Funko's profits are down in the dumps

Funko Friday

Here we go again!

Funko Pop E.T. in front of an image of the unearthed 1980s E.T. videogames from that landfill in the desert

In a press release, Funko announced it has nearly $250 million worth of inventory in its warehouses - in other words, stuff that has yet to be sold. That's a 48% increase over last year, and Funko's starting to feel the squeeze. CEO Brian Mariotti reported that a distribution center in Arizona has been paying monthly rentals on shipping containers to keep the stuff in.

So, what is a multi-million-dollar corporation to do? Look to the past! Just like when Atari was swamped with unsold copies of ET for the 2600, Funko is going to alleviate the situation by trashing its own inventory, sending the unsold stock to the landfill. It's literally cheaper for them to throw the stuff away and take the tax write-off for the loss than to try to sell them, which means about $30 million dollars worth of POP!s, Vinyl Sodas, and whatever else Funko is making these days are about to be buried under the desert, just like ET. Arizona this time, rather than New Mexico. Though it would have been a beautiful irony if they'd ended up in the same dump.

I guess in 2063 or so, we can expect to see a documentary about fans going and digging these up, and putting some of them in a museum. Time is a flat circle.

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7 Responses to Funko's profits are down in the dumps

  1. Black Arbor says:

    Good. And anyone that bought even a single one "Just to have a representation of my favorite franchise 'cuz there's no other collectibles" is guilty of contributing to this awful fad that went on way too long.

    • Ronnie Lane says:

      I'm very sorry that MTV won't license Daria for literally anything and/or no other company would put out the money to test the waters.

      • Ai Muhao says:

        See, I can get someone "settling" for a Funko POP figure for something like Daria because, as you said, there's nothing else out there.

        But I really can't wrap my head around those who buy Funko POP!s of characters like Optimus Prime or Darth Vader or Batman. Like... you know there's plenty of excellent statues or action figures that could scratch that itch, no?

      • Black Arbor says:

        Just had a looksie at the Daria Funko, and not trying to be intentionally rude, but... You'd rather spend money on THAT than just not have a Daria figure? Plus, I could very well be wrong since I never watched much of the show, but wouldn't her character probably hate being made into such a weird little plastic chotchkie that's only made to be CONSOOMED?

        • Ai Muhao says:

          I think it's the same sort of problem you get when a character or franchise gets a toy or movie that's less than stellar.

          On the one hand, it's crap. On the other, if people do buy it, then it signals that there's interest. But on the other, other hand, if you buy or otherwise support it the creatives might think people like the crappy version.

          I remember a few years back something like that happening with the game New Gundam Breaker. Compared to the previous game Gundam Breaker 3, it was complete garbage. However, it was also the first time a Gundam Breaker game was released in English worldwide (as opposed to Asia only), so people were torn between buying it to show Bandai Namco that, "yes, we want Gundam games in English!" or not wanting to buy it because, well, it was crap.

      • yo go re says:

        Daria would have been a great choice for Funko's line of actual action figures, like Rick and Morty got or Five Nights at Freddy's continues to get...

  2. Ai Muhao says:

    This news really doesn't surprise me. There's a shop I go to semi-regularly that's a combination video game and toy store, and I'm always met with shelf after shelf of Funko POP!s. I'm not sure they've ever actually been able to sell any, or at least enough to make it noticable.

    Like, next to the Funko stuff are the model kits like Gundam or the Dragonball Rise stuff, and further along are things like SH Figuarts or Marvel Legends, and you can quickly see when stuff sells. Some stuff languishes (e.g. the SH Figuarts Ridoron or MAFEX Marvel), but they're still gangbusters compared to the Funko stuff.

    I really don't get the appeal. You can pose a Marvel Legends or Star Wars Black Series figure, you can play with a Transformer or display it in robot or alt mode, the SHODO! Ultraman toys are small but still highly articulated and come with stuff like extra hands... even the Pop Up Parade mini-statues are still excellent representations of the characters (e.g. Hololive members, anime characters like Yor from Spy X Family), so I don't get the appeal of the Pop!s.

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