Funko Pop Is Throwing Away Millions Of Its Own Product For A Crazy Reason
Funko is about to toss $30 million worth of excess inventory because of the cost of storing it.
What company has licensing deals with the likes of Lucasfilm, Marvel, Hasbro, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, DC Comics, NBA, Sanrio, and Disney? Funko Pop is one of the biggest sellers of collectible items in the world right now, as it seems that virtually every quasi-famous pop culture icon has its own collectible figure for you to buy and display in a brightly lit case in your man cave or she shed. However, according to the gaming website Kotaku, Funko Pop is set to toss out over $30 million worth of products to save money on the shipping containers being rented to hold excess inventory.
According to CEO Brian Mariotti in a call with his investors, the company’s inventory is upwards of $247 million, up 48% from last year. Mariotti also revealed that the company was hemorrhaging money at their Arizona distributing center because of the containers they’re renting to store the excess. He announced to the investors that Funko Pop intended to eliminate inventory to reduce fulfillment costs in the first half of the year.
Funko has seen a fair amount of turmoil over the last year as their Funko Pops have seen some pretty rough earning statements. Their stocks cratered back in November in response to the reports and then again fell by another 25% when they announced they would be laying off 10% of their employees to offset the financial losses.
Mike Becker founded Funko in 1998 when he looked to try and create a low-budget and low-functioning toy reminiscent of the past to fight the newer high-tech toys of the time. The company’s big break came when they landed the licensing rights to the big movie of the time, Austin Powers, and also made bobbleheads for The Grinch, Tony the Tiger, and Cheerios mascots. They remained one of the more nostalgia-filled sellers of the last few decades, a hot item for collectors and fans of nearly every central cultural phenomenon.
While every significant moment in society, whether it be a massive film franchise, a prominent celebrity moment, or a surprisingly popular tv show, seems to demand its own Funko Pop, the majority of these items remain low value. Their biggest draw is the collection themselves, the boxes lining shelves in gaming rooms all over TikTok, giant square heads, and tiny little eyes staring out at the collector. However, some of the original pieces can fetch quite a bit of money to the right buyer.
Brian Mariotti may have hit investors with some rough news and tanked the stock prices seemingly overnight, but that doesn’t mean the company will be going anywhere soon. G.I. Joe has had to reinvent itself over and over throughout the decades to remain above water, even creating movies and tv series based on the toy line in an attempt to drive revenue. As recently as 2019, Warner Bros. Animation was rumored to have an animated feature in the works surrounding the toys.
Funko Pop may be in trouble financially, but if there is one thing we can count on, it is the fact that fans of Lucas Films, Marvel, Hasbro, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, DC Comics, NBA, Sanrio, and Disney won’t let them disappear quietly.
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