Company Profile
Funko
Pop stars Funko’s Managing Director of EMEA, Andy Oddie, spoke to Toy World’s Rachael Simpson about the company’s success in the collectibles market, how the acquisition of Underground Toys in EMEA has boosted Funko’s strength, and why pop culture has become cool. The market for action figures has been in decline recently; how has Funko bucked this downward trend with its audience? We’ve been able to acquire licences for just about every piece of relevant IP in existence and translate it into our stylised Pop! vinyl figures. Our unique look can be applied to just about any TV show, movie, animation or video game character, and brought to market very quickly. While the licensor obviously has input into the development process, it’s primarily down to us when it comes to deciding how to make a character whimsical or humorous. It can become something of a moot point as to whether it’s on style or not – it’s Funko’s style.
It’s also worth noting that up to half of our audience is female, and they’re often buying Funko products from properties that would traditionally be thought of as male oriented, such as Star Wars, DC and Marvel. Characters such as Groot and Harry Potter are made cute with our stylisation, appealing to a female audience. Our POP! Vinyl price point is attractive too, averaging at £10, whereas some action figures are now well in excess of this at retail.
What is the target age range for your products? Six to sixty! We have every imaginable property, from Disney Princess through to Freddy Krueger, covering all the realms of pop culture. Each Pop! is numbered, so fans can keep track of how many they have from a series and which are still to collect. Not including the exclusives within our current ranges, we have approximately 245 Pop! Star Wars figures and over 6000 items in the full Funko vinyl range. You’re unlikely to find many enthusiasts who would collect every single one of those, but you’ll definitely see people collecting pockets of product from several specific areas.
Do you feel that Funko products encourage older children back into
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toy shops they may otherwise have outgrown? I’ve got childrens, and I’ve noticed that once they approach eight they move away from toys, and onto tablets and smartphones. This creates a vacuum up to around 15 years, which is when you’d expect to see older kids making ‘geek’ purchases and buying specialty toys. In that vacuum, however, you have a strong but young pop culture fandom based around television shows, movies and video games, the content for which tends to be marketed at the 8+ consumers. Character action figures might be a bit too juvenile in the mind of a child aged 8-15, whereas Funko is selling an image that’s cool.
How important is Funko’s fast product turnaround when it comes to keeping on top of emerging trends and consumer demands? Gaming studios bring content through so quickly, and with such secrecy, that most toy companies couldn’t cope with the timescale required to turnaround new and relevant product. We can develop an item and bring it to market within three months, which means we have a natural marry-up with these studios. Fans also want to start collecting