The Energon Pub

[Cheetron]

I wanted primal but now he looks.. idk. Sad? Confused?

[Brokebot]

I still don't get the appeal of these things.

[Whifflefire]

Rhinox doesn't seem too affected by the stylization! The details of his face look pretty much like his show model (if a little squished). The others are suitably Funko-Popish, though. Maybe it's the way they accurately translated his long mouth?

[megatran]

I wanted primal but now he looks.. idk. Sad? Confused?

Primal has accepted the realisation he is destined for landfill.

[Emerje]

Love them or hate them, Funko Pops have found a niche in Transformers collections, even now continuing to produce new figures based on our favorite robots. But that could end soon as Funko sounds the alarm that they're on the brink of shutting down as losses mount and debts become due. A third quarter financial report posted last week outlines loses from 2024 to 2025 that they claim are within expectations.

The company is optimistically banking on a strong fourth quarter, largely because they'll be the only company with KPop Demon Hunter toys on shelves for the holidays, but also because Walmart named Funko Pops as a top toy for the season, This is in the face of what the same release reported as a $241 million debt (consisting of loans, credit and other debts). Despite the year over year losses, over the last 9 months they have seen a modest gain in cash. ($34.7 million on December 31, 2024 compared to $39.2 million on September 30, 2025.)

Earlier in 2025 Funko announced they'd be cutting 20% of their workforce while in August they claimed US tariffs on China could be the end of them as prices climbed to match the new costs. Whether or not Funko can pull out of this is anyone's guess, but new CEO Josh Simon appears optimistic, stating it's, "clear how powerful the Funko brand is and how much growth opportunity lies ahead." We'll have to wait and see if more Pop Transformers show up in 2026 or if the Pop bubble will finally burst.

[Quantum Surge]

That one Funko Pop game flopping was a warning of things to come for these dead eyed bobbleheads lol

[Brokebot]

That one Funko Pop game flopping was a warning of things to come for these dead eyed bobbleheads lol

Do the heads on those stupid things even bobble?

[Emerje]

That one Funko Pop game flopping was a warning of things to come for these dead eyed bobbleheads lol

Do the heads on those stupid things even bobble?

Not for a long, long time.

Emerje

[chuckdawg1999]

That one Funko Pop game flopping was a warning of things to come for these dead eyed bobbleheads lol

Do the heads on those stupid things even bobble?

Not for a long, long time.

Emerje

Some of them do, it depends on the demands of the master toy license holders. Funko made a pop for everyone and everything, without thinking about whether people really wanted them. Golden Girls, great to have ONE set of them, not multiple sizes and styles. Personally, none of my viewers have ever shown an interest in Funko, and I end up feeling regret after buying them.

[AlexisSkrull]

That one Funko Pop game flopping was a warning of things to come for these dead eyed bobbleheads lol

Do the heads on those stupid things even bobble?

Some do such as Marvel and Star Wars, but most do not.

[cloudballoon]

"It's clear how powerful the (hate towards the) Funko brand is and how much growth opportunity (the ridicule) lies ahead."

Fixed it for Funko's CEO.

I don't really care for it as collectibles. I can count only a handful of Funko Pops that I do want but never bought even one because I have better things to display on my shelves. Honestly the products are OK... really hard for any decent human being to hate the figurines as they range from "meh-to-cute," not "meh-to-WTF!?-ewwwww." The hate is mostly coming from trolls so who cares.

But the ridicules for the company though, that for me is well deserved. It just amazes me the company still exists with its business strategy. Digging into their mission of having a Funko for every character in every IP possible that they can get their hands on as licensee. It's madness how unselective they are with IP licensing, year-after-year, lost-after-tremendous-financial-lost.

I just don't want to sound like an a-hole, as I collect Transformers plastic cracks so I don't deserve to "virtue signal," but it seems the only party that benefits from Funko's continued existence is the landfill industry at this point, and no one wants that for the environment. So many other plastic crack, from Lego, Transformers to Marvel/DC/SW figures, etc., can "spark more joy" and last much longer - even passing them down through generations -- to make them worth it.

[megatran]

Whenever I hear Funko Pop & Transformers in the one breath, it reminds me of the time some ass-hats ambushed Peter Cullen at an airport trying to get him to sign their Funko Optimus Prime.

