SDCC 2026 : Funko et Mondo transforment le Comic-Con en un véritable paradis pour les collectionneurs

San Diego Comic-Con 2026 once again showed how completely collectibles have become part of the convention’s entertainment economy. Across Preview Night on July 22 and the main show from July 23 to 26, Funko and Mondo occupied two highly visible positions inside the San Diego Convention Center: Funko at Booth #5341 and Mondo at Booth #5137. The contrast was deliberate and commercially revealing. Funko leaned into scale, accessibility, recognizable licenses and participatory experiences, while Mondo emphasized artist-led design, premium figures, limited editions, posters and vinyl culture. The two approaches now sit inside the same corporate family: Funko acquired Mondo in June 2022, expanding its portfolio into higher-end collectibles, posters and records.

Funko turns convention shopping into an experience

Funko’s 2026 operation was structured around both scarcity and participation. Access to the convention-exclusive sales area initially ran through Comic-Con’s Exclusives Portal, where badge holders could seek randomly allocated shopping slots; Funko explicitly warned that a slot did not guarantee that a particular item would remain in stock. The company also extended selected exclusives beyond San Diego through a pre-authorization drawing beginning July 20, followed by remaining online inventory scheduled for July 24. That system underlined the unusual pressure surrounding limited Funko releases, where the ritual of obtaining an item can become almost as important as the object itself.

Pop! Mystery, Pop! Yourself and Fundays expand the Funko universe

The booth was not simply a temporary store. Pop! Mystery received an immersive activation supported by a virtual queue opening at 9 a.m. each convention morning, with capacity limited and entry not guaranteed. Funko also created a bespoke Pop! Yourself activation tied to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, pushing customization further into the convention experience. Away from the exhibition floor, Fundays returned to The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, continuing one of the company’s most established Comic-Con traditions. In Funko’s second-quarter presentation after the convention, Nik Rupp described San Diego Comic-Con as the company’s “World Cup” and “Super Bowl” combined, while CEO Josh Simon said Funko might not exist in its present form without Comic-Con. Those comments explain why the brand treats SDCC as much more than a sales weekend: it is a yearly concentration of product, community and brand theatre.

Mondo goes deeper with art, kaiju and premium collectibles

A short walk away, Mondo offered a more curated visual language. Booth #5137 adopted the “Mondo Deep Sea Explorer” theme, built around an angler-fish identity created by Nolan Fleming. The artist also designed the official SDCC 2026 booth-exclusive T-shirt. Mondo’s presence demonstrated how far the label has moved beyond the screen prints that built its reputation. Figures, soft vinyl, soundtracks and designer collectibles now sit beside limited-edition artwork, giving visitors something online product photography cannot fully reproduce: a direct sense of scale, sculpting, paint application, materials and physical finish.

Godzilla exclusives and limited-edition art reinforce Mondo’s identity

The kaiju selection was a particularly strong example. Godzilla’s official website confirmed three glow-in-the-dark Mondo exclusives for Booth #5137, including the Hedorah Pollution Glow in the Dark Variant sculpted by Hector Arce, as well as a Bitter Cherry Blossom Godzilla variant inspired by Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Mondo also kept its poster heritage firmly visible. A Futurama screen print by Nolan Fleming measured 18 by 24 inches and was produced in an edition of 135, while a They Live print by Paul Jackson added another cult-film property to the booth. The mix captured Mondo’s strength: familiar franchises filtered through individual artists rather than treated only as standardized merchandise.

Toy Talk Live points toward Mondo’s next franchises

Mondo also used Comic-Con as a preview platform. Its Toy Talk Live panel, held Thursday, July 23, from 2 to 3 p.m. in Room 7AB, promised a closer look at upcoming releases and a panel-exclusive poster by Nolan Fleming. Dolphin Entertainment’s post-convention account later confirmed that Mondo teased its first Power Rangers line, expanded its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collection and showcased the ECTO-1 from The Real Ghostbusters. Those reveals illustrate why Mondo complements Funko so effectively: the group can serve an entry-level collector through Pop! while also courting enthusiasts seeking larger, more elaborate and more artistically specific display pieces.

A strong global showcase raises questions about international press access

The scale of those activations also makes the international communications question difficult to ignore. Our on-site experience as an international publication was markedly less fluid than the consumer-facing operation: meaningful press contact and structured opportunities around Funko and Mondo proved difficult to secure. That observation should be framed carefully. There is no verified public evidence of a policy to exclude international media, and Comic-Con accreditation itself never guarantees special access to individual brands, panels or representatives. What can be verified is that Dolphin Entertainment publicly identified “Funko & Mondo (42West)” among the clients supported at SDCC 2026 and highlighted Fundays, Pop! Mystery, Pop! Yourself and Mondo’s Toy Talk Live among the convention successes.

The missed opportunity is communication, not content

That distinction matters because the material was unquestionably there. Funko and Mondo offered exclusives, original art, premium toys, personalization, live programming and franchise announcements with obvious appeal far beyond the United States. International collectors follow Batman, Spider-Man, Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and Power Rangers just as intensely, often adding shipping, import duties and scarcity to the pursuit. For media travelling to San Diego from overseas, reliable advance information, appointment windows, product-photo access and contact with relevant representatives can dramatically improve coverage without requiring extravagant press events. Better international coordination would simply extend the same philosophy already visible in the booths: bring the audience closer to the product.

Two sides of the same collecting culture

Ultimately, Funko and Mondo were among the clearest examples at SDCC 2026 of how modern fandom moves between mass accessibility and specialist collecting. Funko’s instantly identifiable products, huge licensing footprint and increasingly experiential presentation make it a gateway into collecting; Mondo offers a more premium route built on craft, interpretation and limited production. Walking from Booth #5341 to Booth #5137 therefore felt like moving between two ends of one collector journey. The products were there, the exclusives were there and the creativity was there. For future Comic-Cons, the remaining opportunity is to make sure the international editorial conversation is just as deliberately designed as the fan experience.

You can found our photos in our Flickr page

Photos : Boris Colletier / Mulderville