- This topic has 14 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 8 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
As we creep ever closer to November 22nd (66 days!!) and the opening of the 2019 edition of DesignerCon, we are seeing exclusives for DCon announced. Some of which are Funko Pop! related exclusives. Funko divides opinions in the Designer Toy community.
We caught up with a jetlagged Ben from DesignerCon, following his trip to Tokyo last week, to get his thoughts & answer some Funko Pop! based questions from The Toy Chronicle. Below you will find Ben’s answers…
Last year at DCon 2018, Funko had a presence via the Saturday Morning aspect, how do you feel that went down with the usual DesignerCon crowd? Did you get much feedback from vendors and attendees?
I believe that at the end of the day the “usual” crowd may not have liked that Funko was there but didn’t feel that much impact on the show itself. Funko had its own area in the hall the Funko crowd spent their time there. A lot of the Funko collectors were introduced to our world for the first time this year and for us that is really the important key factor here.
Ben, DesignerCon, September 2019During your chat with Marsham Toy Hour in July 2018, you claimed that there would be NO Funko Pop! at DesignerCon. You sounded pretty adamant too on the podcast. What changed in 2019?
A few months ago, around the same time that we went to Japan, I got a vendor request from Funko and Funko they wanted to be a vendor. My reaction was of course, no. There is no way I am letting Funko into the show. I don’t want a Funko booth, I don’t want Pop vinyl being like this huge booth selling Pop vinyl where there are massive lines and all that stuff and I was like no this isn’t going to happen at DCon. So, I sent them a message and told them unfortunately that DesignerCon was not for Funko.
Ben, DesignerCon, July 2018First of all, Funko will not be at DesignerCon this year (neither will Saturday Mornings). The Mark Hamill Pop! comes in conjunction with the art show “Hamilltoon” which features around Mark Hamill. The Pop! that other vendors bring (which they ALWAYS have since Pop! has been around) is their business and we are not ones to restrict our vendors on that they can or can not sell.
Ben, DesignerCon, September 2019
There have been news snippets of Pops appearing: Freddy Grin, Mark Hamill, the Ghostbuster DCon exclusive – how many Funko Pop! do you expect to be available at DesignerCon 2019? More than just exclusives, or Funko sellers? Those queues that you were dead against in 2018?
I wish we could get a Freddy Grin! It’s still a Ron English figure collab! But… as mentioned above Funko is not doing our show and there will not be a “line up of exclusives” like there are for SDCC or NYCC.
Ben, DesignerCon, September 2019
What would you like to say to those that feel negatively towards the impact that adding more Funko to DesignerCon 2019?
I would say that our audience needs to understand that we are always trying new things to get more people into the doors of DCon and introduce our world to those people. People were afraid the show would change when we moved to Anaheim and they found that the show’s feel and vibe did not change. Adding new vendors like Funko does not “change” the show it only helps it grow and brings it more to life. That being said we are adding a few cool new vendors to the show this year that we feel our audience will love. Hope to see everyone in Anaheim in November and, as always, thank you to everyone who comes out and supports the show.
Ben, DesignerCon, September 2019Thanks Ben for taking the time to answer our questions, especially with the jet lag from Tokyo (which the trip looked amazing following along on Instagram, we can not wait to see what comes from this trip at DesignerCon in November)!
So TTC reader, what are your thoughts on Funko Pop! at DesignerCon? Yay or Nay? Are you a fan? Will it have an impact on your attendance at DCon? Join the discussion on the TTC Forum now to have your say!
Join the Discussion The idea behind Join the Discussion on The Toy Chronicle is to have an open & honest conversations on trending topics within the Designer Toy community. TTC picking topics that folks will have a different view point, not to cause arguments, but to have civil discussions amongst our fellow peers. Different opinions are great and everyone should be able to speak their thoughts, but also listen to each other.
So I did go last year when the Saturday Mornings Funko was there. First off, I’m not a Funko pop collector besides Mickey Mouse POP! (I normally don’t care for colourways either) I know that the Funko line is always long! I did try line up last year and it’s at least an hour for the line..And I hear the NYCC and SDCC are even crazier and you could only even get in if you win a “lottery” (hope no need to that) , and I’m always glad I’m not a Funko pop collector that care for everything and exclusives .
the way I saw it last year ~ is that everyone spending their time in these long line ups of an hour or 2 and then don’t get a chance to see other vendors (especially on Friday since there’s only 4 hours for the show) ~ BUT at the same time, the way I also see it,is that we bring those Funko POP! Collectors to our Designer Toy World To have exposure. and then maybe we can switch them over and to say this is the Better, High Quality kind hehehe. There’s always going to be ups and downs bout this. Just hope there’s more Ups!
Oh! And I will say, Funko’s presence at DCON wasn’t as surprising/encroaching as the slew of other booths selling countless POPs!
Let’s go Pops!!!! Glazed over Hamiltoons show… very iconic voice acting over the years to be represented
Yeah, the Hamiltoon show sounds interesting. I really like Mark Hamill and his career, so this could be fun. It looks like a serious size booth too…
Hopefully we will hear more on this when Marsham Toy Hour have Ben on soon! Need Theresa to be asking some further questions on this part of DCon!
We plan to have Ben join us on Marsham in October, about a month before dcon 🙂 If anyone has any specific questions you want us to ask, let me know!
I think there were a significant amount of people who attended DCon last year that only did so because of Funko’s presence… and it opened their eyes to a whole new science for collectibles. I have friends who were only into Pops that are now deep into designer toys.
To be honest I think the benefits of bringing new people into the scene is worth it. Yes funko brings long lines to the event and their ethos might not exactly align with designer toy scene in general but I thinkj if handled correctly the could basically just create a seperate section of the convention for it so it doesn’t conflict with the scene we as collectors know and love but still might bring more people into it, which in my opinion is a good thing. of course, i likely will never make it out there regardless so who cares what I say, lol
Awesome read, As a Collector that Started off with Funko Pops and was Introduced to the Designer world of Toys by Finding Superplastic and with SP taking over my collecting interest, I think if Funko had a booth at DCon it would have to be similar to all other vendors, no special accommodations for them, lots of vendors had Pops for sale so it makes no difference if Funko has a booth there or not Pops have already made it in.
Funko can only bring more collectors into the Designer fold. It may make toys harder to get hold off, but it may also increase variety and production runs may become larger.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.