Convention - Wondercon 2023 : Funko under the Big Top

By Jeremy Wilson, Anaheim, Convention Center, 25 march 2023

The PopTalk! Under the Big Top experience included product reviews, special guests and more

Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the well-known restaurant advertising icon, the Big Boy mascot.

Sold in 2005, Funko, LLC, is now headed by CEO Andrew Perlmutter. Since then, the company has increased the scope of its toy lines and signed licensing deals with major companies such as Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, NBCUniversal, Disney, Marvel Entertainment and Major League Baseball.

Funko was founded in 1998 by toy collector Mike Becker at his home in Snohomish, Washington. He started the business after failing to find an affordable coin bank of the Big Boy Restaurants mascot, instead licensing the rights to make his own coin banks from a Big Boy franchise in Michigan. The coin banks failed to sell and the franchise filed for bankruptcy protection, but Funko remained in business after licensing the rights to bobbleheads for Austin Powers, which sold 80,000 units.After this, some of the first characters that Funko sold were the Grinch, Tony the Tiger, and Cheerios mascot, the honeybee. In 2005, Becker sold Funko to its current Chief Creative Officer, Brian Mariotti, who moved its offices to Lynnwood, Washington, and significantly expanded the company's licensed product lines. In 2011, Funko began selling their Pop! Vinyl line of figurines. By 2012, the company had sold more than $20 million worth of merchandise. The company was sold to Fundamental Capital, a private equity firm, in 2013 to raise funds. ACON Investments, LLC announced in late 2015 that it had acquired Funko from Fundamental Capital, LLC, but would keep current staff and the head of company.

By 2016, it had outgrown its original headquarters in Everett and announced plans to move into a downtown building with more space and a retail store.Funko acquired British toymaker Underground Toys, also its European distributor, in early 2017. Funko opened its new headquarters and 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) flagship store in downtown Everett on August 19, 2017.Funko was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange on November 2, 2017, but suffered the worst initial public offering of the 21st century, with shares falling by 40 percent and only raising $125 million. In May 2019, Funko acquired the fashion accessories line, Loungefly. The company opened its second storefront in November 2019, located in Hollywood, Los Angeles. It has 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of space and includes life-size statues and movie "sets". In June 2022, Funko acquired Mondo, a high-end pop culture company.

Funko has over 1,100 licenses with different companies. Another aspect of their business model is tracking the popularity of a certain item and knowing when to move on to a different character. Funko creates items that appeal to children and adults. This can be noted by their range of figures from Golden Girls to superheroes. Funko comes up with an initial design in 24 hours and can have a product from concept to shelf in 70 days.CCO Mariotti believes that the company's eagerness to gain so many licenses and have a range in products from music icons, video game characters, to action heroes is what has made them succeed.

You can discover the photos of their booth on our Flickr page here and here and of the Funko under the big top here

Photos and video : Jeremy Wilson
Photos : Photos : Erika Creveling and Kaitlyn Geiman Brumbaugh

(source : Wikipedia, Funko Website)