Pop! Puzzles, a Snoop Dogg Store, and More: The Big Reveals from Funko’s Press Day

You’ll usually find the Funko team on the west coast, but today, the Seattle-based pop culture collectibles brand made themselves at home in New York City for a special Press and Investors Day event. During a presentation this morning, Funko’s leadership team revealed a variety of new products, events, and initiatives that Funatics are sure to be excited about. Keep scrolling to see the highlights!

New product alert! Today, Funko revealed this sweet new line of collectibles, which are Pop! styled, clear figures that come filled with colorful candy. These will be out early next year, in time for Easter.

Funko is joining in the minis craze! After teasing them during Funko’s Hall H panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC), the company gave a closer look at upcoming, teeny-tiny versions of Pop! and Soda collectibles called “Bitty Pop!” and “Bitty Soda.” These miniatures will be even smaller than the tiny Pop! figures found in Funko’s advent calendars and on Pop! keychains.

Both lines will be available early next year. Collectors will get four of the tiny collectibles in each pack.

We chatted with Funko CEO Andrew Perlmutter about Funko entering the minis market, which is a move he says the team didn’t want to jump into without consideration. “What we didn’t want to do is just put something in a ball and put it out, because that’s what was trending,” he says. “We will make sense for our brand. … I think this is gonna open up the door to a lot of people who are like, I don’t want a bunch of these [Pops!] sitting around, but I like them, so this is how I can participate without filling my shelves.”

For size comparison, it takes 16 Bitty Pop! collectibles to be the size of one traditional Pop!.

Another new product announcement today came from Funko Games! The brand has a new line of Pop! puzzles that will be out in time for this holiday season. The 500-piece jigsaws feature Pop!-style art depicting Avatar the Last Airbender, Elf, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Loungefly is getting in the crossbody bag game with an upcoming line called Crossbuddies (get it? Crossbody, Crossbuddies?). These bags will feature a removable pouch that changes the bag’s look. These bags are designed to be similar to Loungefly’s Cosplay Mini-Backpacks, but for more on-the-go use.

If you don’t live near a major, coastal city that hosts a fan convention, it can be hard to feel like you’re part of the con action. As part of its 25th-anniversary celebration next year, Funko is fixing this problem by bringing the convention TO the fans.

Leading up to SDCC next year, Funko will take a 25-stop tour of the country, starting in New York City in June and ending in San Diego in July. At the stops along the way, local fans will be able to get their hands on one of Funko’s legendary Boxes of Fun, which will be full of limited-edition collectibles.

Perlmutter says that Funko has been brainstorming ways to get non-coastal fans a chance to be more involved with convention opportunities, even considering virtual tickets to the company’s popular Fundays event. Ultimately, however, they decided an in-person experience was the way to go. The company will partner with a to-be-announced national chain to host the Fun on the Run Tour stops. “Not a lot of people get to go to San Diego, or whatever the con may be,” Perlmutter says. “We pride ourselves on being all about the fan, right? At the end of the day, that’s why we exist. And that’s who we’re here for. And so if we can bring that experience to more people, we’ll do it.”

It’s been almost two years since Funko debuted an interactive experience at its two in-person retail locations where fans can create a Pop! figure that looks like them. Now, finally, fans everywhere will have the chance to make themselves into a must-have collectible. The Pop! Yourself experience will be available online starting sometime next year. The exact timing will depend on some backend logistics, but the wait won’t be much longer!

This comes as part of Funko’s larger push to grow its online, direct-to-consumer offerings. Both Funko and Loungefly’s websites will be getting an upgrade in the near future, too.

Here’s a sentence we weren’t expecting to type, but we’re here for it: Snoop Dogg and Funko are partnering for a new store! The real-life shopping location will be called “The Dogg House,” and it will be right by SoFi Stadium (in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California). The store will offer an ever-changing merchandise selection, which will actually relate to the events taking place at SoFi. For example, if a certain artist or sports team is coming to the arena, the store will stock collectibles featuring the musician or athletes.

According to Perlmutter, Snoop Dogg has been wanting to get involved with Funko for some time. The location of this new shop, which is set to open in January, will allow the rapper to visit and be involved in promotions.

“Sports and music, for us, has been an area that we wanted to grow,” Perlmutter says. “We were like, you know, we’ve had conversations with [Snoop Dogg] about how do we get more involved. … I mean, who doesn’t love Snoop Dogg? And so to work with Snoop Dogg was a dream come true for us. And he really loves the brand.”

There’s not a ton to report on this one yet, but Funko will soon begin a new campaign called “Follow Your Fun.” This will start as a digital campaign that encourages fans to engage with the brand and will serve as a through-line for upcoming initiatives from the company.

ICYMI, a Pop! Grogu made its Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade debut last year, along with a selection of commemorative Funko collectibles inspired by the Baby Yoda balloon. The balloon will be back for a second year, along with some new merch that’s coming this fall. This year’s collectibles feature balloon handlers guiding the flying Grogu.

Funko will attend its first Latin American convention this December in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Fun fact: Brazil is the third-largest demographic across Funko’s social media accounts.

These are just some new highlights of what’s coming down the pipeline from Funko — Don’t forget that the company also acquired Mondo this year and has a video game in the works, among other things. Fans can always get the latest Funko updates by following @funko on Twitter and Instagram.