What Is A Funko Pop and Why Should You Care?
A History of Funko
If you are like many people who go out shopping in person (though maybe less often now due to the pandemic) you have likely seen something for sale called Funko. For it I thought they have been mostly a recent thing, but when I looked up the history of the company behind them I was in for a bit of a surprise.
The company that many now know and love owes its start to toy collector Mike Becker. Mike founded the company at his home in Washington after failing to find an affordable coin bank of the Big Boy Restaurants mascot. Being dissatisfied with the options available, Mike decided to license the rights himself to make his own coin backs of the mascot in Michigan. Unfortunately the coin banks largely failed to sell, but Funko was able to stay in business by attaining the rights to sell bobbleheads for the Austin Powers movie. With this success, the company began to branch out to sell other famous characters, such as the Grinch and cereal mascots like Tony the Tiger and the Cheerios Honey Bee.
It would not be until 2005, when the company was sold to Brian Mariotti, that the company and Funkos really began to take off. The range of product lines was significantly expanded under the new owner, and when Funko began producing and selling its Pop! Vinyl line of figurines in 2011 interest by…
