHB cover idol dice tower.

They need to cut way, way back on production, instead of trying to come up with more lines of plastic figures and producing as many possible figures for them as possible. (Also, whoever's picking what new figures to do probably needs to be replaced with someone with more marketing experience, because it reeks of spaghetti being flung at the wall.)

 

[Retreater]

Cynthia Williams worked her magic again.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

They also have spent what has to be considerable manpower and money on customizable Funko Pops, which I just can't see being a product with a huge audience.

Pops of our kids were a GREAT Xmas gift for my wife two years ago, but that's not a gift with a lot of "re-buy-ability".

En toto: I have a Commander Data at work (this is off topic, but by way of explanation: Data is in a bin with a bunch of other Data action figures--the admin is big on collecting data without really going into detail--initially-- on what we're supposed to do with it. So the big bin that says "Data Collection" is my passive agressive props commedy), the three Animaniacs in my classroom, and the Lady of Pain on my D&D minis/figures shelf at home.

My wife is still kind of collecting Princess Leias, but she did a purge this summer, and I have a buddy at work who is out to get all of the Boba Fetts. One other work buddy has three or four of his favorite characters on his desk. Otherwise, I can't think of anyone who is actively into them or displaying them.

 

[FrogReaver]

Sad but not super surprising.

 

[aco175]

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I want to claim credit for personally busting the Beanie Baby bubble the moment I cut the Ty tag off the Garcia Beanie Baby I was gifted, a move I was told would cost me hundreds of dollars.

 

[Vael]

I've worked retail selling Funkos and I do not understand the appeal