[Bumblevivisector]

Funko POP! was an inevitable result of the long trend of various "block figures" picking a style and then formatting as many established characters into it as feasible. While it is neat that they do some properties which otherwise get no toy representation, the part of their format that always bothered me was the eyes usually being all black, making it appear as though Funko's evil plan was to hand thousands of celebrities and fictional characters over to the witch from Coraline.

There was a b&m toystore one town over from me that carried so many online TF exclusives that it seemed too good to be true, yet their bread and butter seemed to be the sale and trade of sealed POP!s. Like one previous poster, I don't want to sh!t on the brand since it has more inherent merit than what I'm about to dredge up, but something about this setup carried persistant shadows of Beanie Babies; an overhyped toy bubble destined to POP in tragedy. The store went under mostly due to pandemic supply-chain issues, but whenever I drive past the dispensary where Throne of Toys used to be, I keep remembering the abyss staring back at me through each unseeing button and shudder.

Maybe Funko will come up with some game-changing innovation, but it'd better not be some new format of figure that would try to compel longtime POP! collectors to start over, since that would be instant suicide.

[Dr. Caelus]

I basically see Funko Pops as being very similar to invasive kudzu. They have a right to exist, and it's fair that some people like them, but I resent them for how much they've displaced; ost B&M toy shops in my area are overrun with them, sparing little room for anything else.

Of course, now major retailers' toy aisles are overflowing with clearance-bound Skibiddi toys...

[megatran]

It would be befitting if the last figure release of Funko Pop be Transformers Landfill.

[cloudballoon]

It would be befitting if the last figure release of Funko Pop be Transformers Landfill.

or E.T. from the 1982 movie.

[Emerje]

It would be befitting if the last figure release of Funko Pop be Transformers Landfill.

or E.T. from the 1982 movie.

May as well just make a Pop of the game. Pop 8-Bit is a thing. Best I can tell it's the only E.T. they haven't made.

funko-pop-8bit-space-invaders-figurine-alien-retrogaming-collection-700-x-586.jpg

Emerje

[DeathReviews]

Ask the people who made "Beanie Babies" if the good times last forever. They don't. It's called 'market saturation'. With any product, you eventually hit the point where there are no new markets to expand into. No new customers to find. Everybody who wanted your products already have them.

Eventually, every company reaches a plateau, and then they have to shift their efforts from "growth" to "maintenance". Evolve or die -

[ILoveBigBots]

Ask the people who made "Beanie Babies" if the good times last forever. They don't. It's called 'market saturation'. With any product, you eventually hit the point where there are no new markets to expand into. No new customers to find. Everybody who wanted your products already have them.

Eventually, every company reaches a plateau, and then they have to shift their efforts from "growth" to "maintenance". Evolve or die -

Ty was caught creating fake scarcity and eventually releasing more of the same item, among other tactics. I'm not aware of Funko doing such. I myself never found the appeal to either item though.

[cloudballoon]

Isn't that "fake scarcity" was just Ty recognizing their customers? By that time the majority of them buy beanies for the resale value, and scarcity is good for them.

I give a little credit to Funko, in that its products appeal to every demographic. from child to adult, male & female alike. Beanies just creeps me out.

I would smile like the Joker if I can own a Funko Unicron in my lifetime at a decent price though. That, or Blokees gives us with a full-body Unicron, not just the head.

[chuckdawg1999]

Isn't that "fake scarcity" was just Ty recognizing their customers? By that time the majority of them buy beanies for the resale value, and scarcity is good for them.

I give a little credit to Funko, in that its products appeal to every demographic. from child to adult, male & female alike. Beanies just creeps me out.
I would smile like the Joker if I can own a Funko Unicron in my lifetime at a decent price though. That, or Blokees gives us with a full-body Unicron, not just the head.

How much is Unicron going for? I see it going between $35-$40. A few outliers are over $100.

[cloudballoon]

I'm in Canada. It's about $100 USD w/ shipping.

[Emerje]

I'm in Canada. It's about $100 USD w/ shipping.

Ouch. It was a GameStop exclusive in the US and nobody really cared so I got mine on clearance for around $20.

Emerje

[cloudballoon]

I'm in Canada. It's about $100 USD w/ shipping.

Ouch. It was a GameStop exclusive in the US and nobody really cared so I got mine on clearance for around $20.

Emerje

Ah well. It's something nice to have only for cheap. So I look forward to Blokees/Yolopark/Auldey making all the City/Planet-bots as model kits so they can have representation on my shelves without breaking the bank or taking up too much shelf space.

[megatran]

Did anyone manage to get the chase Buzzsaw?